We must train ourselves to break out of reactivity and become proactive explains Chrissy Scivicque
Iâll never forget the first time my boss paid me the greatest compliment I could hope for.
I was working as an Executive Assistant, supporting the senior managing partner of a small wealth management firm. He had just asked me to complete a task for him with a deadline of the following afternoon.
In response to his request, I said smoothly, âI already did it. Itâs on your desk.â
For a moment, he was speechless. Then a big smile broke out over his face, and he said the words I had been longing to hear.
âYou read my mind!â he joked. âThanks for getting ahead of that.â
Thatâs when I first realised the power of being proactive.
As an administrative professional, youâve probably noticed that thereâs an unspoken expectation that youâre a mind reader. The person or people you support might verbalise this in several different ways. A common phrase I used to hear was, âI want you to stay two steps ahead of me.â
Leaders WANT you to be proactive
In short, the leaders you work with donât want to have to tell you what to do. They want you to just know and then do it. They want you to be proactive.
Now, let me be clear: You are not a mind reader and unfortunately, I canât teach you how to have that magical power.
However, when you successfully master the skill of proactivity, you often look like a mind reader. Youâre so on top of things, youâre actually ahead of them. As a result, youâre able to predict potential problems and prevent them. Youâre able to see obstacles coming from a mile away and, by acting early, you can usually manoeuvre around them or (at the very least) minimise their negative impact.
From the outside looking in, you appear to be practically psychic!
Sadly, a vast majority of the population is not proactive. In fact, theyâre the exact opposite: Theyâre reactive.
When youâre reactive, youâre merely acting in response to events and circumstances as they present themselves. Youâre waiting to be told what to do rather than looking ahead and figuring it out on your own. Youâre allowing yourself to be at the mercy of everyone and everything around you instead of using your personal power to influence those things.
Being reactive is very stressful. You feel a lack of control. You feel like youâre always playing catch up and never getting ahead. Reactive people tend to encounter the same problems over and over again. Often, these problems are preventable and predictableâbut reactive people are so focused on responding to their current circumstances, they miss the early warning signs and take action too late.
Breaking Out of Reactivity
Most people are highly reactive by nature. As humans, we must train ourselves to break out of reactivity and become proactive.
Certainly, itâs worthwhile noting that there are times in the workplace when we simply must be reactive. We canât predict exactly what the future holds; we must be agile enough to respond in the moment to whatever pops up especially as administrative professionals!
However, we must also learn to balance that with proactivity. We must look ahead and play an active role in creating our circumstances, not merely responding to them. We must make smart decisions and take effective action today for the sake of creating a better tomorrow.
The process of learning how to do this can be tricky. After all, business leaders and management gurus are always preaching to âbe proactive,â but few ever follow it up with tangible advice for how to do that.
Personally, I got fed up. Thatâs why I launched my own personal research project aimed at really defining what it means to be proactive and how to master this skill once and for all.
The Proactive Skillset
What I discovered in my research was astounding. First, being proactive isnât just one skill, as most people believe. Itâs actually a whole set of skills. In order to be proactive, you must hone your abilities in all six of these key areas.
Here are the skills as Iâve defined them, along with a brief explanation of what they mean:
1. Big Picture Understanding
The ability to use broad business acumen to synthesize information and create a holistic view of the professional environment.
When youâre reactive, youâre stuck in your own little bubble, focused on your own narrow perspective of the world. Youâre unaware of whatâs happening outside that or how it might impact you, now or in the future.
To be proactive, you need to understand contextâall the things that are influencing you and your world. Think about it: How can you attempt to control your circumstances when you donât have a full and accurate understanding of all the things that contribute to those circumstances? You canât.
2. Situational Awareness
The ability to observe and interpret immediate surroundings to enhance understanding of present circumstances.
When youâre reactive, you spend a lot of time on autopilot, doing things merely out of habit or routine. As a result, you miss a lot. Youâre not really present. You might be physically there, but youâre not mentally there.
To be proactive, you need to be mindful and engaged in the here and now. After all, you canât proactively plan and prepare for the future if you donât first understand the present.
3. Future Focus
The ability to create a clear vision of the future by defining desired results and identifying action items.
When youâre reactive, youâre just going with the flow. Youâre so focused on today that you never have time to think about where youâre going. As a result, you donât actually go anywhere! You remain stagnant.
To be proactive, you need to always be thinking about the destinationâyour goals and objectivesâand what it takes to get there. That way, regardless of what the future holds, you can adjust your course to keep on track.
4. Strategic Foresight
The ability to use logic and imagination to anticipate opportunities, obstacles and outcomes.
When youâre reactive, everything catches you off guard. Youâre not able to see things comingâeven when they seem obvious in hindsight.
When youâre proactive, you can begin to predict whatâs coming next and prepare for it ahead of time. I like to say that this is where the magic really happens! Itâs all about evaluating whatâs possible and whatâs probable, and making intelligent calculations about what to expect in the future.
5. Intentional Action
The ability to initiate timely, deliberate action to create a desirable future state.
When youâre reactive, your actions are often unconscious, done out of impulse or instinct. Sometimes, you might wait to act until itâs absolutely forced upon you.
When youâre proactive, your actions become conscious and thoughtful. You take initiative. With the help of the other skills in your Proactive Skillset, youâre able to take intelligent risk and act, even when itâs hard or scary.
6. Self-Evaluation
The ability to critically assess your behaviors and results and make appropriate adjustments to enhance future outcomes.
When youâre reactive, you avoid the difficult task of self-reflection. Why take responsibility for when you can simply be a victim? Itâs easier and more comfortable to just blame circumstances, rather than look at your own part.
Proactive people, conversely, are eager to honestly assess themselves and make improvements for the future. They learn from experience and course-correct when needed.
Iâve spent the past decade refining this model and itâs the most comprehensive one available on the topic. (In truth, itâs the only one).
By focusing your time and energy on these six areas of development, youâll become a more proactive professional. In the administrative field, this can truly differentiate you from your peers in a very positive way.
You may never master that elusive skill of clairvoyance, but once you become proactive, you wonât need to. Youâll have real, tangible tools to help you prepare for the possibilities of the future.
Youâll be in control of your own destiny.
