The Single Most Important Quality for Leaders

Initiative is the single most important quality for leadership.

The definition of a leader is someone who others follow. That’s literally what leading is. If you lead, people listen to you. Granted, there are different methods of leadership, like quiet and thoughtful leaders who aren’t the stereotypical type that garner all the attention. But it still remains, people listen to leaders.

And why is that? What makes some people easier to follow than others?

Of course, there are a lot of factors but initiative seems to be the most important.

For one, you can’t be a leader without initiative because, by definition, leaders are in the front. If you consistently show your skills and smarts without acting first, that can work but at some point you still need to act. Initiative has the root “initial” in the word. Initial means to “occur at the beginning.” Essentially, first.

Gabby Reece, big wave surfer Laird Hamilton’s wife, popularized a great philosophy called, “Going First.” The premise is to always “go first,” whether that means smiling at someone first as you walk by, or saying hello, or striking up a conversation, or doing the dishes. Be first. This mental model is a great way to water the seeds of taking initiative.

You can be an extremely successful person without taking initiative, you just won’t be a leader. Initiative requires taking risk. If you fail, people will know. If you don’t take the initiative, you don’t take on much risk.

Have you ever been trying to decide on a place to eat with a group of friends? If you don’t take any initiative, you can just shoot down the recommendations. But the person who is coming up with the ideas is at risk of suffering a horde of no’s. Even so, that is leadership. What’s more, if the leader in the group chooses a place but that place turns out to be terrible, everyone can blame them. That is the main reason why people don’t take initiative: fear of failure. I don’t think it’s laziness. Most people aren’t extremely lazy, as to not even open the Yelp app.

Instead, it’s the what-if it’s a bad restaurant that I choose. Then people will talk about me behind my back. It’s this fear of other’s opinions at the heart of it. Failing in itself doesn’t really matter. If society rewarding failing with social currency, nobody would have a fear of it. It’s the harsh opinions of others at the heart of lacking initiative.

When people gossip about us, our brains can treat it like a deadly threat. It literally has the same power. No wonder we don’t want to step out.

But without initiative, we will be left tolerating the leader’s choices. The phrase ‘passive-leader’ just reeks with oxymoron-ity. There is no way leaders can be passive. But there is a difference between passivity and a leader who wants input. A good leader will make those around her better. She won’t just make willy-nilly decisions that aren’t good for the group. If she does, somebody else will eventually step up or the group will turn on her and force the person they really believe should be the leader to step up.

That’s how group dynamics work. People listen to the person who takes initiative, but that person still needs to make good decisions or else they will be replaced or if they are not, the group will continue to tolerate poor decisions. It starts with initiative. It is sustained by the things everyone talks so much about; emotional intelligence, thoughtfulness, preparation, forward thinking, strategy.

Without initiative, those characteristics cannot be put to use.

This is not to say, everyone should take initiative even when they have no idea what they’re doing. No, that is unsustainable and not smart. The group always figures out the truth. You can fool some people all of the time and all people some of the time but never all of the people all of the time.

What if you aren’t ready to lead?

This is a question I struggle with. I feel like I need to be really prepared and know everything before stepping up. Granted, you want to feel somewhat equipped but it might not be as necessary as you think. If you don’t feel quite comfortable, just take the initiative by asking others what they think about the situation.

For instance, let’s say you’re at work and your boss calls a big meeting angry about not meeting sales goals. Maybe you don’t know the exact answer but go ahead and give your idea and then say, “but I would love to hear everyone else’s thoughts.” This takes the awkwardness out of the room because people don’t know how the boss will respond. It’s just like the restaurant example, people are afraid of ridicule.

Leaders will get ridiculed. It’s just a fact. Even if you do everything in your power to do the best job possible, someone else will have a different point of view. It’s ok. Don’t let other’s opinions dictate your reality. If you want to be a leader, it starts with initiative…

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