Surely, we have heard of the existence of two groups of people: those who act to make things
happen and those who sit and wait for things to happen to act. That is, people who are proactive or
reactive.
But being proactive does not mean having an impulsive, electrical, super-fast behavior, nor does it
mean having the agenda loaded with tasks that fall into activism or hyperactivity. Proactivity is an
attitude of active control that leads us to anticipate the facts, to take responsibility for the
consequences and to be ready to decide in any circumstance.
To make this behavior possible, it is assumed that we have done a previous internal work in which
we set the scale of values that will govern our decisions and mark our reaction to certain events and
stimuli. So we do not move by the pressure of the environment or make decisions for the
expectations established by others, rather we carry out a quick analysis of the situation evaluating the
circumstances for and against, and leaning towards the most convenient and effective situation.
Proactivity is a concept of psychology of work and organizations defined as the attitude in which the
subject or organization assumes full control of their behavior actively. Itimplies taking initiative in
the development of creative and bold actions to generate improvements, making freedom of choice
prevail over the circumstances of the context.
The concept of proactivity can be found from the time since Aristotle: “The most powerful man is the one
who totally owns himself”, (Aristotle, 384-322 BC). But it is Viktor Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and
psychiatrist who survived the Nazi concentration camps, who uses the term in his book “Man in
Search of Meaning”(1946).
Then Stephen R. Covey presents proactivity as the first habit, in his book “The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People”(1989).
As we pointed out at the beginning of this reflection, we find two types of people and therefore two
types of workers: reactive and proactive.
What actions do I need to take to have proactive habits at work?
- Use proactive language in all your interactions
- Take responsibility for meeting goals and goals.
- Be flexible and open to changes that may occur.
- Put passion to every project you take on
- Act freely and creatively in decision-making