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7:28 PM
In my previous post, I talked about the importance if developing communication skills and I have talked about how to improve communication and that is through adding emotion to words. Today, I would like to talk about #2 horizontal skill that will make a lot of difference in your and my career and that is INITIATIVE.
Conrad Hilton, founder of Hilton hotels, said it beautifully when he said, "Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit." Because when it comes to becoming a success, takingINITIATIVE is key. People who has the initiative takes action and keeps himself and the organization he or she is in in motion. These are the people who does not go with the flow but differentiates themselves from the flock by taking positive actions that the majority does not make or just dream of doing. Yes, you will be surprised how many dreamers are there in this world. There are so many people who are filled with good intentions but only very few makes their good intentions happen. One quote that I never forget about taking action is this, "No one ever got married by just staring at each other."
You might think that this is very basic and that is true because what I am sharing are fundamentals to success. These are basic and easy to derived but you will be surprise that very few are doing this. I surmised that only 3% of every organization recognizes the fundamentals thus setting them apart from the 97%. Master motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, once gave this challenge, "Walk away from the 97%".
In the past, I desired to be always in the background, never leading just camouflage in the middle thinking that if you are in the middle you will not make a lot of mistakes thus saving you from a lot of embarrassment but soon I found some people in the organization that I am in, is getting the promotions and success that I so eagerly desire. So I asked myself, what are they doing that I am not doing? I realized that these people are taking actions that the majority are not doing thus making them "visible" and more attractive to success. Yes you attract success and not pursue it and one of the ways to attract success is to be valuable to the marketplace. To be valuable is to take initiative.
How do you take initiative?
1. Pay attention. You would be surprised that there are so many problems in the organization that no one is paying attention to. Ordinary people do not go into details and pay attention so when you notice these problems and try to find another way to solve them, you will find yourself on the flow and in the mind-set of a problem solver.
2. Be a problem solver. A lot of people complain; the average person whine and whine and are always victim to something. But the winners are problem solvers. When you take the mantle of being a problem solver, you are differentiating yourself from the mundane. Even if you solve a little problem, the little things you solve in the organization will soon accumulate to something favorable to you. Jim Rohn said it nicely when he said, "Life accumulates. And I'm either accumulating debt that I'll be sorry for or I am accumulating value that I'll be happy about."
3. Just do it. It is said that there are just two brand of shoes that you need to wear: Nike and Addidas; because when you want to do something, you need to Just Do Itand if you think it is impossible or you are against an insurmountable odds then you just have to tell yourself that Impossible is Nothing. So just do it. Just take action and keep moving. If at first, things are not going your way, just wait and be patient just continue to take action and learn from your mistakes. Sometimes you make it and sometimes you don't make it but that's just part of growing up. So Just do it.
So whatever industry you are in, you could be a student, a businessman, an employee, a manager, or a middle-manager, you can be sure that taking INITIATIVEwill bring you closer to your goal.
Next post, I will expound on the next horizontal skill - SYNTHESIS.
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