The initiative of a father to publish his daughter’s journal provided the world with a first-hand view into the Holocaust. It changed the way the world viewed this historical event. In her diary, Anne Frank says ‘How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world’. Initiative moves the world. It fosters the realization of innovative ideas in various industries and contributes to constant development.
Now, taking initiative in the workplace does not have to be as world-changing as Otto Frank’s was, but it can have the same effect on the people you work with, and move you further into achieving the career goals you set out to achieve.
Taking initiative in the workplace is not easy. It requires confidence and lots of courage, especially when you are working with people more qualified or more outspoken than you. But you there are a few simple steps you can take to be someone who takes initiative:
- Go beyond normal expectations. Concentrate on areas where you can generate the most visible and remarkable results.
- Offer to help wherever it’s needed. If you know your co-workers could use some help on a project, offer to help.
- When you hear of something your boss is doing, say to him or her “I can do that for you” or “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you with that.”
- Take the initiative to do additional work that hasn’t been assigned to you.
- Ask for more challenging tasks.
- Do the things nobody else wants to do.
- Figure things out on your own! If someone asks you to do something that you don’t know how to do, figure it out on your own! Google it. Research it. Be the person who can be trusted to find out information on their own.
- Do something that adds value to the workplace. For example, you may help your company achieve an important goal, or coming up with a unique idea that helps a company improve productivity.
- Ask a lot of questions. To take initiative you should know how things work and how you can improve them. For this purpose, try to observe everything going on around you as much as you can. Be curious and ask questions. Try to find out how the things work and analyze each situation. This will give birth to new ideas and ways to contribute to the growth of your organization more and more.