How to Become Wildly Productive
“A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to.” (Wall and Piece)
The most productive leaders:
- Set stretch goals.
- Drive hard for results.
- Practice unfailing consistency.
- Expand knowledge and technical skill.
- Display energy and take initiative.
- Anticipate and solve problems.
(Zenger – Forbes.)
In an HBR post, Zenger and Folkman added a seventh trait, “Be collaborative.”
This post focuses on INITIATIVE.
The 5 practices of initiative:
#1. Do for yourself what you wish others would do for you.
Would you like a mentor? Then get off your butt and find a mentor. Do you need more information from higher ups? Go ask questions.
#2. Consider a lousy leader an opportunity to contribute.
You develop skills, gain knowledge, and develop humility when you do your boss’s job for him. If he takes credit for your work, forget it.
Expand your resume. Continue learning, developing, and contributing. Then move on.
#3. Fail trying, not gathering information.
Losers hide behind the word ‘right’. I’m waiting for the right time, the right team, the right resources.
Unproductive people love the word, ‘waiting’. I’m waiting for permission. I’m waiting for someone to return my call.
Initiative gets in trouble sometimes. But trouble caused by initiative is better than trouble caused by delay.
Ask forgiveness, not permission.
Proactive leaders believe NOW is better than later.
#4. Learn by trying stuff, not simply talking.
Talk deceives teams into believing they’re getting stuff done. Yes, define problems and explore solutions, but make choices that enable visible action.
If you can’t see it, it doesn’t count. Talking about things is a beginning. But initiative always ends in action.
#5. Do more than needs to be done.
Anticipate what your customers need and give it before they ask. This applies to colleagues, employees, and bosses.
If you will start small, you’re less likely to stay small.
What does the practice of extreme initiative look like to you?
When is initiative a bad thing?
Boom and WOW! Love this Dan, great stuff and a perfect way to start the day. Makes me think of one of my favorite quotes, “Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved”.
Love the quote, Mark. Thanks for the good word.
Great Dan,
The driving force behind us is us! We need to accentuate on our options and move, “sitting and waiting will go no where” as you point out. No one ever grew being stagnant and backwards.
Channel our energy to those who deserve it and bypass those who don’t embrace the journey.
For those who needed a push somewhere along the line a person brought out the best in you, a parent, teacher, mentor etc., cherish what they offer and apply this to yourself and others, we can all grow.
Thanks Tim. It can take a lifetime to stop reacting to the past and start reaching for the future. Sometimes the hurts and disappointments of the past control the present.
Dan—Love the “tips” on initiative.
Needed this post last week to share with a team member missing out on advancement opportunities because of this area of growth. Today I need it to check myself and recalibrate so I don’t set expectations higher for others than for myself.
You help me want to be a better leader.
Thank you!! —Scott
Thanks Scott. Your statement, “You help me want to be a better leader,” makes me sing.
Dan,
Please expand on this point, what do you mean?
“2. Consider a lousy leader an opportunity to contribute”
Bob…I think Dan is saying if you have a lousy leader, get in there and take up the slack, i.e., that is your contribution to the cause of supporting that lousy leader.
Thanks for asking. Sadly, a lousy leader can be an excuse to pull back. That’s self sabotage. Seize the opportunity to learn and grow. Don’t let resentment destroy your future. It’s not unusual for people to give less than their best when they have a bad boss. Who does this hurt?
Bob, I agree with yanirjones.
I believe Dan means that the opportunities from a lousy leader come from the gaps they leave which create opportunity for someone else. If your manager (or your team) has gaps, you seizing the opportunity to fill the gaps makes your team stronger and shows your initiative.
Taking initiative/action is much better than sitting back and wishing your boss would do it. Even the best manager can’t do everything; it truly takes a team. I believe that a great manager is only great because they’re part of a great team.
Extreme initiative looks like rattling the cage, finding out who’s doing what and asking those tough questions, not hiding behind your desk and/or keeping your door closed pretending to be busy. Yani
Thanks Yani. They say that sitting behind a desk is the worst place for a leader to be.
Love it! I wish I would have realized earlier in my career that I need to do for myself what I want others to do for me but I’m all over it now and realize when others question “why do you take so many trainings?” I’m taking that as a compliment and asking “why not?”!
Thanks Jamie. Who is helped when you better yourself? Everyone! 🤗
Thank you Dan for these tips. I start my day by reading your blog which I find very inspiring. It also helps to gauge whjere I am and what I am focusing on.
I like # 4 “learn by trying stuff and not just talking”. On the need to cut down on meeting and instead focus on doing things, solving problems or helping our teams move ahead.
Thanks P. I respect that you get something out of leadership Freak.
It seems that things get clearer when we take action and more confusing the more we talk.
Initiative is a bad thing in pretty much any hierarchical, rule-driven organisation. The only thing worse is to show initiative and have it fail in such a scenario. At that point you’ll find yourself in a place where you have no opportunity to show initiative in about two minutes flat.
Thanks Mitch. It’s true, in some orgs initiative is deadly. Of course, in highly regulated industries you better not take initiative in some areas, or people could die.
These two ideas stand out: #5. Do more than needs to be done. & 6. Anticipate and solve challenges. I just do not see many who do more than needs to be done and I see few who work ahead to anticipate the challenges. Most seem to just want to do the minimum and not see ahead. Am I expecting too much in that one should do more and that one should think ahead to anticipate and solve the challenges seen?
Thanks Roger. Well you might not be expecting too much, but your expectations are being disappointed. The alternative is to expect less.
I just can’t wrap my mind around “expecting less”. It IS NOT in my DNA, I am flawed in that way.
Sounds like a good flaw to me.
Another great article! I do *most* of these. Which also means I still have room to improve, right? And good that I recognize that. 🙂
Thanks Shannon. They say there is always room for improvement. 😁
Hi Dan, I have not checked in in a while… what a great day to check back in.
“A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to” Simply the truth.
Think: Worker bees; caterpillar becomes butterfly; Nike…they all ‘Just do it’.
Leadership is innate in some; for others it takes a lifetime to learn that we don’t need permission.
This post needs to be a SOP – a must read and sign at every ‘orientation’.
Thank you!
Thanks Melanie. So glad you dropped in. We go further the sooner we learn to give OURSELVES permission. If we wait for permission we give others permission to run our lives.
Fail trying, not gathering information. Unproductive people love the world ‘waiting’…
Failure permits no alibis and success requires no explanation. Creating an alibis to cover up a situation while on the trail to success is an odd mode to deactivate. The story do count but doesn’t sum up in your subtle angles of negative responses.
Thanks Godwin. Your sentence, “Failure permits no alibis and success requires no explanation.” speaks to me. Keep working. Don’t give up.
Clarifying “forget it’ from #2. I’m pretty sure you mean forget that they took credit for work you’ve done & move on, keep doing it, correct? (Not, “forget it” as in don’t do that work for them again.)
Hi Martha, You got it. Thanks for checking.