You can’t succeed without this quality

Sales people always wonder "What is needed to be highly successful and jump up the corporate ladder?" 

Taking INITIATIVE will always be in the core of the answer. INITIATIVE has two sides an emotional as well as a behavioral.

Looking at the emotional side, successful people have a burning desire to achieve and accomplish.  They are ambitious and highly enthusiastic.

Considering the behavioral part, they are committed to finish the task on hand.  They work hard and go the extra mile. They'll do whatever it takes to get the job done because they have self-discipline.  INITIATIVE is an essential ingredient of success; you can’t be successful without it. 

If you want to be noticed and marked; do more than you're asked to do, and more than what is expected of you.  If you only do what you are told to do; you will never be asked to do greater things.

I would like to share a story by A. Zimer, a business leader and training consultant.

Sam, a sales man, learned that the hard way. Sam and Peter started work at the same company on the same day, doing the same job as sales reps.  They were both considered honest, hard-working employees, but within a year, Peter was promoted to a senior position while Sam was passed over.

Sam felt unappreciated by the company and soon became so resentful of Peter's success that he submitted a letter of resignation to his boss.

"Sam, this is a surprise to me." said the boss.

"Well, I was pretty surprised at the recent round of promotions," complained Sam.

"I see," said the boss thoughtfully.  "But I don't think you understand why.  Tell you what:  before I sign off on this, do me a favor and go across the street to the farmer's market. Find out if anyone is selling oranges."

"Uh, well ... okay," said Sam as he started off on what he considered to be a strange task.  Minutes later, he returned and reported, "Yes, there are oranges for sale at the market today."

Then the boss called Peter to the office and asked the same favor.  About 30 minutes passed before Peter came back to the office and reported, "There are only two vendors selling oranges today.  One is Danny.  He sells Florida oranges at $5 for a 3-pound pack. The other is Mark who sells a 5-pounder Florida orange pack for $8.  They're tree-ripened and sweet.  Both of them don’t sell by pound, it’s the complete pack. And they'll give you a volume discount for any order over 30 pounds.  Was there anything else you needed?"

"No. Thanks." said the boss as Peter walked away.  He turned to Sam and said, "Did you still want to give me this resignation?"

"No," Sam blushed with embarrassment. "I understand your decision now and I think I can be more like Peter.  Do you think he'd teach me how?"

Action Tip:

If you want to go places, you must either get behind and push or go in front and pull. If you stand by the sidelines, you won't go anywhere or far enough anyway.

Find a couple of things you can do at work in the next week or so that are more than is expected and do them, and do them well.

Pointers to Ponder:

Now you could be reading this and wondering to yourself. “well I take initiative but then how come it hasn’t taken me far?”

Well it could be one of or a combination of two things; either your initiative is not being noticed by the people who matter in which case you could work on the placing and timing of your initiatives, or you are simply stuck somewhere where taking the initiatives is not appreciated in which case do not let it discourage nor inhibit you from keeping taking the initiatives.

If you think you have been doing so long enough and feel you are stuck in a rut, it is perhaps not a bad idea to consider packing your bags and bouncing off elsewhere where initiatives are appreciated.