Stephen Covey in his “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” lists “Proactivity” as the first habit to be effective. This is because, proactive mind is the foundation for all other habits that transform someone to be effective, is based on. So is the case with business organisations.
So what does it mean, for a business to be “proactive”?
Before answering this, we need to know what “proactivity” is, and what is its opposite.
Proactiveness for an individual means, a human taking responsibility of their own lives. Recognising that our behaviour is a result of our decisions and not our conditions. That despite the negativity around us from limitation of our body, our family, our society, our government, our economy- that we have the obligation to take a decision and be responsible to find a solution. That is instead of blaming everything around us (even if they do deserve the blame), we find ways to overcome it, rather than accepting it.
This is really tough. It takes real guts to actually do it. But this is what separates the winners from the losers. History is so full of it.
Same is the case of businesses. A proactive business is one, that takes responsibility of its own success. Recognising that its decisions, policies, strategies and tactics will define its path forward to success, and not the external or internal environment. It does not blame someone and sit back in losses. It finds a way out. It finds a way to grow.
And we have seen companies that are proactive, that rose from worst situations to be world leaders. In fact, it is during recessions and bad economic conditions, that new players come out of nowhere and bypass the old big players.
So what is the opposite of proactive? it’s “reactive”. Reactive companies are what we see all around us. Companies or businesses that react to situations, to new policies, to new regulations, to new economic challenges. Reactive people are always affected by the physical environment. Their success and failure is depended on the environment they are based in. Similarly Reactive Businesses, their success and failure depends on what is the state of the environment they operate in. If its booming, they do well. If it’s going down, they also go down. They don’t have a control over their status. It’s like a balloon floating in the air, or a paper boat in a river.
So what should businesses do, to be Proactive?
First they should have a Proactive Leader. The leader should inspire his team to build a proactive culture. A culture that breeds more people, who believe in the power of proactivity. Such people think, plan, take decisions in a proactive manner. The rest will be history.
Success is not easy. Success and growth is for the proactive ones.
