Freedom to Initiate

Leadership begins with initiative. A personal decision that leads to action. Now would it surprise you that our environments either make initiation easier or harder, or, take it another step, may even determine our whole philosophy of leadership.

Watch this video by Polly Labarre, co-author of Mavericks at Work and CNN contributor, then read her report about IKEA in her Mavericks blog post.

Where do you work best?

For me at home or at a coffee shop. This morning between 4 and 8 I produced a committee newsletter and composed the first draft of a strategic plan for a group. I then went and took a twenty minute nap, and now I'm back at my computer, blogging, and getting ready to work on a column, before heading out to a luncheon.

What Polly's report points to is not just that our environment matters, but the systems in which we work matter. Some people need more structure than others, and along with that they need more direction. Others need a more open environment to create.

Underlying these human behaviors, I'm suggesting, is something deeper. That the environment and the systems of organization that we must work within dictate to us the nature of leadership. With cubicles, corner offices and penthouse suites came the clear impression that some people were leaders and others were not. These more open environments provide a work setting that is more dependent upon personal initiative. With that personal initiative comes the opportunity to be more creative. When we create, we create change and impact, and when we create impact, we lead.

In my home, I have a tiny corner of our family's schoolroom, where I can work for hours without thought of any human necessity. There is nothing attractive about it. It is cluttered with books and paper, maps, DVDs, and office supplies. It is just a place where I can sit down and know that I don't have to move until I want to. There have been many mornings when I was up at 3 or 4 working away and looked at my watch and realized that I needed to shower, pack up and travel 30 minutes to a meeting, and I had only 45 minutes to do it.  OOPS, gotta run.

Think about where you work, and where you feel most creative and motivated to work. Realize in that place you are at your best, and your leadership potential is being tapped to a greater degree than just about any other place.

Leadership begins with initiative, and where we feel free to initiate is the place where our greatest value to our company's is found.