Taking Initiative - Step 1 Dear loved one, I want to show you a 3 Step Strategy in Taking Initiative to round off this series designed to help you become extra productive in any field of endeavour you find yourself. Today, we start with the first step. Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. – Tony Robbins Taking Initiative requires drawing up goals, not just doing anything someone tells you to; you need Personalised Goals i.e. goals/targets that you have taken ownership of. Take for example, Beverly works as an Administrative Executive. When she took on the job, one of her tasks stated; “Buying and changing the toner when printer runs out of ink”. Taking Initiative is about adding something extra. It could be doing it faster, improving the process, creating the process, teaching others or creating a manual, as long as it adds value to you, your organisation or the people/team involved. Beverly turned her task into a personalised goal. Instead of “Buying and changing the toner when printer runs out of ink”, Beverly re-wrote her task to be; “Buying and changing the toner when printer runs out of ink, knowing how long on the average it takes for the ink to run out, finding out if there are cheaper vendors we could source toners from and creating long term partnerships with them.” The updated description shows Beverly personalising this specific task and taking ownership of it. It is not only what she was asked to do, it is now what she was asked to do plus what she is willing to do to create extra value and do a better job. Because she is now involved in the creative process, the following things will happen: 1.) She will have more motivation to get it done. 2.) She will become more valuable in the organisation. Benjamin Franklin puts it this way – “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn” This week, personalise a goal, and deliver on it. Have a great week!
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 10:53:50 +0000