1..

"Proactivity" Defned
It means more than merely taking initiative. It means that as human
beings,
we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our
decisions, not our conditions. We can subordinate feelings to values. We
have the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen. Look at
the word responsibility -- "response-ability" -- the ability to choose your
response.
ighly proactive people recogni!e that responsibility. "hey do not blame
circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. "heir
behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values,
rather than a product of their conditions, based on feeling. #ecause we
are, by nature, proactive, if our lives are a function of conditioning and
conditions, it is because we have, by conscious decision or by default,
chosen to empower those things to control us.
In making such a choice, we become reactive. $eactive people are often
a%ected by their physical environment. If the weather is good, they feel
good. If it isn&t, it a%ects their attitude and their performance. 'roactive
people can carry their own weather with them. Whether it rains or shine
makes no di%erence to them. "hey are value driven( and if their value is
to produce good )uality work, it isn&t a function of whether the weather is
conducive to it or not. 'roactive people are still in*uenced by e+ternal
stimuli, whether physical, social, or psychological.
#ut their response to the stimuli, conscious or unconscious, is a value-
based choice or response. $eactive people are driven by feelings, by
circumstances, by conditions, by their environment. 'roactive people are
driven by values -- carefully thought about, selected and internali!ed
values.
Taking the Initiative
Act or be Acted Upon
Listening to our Language
irc!e o" oncern. irc!e o" In#uence 'roactive people focus their
e%orts in the ,ircle of In*uence. "hey work on the things they can do
something about. "he nature of their energy is positive, enlarging and
magnifying, causing their
,ircle of In*uence to increase.
Direct$ Indirect$ and %o ontro!
&'panding the irc!e o" In#uence
The "(ave)s" and the "*e)s"
The +ther &nd o" the ,tick
-aking and .eeping o//it/ents
0..*egin 1ith the &nd in -ind T-
A!! Things Are reated T1ice 2 "#egin with the -nd in .ind" is based
on the principle that all things are created twice. "here&s a
mental or /rst creation, and a physical or second creation to all things
"ake the construction of a home, for e+ample. 0ou create it in every detail
before you ever hammer
the /rst nail into place. 0ou try to get a very clear sense of what kind of
house you want.
*y Design or De"au!t
Leadership and -anage/ent 33 The T1o reations
In the words of both 'eter 1rucker and Warren #ennis,
".anagement is doing things right( leadership is doing the right things."
.anagement is e2ciency in climbing the ladder of success( leadership
determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.