Dictionary Definition:
A person who is able to work effectively without regularly needing to be told what to do.
Why be a self-starter?
In our search for answers, we need to make sure we’re asking the right questions. So let’s start by turning it around and asking ourselves, “why not?” After all that’s the ultimate self-starter mantra. Where others analyse the risks of doing something new, a self-starter looks at the risks of not doing it. And self-starters really are the type of people who just seem to do well in life – they progress well at work, they promote change, they challenge the status quo and generally become well known, well liked and respected. The big irony is that being a self-starter actually takes time, perseverance and hard work. That is because, in no small part, the path to being a self-starter will often involve a change in mindset as well as the development of skills and changes in behaviour that accompany any personal development. Mistakes happen along the way that can either help you to understand how to achieve success or terrify you into never trying anything new again. The key to navigating through this is to maintain perspective and to recognise that mistakes are all part of a wider learning curve.
3 Pillars of the Self-Starter
Our 3 pillared self-starter model was inspired by a famous quote from Aesop; “After all is said and done, more is said than done”. A self-starter demonstrates actions and results rather than simply words and ideas. The 3 pillars tune into the skills, behaviours and mind-set of a self-starter. Consider a few options to kick off your self-starter journey and as well as assessing how you’re living up to it right now. Chances are you’ve got many of the skills in abundance but how often are you displaying them and how well is your mindset supporting this?
Activity/Exercise
Pick one thing about your job, your business or your life in general and re-imagine it to be as good as it possibly could be. Ask yourself three big questions. What needs to be done to get there? What are the risks of doing this? What are the risks of not doing this? Chances are, the risks of doing something different will pale into insignificance when compared to the risks of inaction and the potential upsides of doing something differently.
Some Catseye wisdom:
Being a self-starter is all part of being a leader and the great news about being a leader is that you don’t need anyone’s permission to start. We understand that there’s a world of difference between big and small risks and you should be aware of your own appetite for risk. However, experimentation is the name of the game when it comes to being a self-starter. The big names that did great things were all anxious about what could go wrong but they never let it stop them. Why? They were far more worried about what would happen if they did nothing. To quote Richards Branson – “Screw it, just do it!”