You may have heard the old line that there are three types of people in the world: 1) those who make things happen, 2) those who watch things happen and 3) those who wonder what happened.  I think it might be time to talk about the role that initiative plays in the world of leadership.  One trait common to all leaders is the initiative they show toward their vision. 

Leaders don't have to be told to do something.  Leaders don't need managers above them.  Leaders don't wait for the lights to all turn green before taking off on a trip.  Leaders take action, they take responsibility, and they don't take their time waiting and wondering if they should act.  At the end of the day, it is the go-getters that seem to become the biggest leaders.  Time after time I have seen people with less talent, less of a head start, less connections, and less information absolutely outperform others simply because they got moving!  Even if a person is not effective, the very fact that he or she is taking action usually forces an improvement in effectiveness.  Even if a person heads in the wrong direction, sooner or later he or she will get on track.

Conversely, those who deliberate, dilly-dally, hesitate, ponder, get bogged down in analysis, or have to be sure everything is perfect before taking action generally do a very good job at what they do, they just don't get much of it accomplished.  They have beautifully detailed goals printed out in multi-colors but don't ever seem to hit them, and they have all kinds of theoretical knowledge about how things are going to work out for them once everything is perfectly situated for them to make an attempt. 

Over time, there is no comparison between the results of the "active" people and the "pondering" people.  The active people almost always win out.  While one group is busy wondering how things are going to be, the other group is busy making them that way!  Often sharp, talented, smart people wonder why the guy who used to have poor people skills, with a limited education, and no connections blew right by them in life.  Usually, personal initiative was a big component in the success story. 

Wondering who the next leader is going to be?  Curious about who is going to grow the most personally in the next couple of years?  Look for the person showing initiative.  Look for the person taking action.  They may not be the most likely candidate at the moment, but all that action will lead to greatness.  And you will see that the old saying has come true.  They will be the ones who make things happen, while the deliberators watch it happen, and a few will deliberate too long and wonder what happened!  So get started today.  Get a goal and go after it.  Don't worry about looking good along the way or about your qualifications.  Just show some  initiative and get started.  You'll be shocked at the power of action!!!!