They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. – Andy Warhol (Philosopher)
In the most popular, I think, story Jesus told
to illustrate life issues, he spoke of a king who distributed gifts of money to
three of his most trusted servants. The first and second invested their monies and
acquired profits. The third, which was given least, hid the money and returned
it without profit. While the first two were praised and given more the third
was rebuked and punished.
One interesting thing to note in that story is
that though the monies were given to them, they were not told what to do with
them. The king did not hint exactly in what areas they were to multiply what
was given. No bar was set to determine a standard for success. They were left
on their own to take initiative and multiply what they had. It is of this I write.
To succeed in life you must develop the habit
of taking initiative. Resist the temptation of waiting for instructions from
someone else before you take all actions. Do not be afraid of taking the blame
of trying and failing. Rather dread the failure that comes to a cause due to
your inaction – irrespective of if others see you as the cause of failure or
not.
All leaders take initiative. They think for
themselves, identify what need be done in a situation and take the necessary action.
It is this attitude of taking initiative that stand them out of the crowd of
mediocre folks and anoint them leaders.
To develop the
attitude of taking initiative you must develop a healthy self-esteem. If you think you can’t, you probably
can’t. If you think that the solution of a problem cannot come from you, you
will fold your hands and watch. If instead you think that you have the capacity
to solve a problem you will rise up to the occasion.
Also, you
must see yourself as responsible. When there is a task at hand, have an
attitude that says, it is not somebody’s responsibility, it is my
responsibility. The work at hand must be done even if it means you add it to
yours. When responsibilities are assigned to people it should be to enhance
effectiveness. When we insist on keeping strictly to segments, not considering
if one part of the work is pulling the whole lot down, we are not taking
initiative.
