“Lots of people never used their initiative because no one told them to,” Banksy.
Initiative is a hard-sought act that leads to the success of ambitious goals. During turbulence, however, many team members feel reluctant to speak up and offer their opinion on a matter, simply because they are afraid. Not only during difficult moments, but on normal occasions as well! As mentioned in my previous post, change requires leadership and every person drives innovation and improvements in a team’s process. It’s a leaders responsibility to encourage initiative at the workplace to produce an efficient, ambitious team.
Encouragement from the Team
John, a bank accountant, was encouraged to take initiative by his manager. He was surrounded with an environment of colleagues who spoke up when they had a suggestion for a better process.
His group had bought a new, high-tech printer for contracts, legal papers, and the like. However, the printer would require the toners to be refilled every week, due to the mass amounts of paper printed. This headache and struggle motivated John to find a solution. He researched different printers that did not need to be refilled so frequently, but found the best option at an exuberantly high price. At first, he was hesitant and nervous to request the upgrade, but since the team had been previously encouraged to take initiative to improve any process, he decided to offer the suggestion to his manager. And to his surprise, his manager said yes.
The lesson that John learned was that exemplary leaders appreciate team members who take the opportunity to take initiative. At the same time, since junior members were allowed to work on this issue, it gave the seniors an opportunity to focus on more pressing tasks. The encouragement gave the team clear positive feedback and courage to find other suggestions over the next years to improve efficiency and process.
According to a study, team members who felt that they were challenged, and who observed that their leaders were also challenging themselves, experienced 25% to 35% stronger feelings of pride, motivation, and team spirit. The least challenging leaders, however, earned evaluations from their team nearly 40% lower than those received by leaders viewed as ambitious and seeking out challenges for themselves.
So how can you instill initiative in your team?
1. Create a Can-do Attidtude
Leaders must provide opportunities to their team to gain mastery on a task one step at a time. Asking your team questions on tasks -- even if you know the answer -- creates an environment of trust and honesty. Trusting team members with important presentations, asking them for their input when a period of rapid change occurs, and understanding shared values are steps to take for an ambitious team.
2. Mental Simulation
Play a scenario in your mind until you can picture it frame by frame. This exercise will encourage others to find solutions to problems that you may have never thought of. Asking your team to imagine the steps that they will take before they enact them is a strategy for giving them confidence when a real situation requires it.
3. Get your team to stretch themselves.
Set the bar higher than usual, but at a level where people feel they can succeed. If you raise it too high, then your team will fail; ultimately discouraging them from continuously trying. Raise the bar a bit at a time, and your team will have the confidence to display initiative.
Final Thoughts
Fostering initiative in your team is vital for success, as it displays the characteristics as honesty and credibility. Your team will feel that they are honoured and that their leader relies on them at every step of the workplace journey.
Note: All knowledge and ideas are attained from the book"The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations 5th Edition". This blog summarizes the content from the book, but may unintentionally contain the same wording.
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