Initiative forms part of your self management toolkit and is an important aspect of growing your young professional skills. Initiative is all about seeing the big picture and recognizing the activities that you can get on with to move things forward.
You may have noticed that we send you a new Young Professional challenge each week based on one of the 5 employ-ability skills we feature: Communication, Problem Solving, Team work, Self belief and Self management. You can find all of the previous tasks by visiting your dashboard – it’s all there ready for you when you need it!
Remember : your Young Professional Membership gives you access to ongoing skill development, take control of your learning and be the best Young Professional you can be!
We covered the basics of initiative in your Young Professional test but let’s recap what it is and why it’s an important skill:
What Is Initiative?
Initiative is the ability to be resourceful and work without always being told what to do. Noticing where the opportunities are to move things forward, get more experience or make things better.
Using your initiative may require you to bring in some other skills too; you might need to stay motivated, positive and be tenacious to really see opportunities and solutions. We love it when a plan comes together.
Why Is Initiative Important?
People who show initiative demonstrate they can think for themselves and take action when necessary. Employers like to know that an employee can think a situation through and take action without always being asked. Using initiative can mean you spot ways to things more efficiently, that you are supporting teams better or taking opportunities to improve your skills! If the company is running better, you are progressing and the team are happy – everyone’s a winner!
What Are The Limits?
Sometimes it can read like that using your initiative means knowing, seeing and doing EVERYTHING! There are limits and with practice you will learn how this can work in different situations, with different people and how your initiative impacts other people.
Using your initiative can sometimes mean saying no to projects or asking for help and support. Make sure that you are clear in what you are taking on, there’s a reason initiative sits within self management! You will need to be organised and understand the time, skills and motivations you have to undertake new activities!
Volunteering for too many projects and letting your school work suffer or having no time to do your day job quickly goes from using your initiative to causing a problem.
How Can You Grow Your Initiative Skills?
- Look for ways to simplify tasks and make things run more efficiently
- Reach out to colleagues and team members who need help.
- Think about problems that might crop up as well as the opportunities that might grow out of the activity
- Keep yourself organised: make sure you are on top of work and activities
- Know your plan, what are your ambitions? Do you need more practice writing essays? Or has your boss highlighted that the next stage of your development is to lead a team? – keep these in mind and look for opportunities to get involved and practice these skills.
0 Comments