Today’s most successful businesses are the result of initiative. If someone has an idea for a product or industry that is markedly different than what currently exists, they hold an opportunity to start something new, disruptive. As leaders looking for inspiration and motivation toward our own growth, we often study these businesses and leaders, and the circumstances and actions that led to their creation. We think that if we can determine the mindset and actions that resulted in their accomplishment, we can duplicate that, at least in part, in our own organization.
In 2007, Apple Computer had been restored to its former glory under returning CEO Steve Jobs. After launching colorful iMac computers that became wildly successful, Jobs had turned the company’s attention to the music industry. The iPod had, by that year, become ubiquitous for carrying thousands of songs around in your pocket. The Sony Walkman music player of the 1980s had sold 200 million units. The iPod eclipsed its predecessor by a wide margin, selling more than 450 million units.
But Apple was about to release its next culture-altering device: the iPhone. It would change how people communicate, travel, take pictures, consume media, shop, work and more—and would catapult Apple to become the world’s most valuable company. As of 2022, the iPhone has sold over 2.24 billion units. It is hard to imagine now our lives before the modern smartphone. Why did one leader at one company have such a phenomenal string of successes? Part of the answer is a character trait possessed by Steve Jobs: initiative.
Initiative is the facet of leadership that allows someone to assess and act independently. Most people do not take initiative in life and work. They wait for others to do so, and then follow that lead. Notice, too, that one takes initiative, because it is not a skill but rather an action. An initiative (noun) is the first in a series of actions, so to take initiative is to begin something. Initiative is a trait we look for in leaders. Often success comes to those who are willing to take the risk and reap the rewards of being first.
A magazine article tells the story of Steve Jobs’ return to Apple. His first initiative: a new product called the iMac, a colorful computer that sold by the millions.
Initiative is a biblical characteristic of leadership. Throughout the Bible we find instruction from God to His people to take action: do, be diligent, rise, go, overcome, train, make. A straightforward example is Philippians 3:13-14: “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” The command to press on is a directive with urgency. It takes initiative to press on, because one must be willing to go, to get started, and to do it now. For effective leadership, initiative is the quality required to make things happen. How does a leader develop initiative in life and work? There are five mental attitudes that are central to someone who takes initiative:
Be curious. Do you have a strong desire to know and learn new things? Initiative requires an inquisitive nature. Instead of simply remaining in a comfort zone of information and decision-making that the leader already is familiar with, curiosity begs the exploration of original thoughts and directions. To initiate is to begin something, and you cannot begin what is already in motion or existing. Curiosity helps connect the leader to something new. Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.” This verse is talking about the secret things of God which He does not reveal, but also the idea that man searches out matters, exercising curiosity and seek out truth within the limits of our understanding.
The Bible also reminds us that it is foolish to rush to judgement and decisions without knowing all that we can on a matter (Proverbs 11:14, 18:13, 17). We should weigh thoughts and decisions carefully and in keeping with God’s Word (Proverbs 1:7, 1 Corinthians 4:7). Further we should avoid leading according to circumstances or emotions (Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 12:1-2). Whenever we come to a point of decision or action, a strong dose of curiosity serves us well as we gather information and learn the various facets involved before taking the initiative.
In 1972, Steve Jobs took a calligraphy class at Reed College, based on campus posters that he saw after dropping out of his major. The fonts on the poster caught his eye, and he audited the class, despite knowing it would not earn him credit toward a degree. His curiosity about typefaces would later lead to groundbreaking changes in personal computing. Jobs commented, “I learned about serif and sans-serif typefaces, about varying the space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful. Historical. Artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture. And I found it fascinating. None of this had any hope of any practical application in my life. But 10 years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would never have multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.”
Be collaborative. The New Testament is especially instructive on leading in collaboration with others, recognizing each person’s unique role in the body (organization). Consider Romans 12:4-6: “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them…” In order to take initiative, a leader must have a desire to work with a team, incorporating others’ ideas. At the same time, the leader builds trust and identifies passion in the team for the initiative itself.
In building the retail Apple Stores, Steve Jobs hired for optimism and passion more than proficiency. Jobs knew that he could train people to explain his products. But he couldn’t teach friendliness or personality. Instead, Apple hired people from a broad range of disciplines and let them show how Apple’s products enabled them to pursue their personal dreams. This helped Apple connect their products with customers’ own dreams, versus just sell them a piece of hardware. Jobs once said, “What made the Macintosh (computer) great was that the people working on it were musicians and poets and artists and zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world.”
Be motivated. In anything a leader initiates, they must have a sense of motivation toward the goal or completion. Motivation itself is an internal desire to act in service of a goal. When we are motivated, it sets our attention and drives our behavior. Motivation helps us to maintain persistence in our work and leadership. Scripture places our motivation in the spiritual realm. Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” This sense of trust in God, and seeking obedience to His commands, can drive the core aspects of our lives. Without motivation, we will not initiate, because there is no impending desire to move or finish.
At Apple, Steve Jobs was known as a perfectionist and was often difficult to get along with. He was not satisfied with anything less than excellence and perfection. He is also regarded as inspirational, because he worked to hire skilled and passionate people, and then pressed them toward Apple’s various goals. Apple employee Bud Tribble coined the phrase “reality distortion field” to describe the atmosphere that Jobs created in the work place. This Steve Jobs’ ability to convince himself and others to believe almost anything with a mix of charm, charisma, bravado, hyperbole, marketing, appeasement and persistence.[1] Jobs said, “Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could.”
With the iPhone, Steve Jobs led Apple into a whole new realm of consumer products. The first phone was five years ahead of its competitors. The initiative led Apple to become the world’s most valuable company within a decade.
Be confident. If you desire to move people forward, motivating them toward a goal, then initiative also requires a sense of confidence, both in yourself and in that which you initiate. The Bible speaks to confidence in two ways. First, we can have self-confidence, because we are God’s own creation. Psalm 139:13-14 reminds us, “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Then there is the confidence that we have as we are led by God through our lives and work, that He has our best interest in mind, and is working for our good and despite our inadequacies. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
When we are confident, we approach leadership with a feeling of assurance and certainty. This conviction, that we are clear-headed and know what to do, helps us to take initiative. With confidence we are able to take a step of faith, overcoming a level of fear because we are certain that the risk we take to begin will be worth it. Through confident leadership we have a willingness to meet and overcome the challenges ahead. Consider that confidence is a rare trait. Playright George Bernard Shaw wrote, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
When creating the iPhone, Steve Jobs displayed supreme confidence in many areas of its development. In order to have the best display and touch technology possible, Jobs knew he could not make the screens from plastic. It had to be glass. But no existing glass could withstand the punishment customers would wreak on their handheld devices—scratching them, dropping them, handing them to toddlers. Jobs told iPhone designer Jonny Ive, “We have to master glass.” He then reached out to Wendell Weeks, CEO of Corning Glass. Weeks mentioned a type of glass that was developed in the 1960s he called Gorilla Glass, but doubted they could master the engineering challenges.
Jobs was sold, and asked for all the glass Corning could produce within six months. Weeks responded that they could not do it in time. Jobs said, “Don’t be afraid. You can do this.” He told Weeks the iPhone must have a glass screen, and that he was confident Corning could make it. Corning repurposed and entire factory. In 2007, its first year of production, Corning delivered 58 square miles of Gorilla Glass, enough to cover 28,000 football fields. Weeks explains how Jobs’ confidence helped him learn to take risk: “He goes, ‘You’re basically letting your fear of embarrassment if you fail get in the way of the needs of a lot of people.’”[2] Corning glass today is found in over 8 billion devices worldwide.
Be decisive. Decisiveness is the ability to make decisions quickly and effectively. Sometimes this comes across as strong-minded or blunt. As a function of initiative, being decisive means being settled and conclusive in a decision, and then determined in a direction. Jesus taught His disciples that decisiveness was a quality of biblical leadership, saying, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’” (Matthew 5:37). Decisiveness in Scripture marks a clear delineation between what God directs and all other options. Joshua 24:15 reminds us to “choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
In addition to making timely decisions, a decisive leader is also slow to change their mind or redirect their effort. This is not stubbornness or arrogance, but rather the traits of motivation and confidence in their initiative creating clarity in their way forward. Decisive leaders make up their mind quickly and then start to drive down that path. When it comes to executing plans and goals, decisiveness also helps the leader avoid tangents and secondary elements that may not be urgent or even important. Decisiveness also helps the leader from hesitating or procrastinating on crucial decisions.
As he neared the launch of the iPhone, Jobs held a meeting with Nike’s CEO Mark Parker, during which he stressed decisively abandoning good ideas. Jobs said, “Get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the great stuff.”[3] He told Parker that focus wasn’t saying “yes,” but learning to turn down the smart, interesting work that takes people away from their most important priorities. “Focus,” Jobs told Parker, “means saying no to the hundred other good ideas. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying ‘no’ to 1,000 things. You have to pick carefully.”[4]
Initiative in a faith-centered leader’s life and work reflects Christ. Jesus took the initiative to come to us. Remember that we do not seek God (Romans 3:10-12), but rather God is the One pursuing us. Jesus sent His disciples out from village to village to proclaim the gospel (Luke 9:1-6). Throughout the New Testament we see a model of Christ-followers initiating action to share the Gospel and fulfill the commands of Jesus. Initiative as a spiritual characteristic can also benefit the leader in other areas. The leader’s very role often requires that he is the one who begins, or has the thinking required to be the first to do something.
That Steve Jobs possessed initiative is without doubt. He is remembered as a businessman who brought some of the most widely used and innovative computing and communications products to market, significantly changing several industries as he did so. Music, telecommunications, computing—all are significantly different because of Apple products developed by Jobs. He once said of trying something new, “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”[5]
Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003. During his treatment, he had his own genome mapped, allowing scientists to create specific medications that attacked the cancer aggressively while causing less impact to his body. The research has led to new ways to diagnose and treat cancer, positively impacting thousands of patients since Jobs’ death in 2011 at the age of 56. As in his work, Jobs continued to display initiative with his cancer. Dr. Leonard Saltz, chief of gastrointestinal oncology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, said, “For the type of cancer that Jobs had, survival is now measured in years instead of months.”
[1] https://edwardmuldrew.medium.com/motivating-a-workforce-by-steve-jobs-bf1180c16f5d
[2] https://time.com/6186869/wendell-weeks-corning-leadership-brief/
[3] https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2012/08/21/7-courageous-ways-apple-became-americas-most-valuable-company/
[4] https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/02/steve-jobs-heres-what-most-people-get-wrong-about-focus.html
[5] https://yourstory.com/mystory/dive-into-inspiration-quotes-steve-jobs