The Two Leadership Skills That Turn Roadblocks Into Opportunities
The Power of Taking Initiative: A 19-Year-Old’s Success Story
My cousin’s daughter is 19. This summer, she’s working in a science lab at her university, and she told me a story that stopped me in my tracks.
Earlier this summer, she asked her professor if she could work in the lab during the school year.
His response?
“We usually don’t do that as we don’t have the budget.”
Most people would have left it there. But not her.
She put together a case for why the lab would benefit from having her, found funding to cover the role, and before you knew it, she had a job lined up for the fall.
Two Essential Leadership Skills Most Adults Struggle With
At 19, she demonstrated two essential leadership skills that many adults struggle to use:
- Taking initiative
- Advocating for yourself
Why Experience Doesn’t Always Equal Action
To be honest, I told her how rare it is to leverage these leadership traits.
In fact, in many workplaces, I see talented, experienced adults who get stuck in frustration, complaining about what isn’t working or the organizational roadblocks that are in their way.
From Frustration to Results: A Client Success Story
I think of one client of mine who was offered a promotion in January. By June, it still hadn’t come through.
She was frustrated and rightfully so.
But frustration alone wasn’t moving the needle.
So together, we built a plan for her to take initiative and advocate for herself, outlining a clear proposal and the conversations she needed to have with her CEO.
By the end of the month, her promotion was secured.
How to Show Up When You Can’t Control Everything
Here’s the takeaway:
You can’t control everything, but you can control how you show up.
You can take initiative.
You can advocate for yourself.
And sometimes, that’s exactly what it takes to move things forward at 19 or at 49!
