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Capturing and Creating Opportunities through Your Initiative

Chinese mainland professionals should be more proactive and bolder when they encounter difficult situations or are striving to produce quality results: this is something I hear again and again from foreign executives operating in China.

“In our organization, initiative determines, to a great extent, those who get promoted into senior management roles and those who do not,” said a former COO (chief operating officer) of a major Internet company. “With the business landscape of China’s IT industry so competitive and constantly changing, the ability to be innovative, create new products and services, and to seek new opportunities is a must for success. So when we’ve expanded and had to determine who could take on bigger responsibilities, we’ve always looked to the people who have made things happen, those with a can-do attitude when facing new challenges.”

A human resources director at a US electronics firm said, “At a senior management level, there’s a lot of pressure to come up with solutions and to produce results. I really appreciate employees who go beyond the boundaries of their job scopes. I like it when those on my team take an issue or problem, think about it, and make suggestions. I may not always accept their ideas, but I like the fact that they’re at least offering some. Later on, if a really good opportunity comes up, guess which people I’ll seek out first?”

Willingness to Accept Some Risk

Without the willingness to accept some risks, you limit your ability to stand out as an exceptional performer and leader to those who make decisions in your company. Without participating in new situations, in the eyes of your management, you are merely doing the job that is expected of you. Opportunities may come to you in time, but it is unlikely that you will be seen in your organization as someone who is an outstanding contributor.

The lack of overcoming a fear of failure, and the possibility of looking bad, holds some back from taking greater initiative. Nobody wants to risk failure or look bad, but taking initiative requires a bit of courage. Those who regularly do it tend not to be afraid of taking ownership for a situation. They recognize that although they may not be the ideal person to handle a situation, their commitment to doing any job well give them as good a chance as anyone for achieving a good result. They also understand that management has a similar view of them and of the situation being faced.

Little Downside

This is why I say there is rarely a downside to taking initiative. Especially in instances where opportunities are being offered to you, you should not be afraid to try things, even if you have little or no experience in them. For fast-growing companies, many new and untried projects, plans, and directives must be pursued to attain long-term success here. Every organization needs people who will step up and help make these things happen. From a top management point of view, they’d much rather you get involved than not even try and engage yourself in a situation. They know that the situations facing you are challenging. They understand that in doing something for the first time, mistakes will be made and a learning curve must be climbed if the company is to achieve its business objectives.

Making Something of Nothing

Perhaps my favourite example of how initiative in common situations can provide chances to demonstrate your capabilities and create opportunities for you happened several years ago from an appearance on a CCTV talk show. After the taping of the show I appeared on, a young woman from the audience approached me to introduce herself.

In practically one breath, she said, “Mr. Wang, my name is Angela Zhang and I’m a student at Beijing University. I think you are a charming speaker, and I know my classmates would get so much out of hearing you talk! I was wondering if you would come to our school and give a career development presentation to an organization that I belong to. Besides our members, we could promote the event to the whole university.”

When she finished, my first thought was, “I’m charming? No, you’re the incredibly charming one!” My second thought, which I expressed to her, was that I would be happy to speak to her organization. Over the next month, we spoke several times about the event. 

The day I arrived on campus, I walked into a lecture hall containing more than 300 enthusiastic students. I delivered my talk and learned a lot from their questions about the career concerns of this next generation of aspiring mainland talent.

When I finished, I emphasized to everyone the importance of being proactive in identifying and creating opportunities to learn and develop themselves beyond what their books and classes had to offer. I then pointed to Angela. “Out of all the students here at Bei-Da, I personally know one. That’s Angela Zhang,” I told them. “And I will tell you that I’m extremely impressed by her. Here’s someone who made the effort to attend the CCTV show I was on. At the show, she introduced herself and proposed her idea to me. She then coordinated and promoted my visit here, which I’ve really enjoyed. And not once has she asked me for anything for herself. But you know what? If she were ever to call me and ask for a favour, I would help her out in a second.” 

The next time I heard from Angela was during her senior year. She contacted me to ask if I would write her a recommendation letter for a top US graduate school that she was applying to. I gladly did that for her. A few months later, she called again to thank me for helping her get accepted to the programme.

So I ask: To what degree are you taking initiative in your job?

Larry Wang is the founder and CEO of Wang & Li Asia Resources, a leading Greater China recruitment and staff development services firm. Wang is well-recognized for his career planning and development expertise to bilingual/international-calibre management professionals working in China. Larry Wang’s column will appear monthly in Business Beijing. For more information please visit: www.wang-li.com.