Take the initiative! (Rewarding Employees).

• Author: Nelson, Bob
• Position: Brief Article

We all work for someone else, right? Wrong. While you may have a boss and receive a company paycheck--you control your destiny. You decide what potential you reach in your career and what you will accomplish. Every day, you have the chance to excel, to stand Out and to be exceptional.

"Taking the initiative" can mean many things--tapping your inner creativity, tackling a persistent problem, capitalizing on opportunities or creating ways to improve your current work environment. By taking initiative in any of these ways, you can elevate your visibility in the organization and greatly enhance your chances for recognition, learning, advancement, pay raises and bonuses.

Thinking outside the box

Innovation--thinking outside the box--is the spark that keeps organizations moving onward and upward. Without innovation, new products, new services and new ways of doing business would never emerge. To think outside the box:

* Look for new combinations. (The heart of creativity is new combinations.)

* Ask "what if" or develop "what-if" scenarios.

* Consider approaches you've never considered before.

* Brainstorm with others.

* Be a champion of new ideas.

Do your homework

Preparation is often the key to success in any endeavor. You will be more successful in convincing others that what you believe is the right thing if you are armed and ready with the facts. Taking the initiative to do your homework means doing the basic research necessary to back up your claims.

When Patrick Sinner at PNG Bank of Pittsburgh came up with the energy-saving idea of requiring employees to turn off their computers at the end of each workday, management objected--citing a widely held, but erroneous, assumption that regularly switching the equipment on and off would dramatically shorten its life. However, Sinner did not stop there. He further researched the topic and came up with data that supported his idea. When Sinner...