Initiative is a valuable trait in a person. Taking initiative is the mark of a self-starter who can see what needs to be done without being told. It is that invaluable professional who doesn’t need hand-holding to complete a task. The self-starters on my team enable me to spend my time more profitably, so I value that skill.
On the other side of the spectrum sits the procrastinator. He sits and sits and sits. He waits for someone to give him a task and then manages to rationalize its imminent delay. Many procrastinators are just plain lazy or woefully indifferent. The problem with caring less is carelessness. Their casualness is your casualty because you are paying for no results. Those people have no place on your team. They have chosen to de-hire themselves by not complying with the needs of the job.
Other procrastinators are afraid of making the wrong decision so they make none at all. As the manager of these struggling professionals, instill in them that it is more important to make a wrong decision. If you screw up, fix it. Inaction is inertia. Nothing happens.
Procrastination is the sneakiest thief of every opportunity that comes your way. Initiative is the combatant. General Douglas MacArthur said security is your ability to produce a result, which makes you employable.
The ability to take action now separates the achievers from the rest of the team. If you can’t turn your procrastinators into self-starters, start over with new members who innately understand the difference.
There is never enough time in a day to accomplish everything you’d like, right? Even if you had a 48-hour day, you’d somehow still reach the waning hours of the evening and shake your head over all the tasks you didn’t get around to finishing (or possibly even starting). The trouble isn’t that there is not enough time in a day, but that you: (a) try to do too much; and/or (b) don’t organize your time well enough to make the most of it.
Here’s a tool that I have found to be successful: Time blocking. I build a schedule around my schedule. If the sales center is open from 10 to 6, I don’t necessarily see that time frame as my work schedule. That’s just the time that I’m committed to being available at this location. But, within that 10-6 window, how am I going to best utilize my time? Rather than let the day take control of me (like sitting and waiting for prospects to wander in), I plan a specific period of time to do my follow-up calls and emails. I schedule a block of time to wholly focus on prospecting. Then I allow myself one hour at the end of each day to wrap up the paperwork. In this way, I can tuck forms into a folder throughout the day, knowing that they will be completed before I leave. And I’m not distracted with the minute tasks associated with paperwork that distract me from the most important work ahead of me: Making sales.
If your office is open during specific hours, you are only on a schedule, but not working on a schedule. By taking the initiative to maximize your time by establishing priorities, you become the master. Without seizing such initiative, you are destined to spend your life taking orders from those people who do.
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Posted by Myers Barnes
