Taking initiative refers to the act of developing an individual inner drive to carry out activities without necessarily being asked to do so by anybody. It is the ability to observe a situation, make the right personal judgment, and take the right action in response to this situation. Sometimes taking initiative may involve finding the best remedy for every situation. It involves self-responsiveness that enables an individual to act out of personal conscience and not command or request for anything. People taking initiative are often seen as the ones who work with minimal or no supervision at all since they are responsible, committed, and reliable.
Taking initiative with friends can be defined as being equally concerned about your friends and see eye to eye with them. It needs the continuous application of assertive philosophy in the sense that one expects to be respected only if they respect others. Thus, it helps an individual to be open with his friends since failure to do so is an outright sign of selfishness. This includes offering help even when not requested, appreciating friends and sharing responsibilities with them. An individual is bound to gain more not only by standing firm for his rights but also by honoring others’ rights. An initiative-taking friend, for example, will seek to know why their friend has not turned up to their workplace, which simply shows they are concerned about the friend losing their job due to absenteeism.
It is hard to maintain a sincere friendship without taking initiative with friends since failure to do so will result in mistrust and dishonesty amongst friends. Assertive philosophy has it that in such situations, one keeps to himself for fear of hurting others. Eventually, he ends up hurting both himself and others. The same fear may lead to causing one to sacrifice his rights and in turn, end up training others to mistreat them. For example, a worker in an office who does not complain about numerous tasks assigned to him for fear of upsetting his seniors might end up being stressed due to overworking.
Taking initiative in one’s field of placement requires the constant application of leadership skills. Those who are in charge of their places of work also require political visioning and risk-taking skills as well as diversity skills to coordinate, offer direction, and embrace diversity.
An employee with analytical skills will assess and understand the relationship between various elements and should sometimes go astray; he will then apply relevant technological skills and take the initiative to execute the remedy. Take an example of a secretary and a typist both employed to work in an office. If one day the secretary comes earlier than the typist and finds work not typed, s/he may decide to either type the work and start working or wait for the typist to turn up and type for her before s/he can start working. Thus, by taking initiative, the secretary is expected to type and continue with her work without waiting for the typist.
Failure to take the initiative in fields of placement means that each person owns technological skills relevant to hisher duties only. In such a situation, there exists little ethical reasoning, as well as diversity, is least embraced, and such a working environment does not encourage cooperation and care for others.
More so, places with such as working environments often experience major setbacks in achieving their objectives. This is due to poor analytical and technological skills that a minor shortcoming on one player’s part, which could have been easily solved by another player taking initiative, ends up being magnified and affects the overall performance. For instance, in a football team if a defender makes a mistake, and a nearby striker does not take the initiative because it was a defense role, then the whole team ends up conceding a goal which could lead them to losing the match, and in the process both the players and the coach are expected to take responsibility for the loss.