Initiative is the identity of a true winner
sively for guidance before doing any-
Today’s competitive world is on the look out for
people who move with an inner drive to execute
an action and get things done, which is apt for
the circumstance or a challenge, without being
asked or reminded writes M R Chandramowly.
I
n the process of a competency
modelling project, I was inter-
acting with a business group.
We were capturing some key
behaviours of managers of
that organisation, that com-
prehend as central to achieve their
business goals. The phrased behav-
iours were grouped in different clus-
ters to align with organisation’s busi-
ness vision and strategy.
We put all these pieces in relevant
clusters. When I looked at a cluster,
which took in maximum inputs as
many as 25 behavioural phrases, we
agreed that it is pointing towards a
major competency cluster. All the par-
ticipant managers felt that these be-
haviours are a must to achieve suc-
cess. I present them here:
“Acts in a way seeking more effec-
tive ways to do a job”, “ Carries out ex-
pected job without supervision”,
“Proactively takes steps to identify
they will surprise you with their inge-
problems”, “Sees what needs to be
done and acts on it” , “Quickly recog-
nises crisis and acts instantly”,
“Takes persistent action to overcome
obstacles to objectives”, “Acts on sig-
nals to create opportunities”, “Seizes
opportunities to independently re-
solve complex issues”, “Develops an
organisational culture ‘to do what
needs to be done’ without guidance
and supervision” … and many more.”
Developing a definition
As we need to name the cluster by
identifying a common element that
flows through all these, we initially
called it as: “Signals to arise action”.
On further discussion, we renamed
the competency cluster as “initia-
tive”, which was identified as a key
competency for the group success.
Reviewing and analysing the in-
puts captured during the workshop,
definition of ‘initiative’ was finally
it is approved. You have not only pro-
scripted. The competency “initiative”
is proactively doing things. Moving
with an inner drive to get and set
things in right direction without be-
ing asked and reminded. It is the abil-
ity to identify, address, think and act
on current or future problems, needs
or opportunities. What do we do with
this definition?
Competency linked to people
It acts as a guideline for recruit-
ment to hire people who display this
competency. The expanded definition
with behavioural indicators are
linked to processes of performance
appraisal, succession planning, gap
analysis, assessment and training
and development. This system on im-
plementation will ensure build the
competency throughout the organisa-
tion, which is considered as central to
business success.
How to develop competency?
In this perpetually competing
business world, organisations look
out for people who display the compe-
tency “initiative”. They need people
who are prepared to experiment, try
things, take calculated risks and
achieve results. Not those who wait to
be told to ‘do something’ and wait pas-
thing. They want managers who
would see and seize opportunities and
make things happen, creating a posi-
tive difference. Managers who identi-
fy problems and donot think about
them are not in demand. There are
many ‘snake reporters’ but ‘snake
catchers’ are few. If some one wants
to develop this competency “initia-
tive”, it is worth looking at a simple
model developed by Stephen Covey.
Covey’s seven levels
Dr Covey defines a continuum of
seven levels of “initiative”. At the
lowest level people ‘wait until told’.
Some open up and ‘ask’. There are
some more who move a bit to ‘make a
recommendation’. Few express that
they ‘intend to do’. Very few ‘do it and
report immediately’. Above this level
are some people who ‘do it and period-
ically report’. Finally the smart
ones just do it.
1. Wait until told
They just wait for instruc-
tions and their mind always
lie outside their jobs. They
do not ask or question. They
fall into the trap of codepen-
dency that spawns five emo-
tional cancers: criticising,
complaining, comparing,
competing and contenting.
While competition in a
marketplace and sports set-
ting is worth than in relation-
ships and work teams where it
is damaging, one must be ‘bilin-
gual’ of competition inside the
market place and co-operate inside
the workplace to avoid single minded
danger that Maslow observed, “He
that is good with the hammer tend to
think everything is nail.”
2. Ask
It would be reasonable to ask a log-
ical question about something within
your job or things over which you
have control or influence. You cannot
do much about things, which are not
under your control. But if some exter-
nal factors affect your job, and if you
ask an intelligent question after thor-
ough analysis and careful thinking, it
may some time influence on things,
which are not under your control.
3. Make a recommendation
Never tell people what to do, and
nuity (general patton). One can take
decisions on things, which are under
his control, but can only make recom-
mendations on things, which lie out-
side our job orbit.
Covey cites a beautiful illustration
from military five-step recommenda-
tion doctrine:
n Analyse the problem
n Come up with alternative and
recommended solutions
n Develop recommended steps to
execute the solutions
n Incorporate an awareness of all
realities (political, social, economic
competencies)
n Make a recommendation in a
way that only requires approval and
signature.
4. “I intend to do”
This step is one notch higher than
initiative. Some employees come for-
ward and would say “I intend to do
this” “I intent to take this action”.
Then their manager may say “very
well”. The approval may be a key deci-
sion by the boss, which is only five per
cent of the iceberg - the other 95 per
cent of the decision is made without
involving the boss.
When you say, “I intend to do this”
you have done more work than mak-
ing a recommendation. You are fully
prepared to carryout the action once
vided a solution to the problem but
you are also ready to implement it.
5. Do it and report immediately
When you do this, you would be on
the outside orbit of your influence
and control, but within your own job
limits. But you report immediately
since others need to know.
It enables you to see if everything
was done correctly and allows you to
make timely corrections if necessary.
It also provides information needed
by others to take certain decisions or
to start executing things, which need
some input through your report.
6. Do it and report periodically
This level of initiative pertains to
actions that could be part of self-eval-
uation of performance on a formal re-
port. This brings clarity about the
alignment of your actions with your
job responsibilities, scope and influ-
ence.
Other can use this informa-
tion to link up with the chain
of activities to reach a bigger
objective.
7. Do it
There is a greater power
in the idea of taking respon-
sibility and just doing it -
making it happen. When
something is right at the
centre of your orbit of influ-
ence and the core of your
job description, you just do
it, says Dr Covey.
Take action
As Tom Peters puts it, “One
can take an initiative in some way
or the other, irrespective of what is-
sue, problem or concern one has. It
calls for doing ‘something’ in the situ-
ation.
Taking initiative requires some vi-
sion, effort and some standard to be
met. It requires a discipline to ‘do’.
“Nobody cares! Nobody is watching!
You’re on your own! You can get your
hands dirty, make mistakes, take
risks, and perform miracles! ...”
The writer is a former corporate Vice
President - Human Resources and cur-
rently HRD and leadership competency
building consultant, and can be contact-
ed at: cmowly@hotmail.com