Initiative in Officer Like Qualities

Notice a need before choosing an action

Initiative is a helpful way to reflect on whether you identify useful opportunities and act on them. The first action is not automatically the best one. Understand the objective, your role and available resources before deciding what you can reasonably do.

Useful action within your role

If a study group repeatedly loses time locating materials, propose a shared index, ask what format people need and maintain it for a week. The contribution addresses a real problem and is followed through. Announcing several ideas without completing any offers less practical benefit.

A small development exercise

Choose one recurring inconvenience in study, work or a shared activity. Identify a manageable improvement, discuss it with those affected and carry it out. Review whether it helped before expanding it.

• What need did I observe?
• Did I check relevant permission or constraints?
• How did I involve the people affected?
• Did the action solve the problem or create another?

Focus on useful contribution

In preparation groups, attend to the task rather than competing to speak or move first. Sometimes a useful initiative is to clarify an instruction, check a calculation or help implement somebody else’s idea. Use the same judgement in everyday commitments so examples come from actual experience.

How this relates to officer selection

The Indian Air Force describes SSB assessment as looking at Officer Like Qualities and trainability through interview, group-testing and psychological techniques. This article develops an everyday preparation theme; these six Academy guides are not an official list of qualities or a method for calculating an SSB result. The exercises are Academy suggestions.