This is the 4th of 6 Cornerstone Moment leadership lessons, and I ask you to consider this concept: without initiative there is no innovation.
The immensity of our current challenges should never be understated! However, one might declare that they are, in some circles, being overstated. Remember that this too shall pass (the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919 did). And when it does, how will you be positioned… or prepared?
In this current crisis, I find many people focused on the obstacles rather than the opportunities to improve and prepare for what is next. The likelihood of our world returning to how we lived 90-120 days ago is highly questionable. So, do we give up and wait on the government to take care of us, or do we get in the game and proceed with a path of improvement? What do you think?
I am quite sure you are familiar with the Nike, Inc. trademark: Just Do It! Sometimes as leaders we must just do it! Since often the road to success is the road less traveled, it makes sense that we sometimes should step out in faith and execute a plan with associated risks and uncertainties. You noticed that I didn’t advocate going without a plan. Too many companies have no plan and thus no roadmap or guardrails. Well established methods may be in place so there are not many veers off track, but there are neither any plans to improve, change, evolve and therefore they are susceptible to stagnation. The greater the risk often the greater the reward. Sometimes it is best to say yes to the road less traveled even though there will likely be many obstacles and the bigger the goals, the greater the obstacles. Leaders need to be confident in their teams and plans and say yes to risk with the confidence of recovery if they fail. Remember what John Wooden said “Success if never final, failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.”
Taking initiative leads to innovation. But you must try new things to be able to innovate. In my world, process is often sacred. And much of the time it shouldn’t be. When asking why, have you ever heard the answer, “Because we have always done it that way”? I remember one of my first clients out of college whose boss bought a new bookkeeping computer. When my boss and I went to train the operator, she would not sit facing the keyboard. She was afraid of the darned thing. There was no chance of her falling or loud noises coming from the computer and those are the only two fears that we are born with. So instead of thinking, “This is different but who says it can’t work for me?” she resisted a new computer. Can you imagine? It is vastly different today isn’t it? We eventually convinced her that it was a good thing and it all worked out.
Imagine if she would have embraced the positive change. Her stress level would have decreased, the positive emotes from her autonomic nervous system would have increased, and the time and effort required of us to get her up and running would have been dramatically reduced. Change is part of the cycle of life but by the reactions of many, you wouldn’t know it. Leaders must help foster a positive perspective regarding change to help overcome that fear because change is inevitable, and initiative depends on change.
The most effective way I have found to help people take initiative is to foster a safe environment, whether it be at work or home. I use the expression, “Lead with your neck” for your employees and family. If you put your neck on the line for them, they just may follow your example and return the favor. At the very least they will feel safe enough to take initiative. And if they fail, well, they just joined your club and mine. I have high regard for that club! I have learned many things from failed initiatives.
Another concept regarding taking initiative is that of “throwing the first punch”. I am not advocating violence, by any stretch of the imagination. We have way too much of that in the world today. What I mean is simply this, don’t wait for the sure thing or the safe play. It may never come. That is what followers do. They wait for leaders to take them somewhere. When I decided to begin working on providing leadership training to help people improve and /or get ahead, I called on 3 friends and we dove into this idea together. We don’t yet know where we will end up, but we do have a plan and are executing it. Yes, there are obstacles and there will be more, yet I believe that we will stay the course and see where it takes us. If we fall short of our goal, we will at least have learned how to do things differently and more effectively in the next effort. I believe as Thomas Carlyle did when he wrote, “A person with a clear purpose will make progress on even the roughest road. A person with no purpose will make no progress on even the smoothest road.”
During this time of traveling a very rough road, purposeful and planned initiatives will always have an upside. They will almost certainly lead to needed and welcomed innovation.