Reactive VS. Proactive in Business

I was propelled to seek knowledge in the area of negotiations and I came across an area that caught a great deal of interest. What is the difference between reactive and proactive? Most people would look at the two words and wouldn't find an immediate difference though the thought would speculate through their mind. The truth is, there are a number of differences between the two and that is why I chose to use this topic. Today, I have chosen to build upon an important part of self-management.

Self-management is probably one of the most important aspects of negotiations. You have to be business oriented and mind ready before you can go into an arbitration room and fight for the result that you are seeking. And knowing the differences between the two words might make a different to help you better understand your purpose.

Take a lamp. you turn the switch and the light reacts by coming on. To be reactive is to respond to a given stimulus. In any given relationship, you want to be acknowledging, responsive and conscious so that the person on the other side of the table wants to know that you respect him/her enough to listen to what they have to say. Remember God gave us two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we talk. Listening is an integral part of the communication process because you want to be able to respond in the best possible light that it will be effective and bring the desired success that you are seeking.

Being proactive is a little bit different. It is like a basketball team that goes into their practice setting and works real hard at practice before the game or a music band that practices before their gig sot hat they can be ready. To be proactive is to be ahead of the game. It's acting in advance when you are about to deal with a difficult situation. It is causing an effect as opposed to only responding to it. Its having an energetic and a can-do attitude.