Most successful people are the ones who do not wait around to be told what to do. People that wait around to be told what to do are followers. They are not leaders.
Allowing people to take the initiative is a necessity for any business to be successful. Not every aspect of every business situation can be thought out in advance, and it is people that can think on their feet and devise solutions to their problems that will help grow a business.
Policy manuals are great because they give a detailed guideline on expectations and how things should be run in an organization. But, (and this is a big but) policy manuals cannot foresee every situation that a manager will face on a daily basis. A manager must be able to think on his/her feet and to make decisions based upon what will be best for the customer and the business. If everything could be handled by a policy manual then we would not need managers.
I have run numerous organizations and I always surrounded myself with people that took the initiative to recognize and fix problems. I never wanted people around me that would wait for me to tell them what to do. I always try to be clear on how I wanted our organization to run with an emphasis on the principles that are important to success, and I am pleased to say that most of the time these intelligent people, using their own initiative made the right decisions. On occasion, something might not have been handled in the correct fashion, but I never faulted someone for trying to make things right. If something could have been handled in a better fashion then I discussed the situation and explained how their course of action might have been improved. I firmly believe that if people are continually chastised for making a decision that does not turn out as planned that they will simply stop making them.
If you happen to work for a manager that says “just do what I tell you and nothing else” then you may want to think about finding a position at another organization.
Hire smart people and give them the freedom to use that intelligence. It will make your business better.
Initiative
Quotes
"Be willing to make decisions. That's the most important quality in a good leader. Don't fall victim to what I call the ready-aim-aim-aim-aim syndrome. You must be willing to fire."
T. Boone Pickens
"People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.”
George Bernard Shaw
“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.”
Barack Obama
