I would contribute the control freak in me to a strong ego. I'm neither ashamed nor proud of this connection. My ego has motivated me to do work in which I'm proud, but wouldn't it be nice to think I did these things purely altruistically? Wouldn't it be nice to think I take an interest in things because I'm genuinely interested and not interested in having my way?

The answer is yes, but I'd be fooling myself to think my drive, direction, and motivation on a day-to-day basis is driven by some innate sense of enlightenment. There are glimmers of passion mixed in, but at its core is most likely control.

So back to the title of this entry - React, Respond, Initiate. There is a post by Seth which I find myself thinking about a bit frequently. The thesis revolves around the thought,

When you react to a medication, that's a bad thing. When you respond to treatment, that's a plus.

Responding is better than reacting, but above both is initiating. Yesterday, Dang launched Engage's new look website. I love the initiative he took to consolidate our two sites, merge the business units (our services and our products), and totally consolidate the site structure. The design is beautiful and the execution is fantastic.

As I look at the site, I'm tempted to react and try to put in my two cents. Sure, there are things that can be improved, but this is the gear that keeps business moving. It would be easy to immediate use these as a way to inject input. But by doing this and trying to control things I would lose the real feat in front of me. Why would I dwell on these issues at all when I should be rejoicing in Dang's initiative?

His initiative took vision, courage, and execution. My reaction took nothing. That's my take away. On a daily basis, find more opportunities to take pause before I react and let the controller in me lead. Acknowledge the feats of others before I look for my way into the mix.