PROACTIVE PEOPLE: CHARACTERISTICS AND EXAMPLES - GEOGRAFÍA - 2025

The proactive people are those who foresee consequences, risks and opportunities. Furthermore, they act to anticipate and change the anticipated course of events. That is, they are not satisfied with waiting for events to occur to act accordingly, but they take responsibility for things to happen.

Examples of proactive people are those who contact potential employers instead of waiting for them to call for work, those who create their own business to generate their own income, or those who propose new activities to be carried out at the institute or university.

Generally it is preferable to be proactive to reactive, since you do not wait for something bad to happen to react. Actions are taken to make expected things happen and unwanted effects are prevented from occurring.

Characteristics of people with proactive personality

Once we know exactly what is meant by a proactive person, we present their main features or characteristics:

1- Look for different alternatives of action

One of the brightest characteristics of proactive people is their ability to respond to difficult or stressful situations. They don't waste time thinking that nothing can be done to fix that problem, nor do they support the idea that it only has one possible solution.

Therefore, it explores different options and the advantages and disadvantages of each of them, that is, their possible consequences and / or the opportunities and risks that each of them entails if they are applied to address the problem.

2- They accept criticism constructively

Proactive people are always willing to build their skill set and learn from their mistakes for this reason, they take criticism in a constructive way in order to improve both in their professional and personal fields.

This means that they never collapse in the face of negative criticism and can learn from them by incorporating them as complements to the knowledge they already had acquired, something that will help them achieve their goals with good self-esteem.

3- They use positive language

On the other hand, they also tend to use a language that seeks possibilities, seeks refocusing, provides possibilities for action, assumes their own preferences and points of view, and is committed to the construction of reality.

It could be considered as a facilitating language of personal actions, responsibilities and commitments. This type of language poses what we believe will happen to make it happen.

4- Attitude of self-control

They are able to control their emotions in stressful situations, which allows them to quickly think of a possible solution to the problem that has arisen. This means that once again, proactive people are demanded by companies today for their high level of problem solving.

On the other hand, self-control also benefits you on a personal level since in many cases possible criticisms or even failures that we may have in any area of ​​our life can influence our self-esteem.

5- They are dynamic people

Proactive people empower rehearsing behaviors, experimenting with new situations and focusing on innovation. For this reason, they tend to deal with problems successfully and even anticipate the negative consequences and risks that can occur when experiencing new situations.

On the other hand, they are also able to glimpse the possibilities that exist when approaching a project and orient themselves to innovation and the future. In addition, they are interested in transforming reality motivated by their values ​​since they are aware of their ability to influence and therefore act in the face of opportunities that are presented to them.

6- They trust themselves

All the characteristics that we have mentioned above make them enjoy a good self-esteem and therefore, that they have a very high self-confidence. This will allow them to be dynamic and participate actively in all the activities they carry out, expressing their ideas at all times.

7- They have great problem solving skills

The proactive person not only solves problems but explores possibilities. He develops a conscious and realistic optimism that makes it easier for him to enjoy what he does, seek success, and protect his self-esteem.

Therefore, in the event that the specific person were the leader of a group, they would assume responsibility for their management functions through participation and cooperation with their team in order to seek ways to improve.

If we continue to imagine that the proactive person is a leader, this would be characterized by planning the future to face problems in a more successful way since it would have the advantage of anticipating them.

8- They think long term

As noted above, proactive people are characterized by being attentive to the details of the world around them. If we extrapolate this to the work they do, they will have the ability to appreciate those details that would cost another person a lot.

In addition, they also have the ability to plan in advance the time they have for, if we continue with the example of the project, develop and deliver it. This is usually a very important quality for a leader since in this way, they will be able to realize the path that their company is following and the goals it wants to reach.

9- They are persevering

Proactive people are also often characterized by being very persistent. They tend to be clear about what they want, which is why they propose those objectives that they intend to achieve both in the long and short term.

Not only at the individual level but also at the group level in case you are the leader of a group. This trait goes hand in hand with the one we explained above, as long-term thinking makes it easier for them to set the goals they want to achieve as well as the tasks they will have to carry out in order to achieve them.

10- They reach their goals

Having clear goals both in the short and long term as we have indicated above will allow you to self-adjust your time and effort during the period of time that you have set to reach them.

Therefore, sooner or later they reach their goals because they do not give up their fight to achieve their dreams since they believe in their abilities and have good self-esteem so as not to decline in the attempt.

11- They are aware of their strengths and weaknesses

Finally, another of the traits or characteristics that we present to you of proactive people is that they usually have the ability to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses.

This on many occasions is quite difficult for anyone since we all know what we do well or badly but it is difficult for us to admit especially the second. This will make you able to know what you can do or what you will need help with from the people around you.

What behaviors are derived from being proactive?

Once we have presented you with the personality traits of proactive people, we have also seen fit to talk to you about how this is extrapolated in the behaviors of these people.

These correspond to people who are aware of and in control of their actions, capable of adequately managing themselves emotionally:

Discipline

As you may have deduced, proactive people are usually persistent in their work, so they have discipline and do not mind spending a long time working on a project that they have in hand if it requires it.

From this behavior many more can be derived that have to do with commitment, which usually turn them into habits.

Assertiveness

Since they have a great initiative, they will usually always be the first to present their ideas and actions on a certain topic.

Therefore, it is possible that they will meet people who think differently and have to defend their opinion, however, they will do so assertively and with respect to the other person, not trying to impose their ideas.

Persuasion

Usually through persuasion you can influence the opinions or decisions that others have on a certain topic. Proactive people, since they are faithful to their values ​​and their ideas, are often perceived as people capable of influencing others. For this reason, the most successful leaders are usually proactive.

Initiative

Initiative is a behavior we've also highlighted earlier from proactive people. In most cases, this term is used as a synonym for proactivity in some articles that analyze this personality with respect to companies.

Proactive people tend to anticipate events and are always thinking of something that they can improve with respect to what they do or what projects they can carry out.

Prosocial behaviors

Proactive people usually want to self-actualize and they know that it is something that if they do alone they may not achieve it, so regardless of the context in which they move they are always ready to help the people who accompany them in everything they need.

Feeling of control

Finally, another of the behaviors that accompany these people is the sense of control that they transmit and have as a result of their high self-esteem and self-confidence.

These people know their potential and also have a magnificent internal control that increases their confidence and allows them to provide feedback.

How is the proactive personality different from the reactive one?

Throughout this article we have been talking about the proactive personality but… Did you know that there is also the reactive personality and that it is totally its opposite? A reactive person, unlike the proactive, moves by her sensations and does not usually control her thoughts.

For this reason, they tend to be very dependent people who need the approval of others since they also lack their own criteria. They are also characterized by being afraid of not achieving success or the goals that they set out, quite the opposite of what happens to proactive people.

In addition, they are overwhelmed by the situations they live and more if they cannot control them or if they are too stressful. This causes them to only focus on what they cannot do, being very negative about themselves and appreciating the changing exterior as a threat.

Finally, we have to emphasize that they are people who are usually complaining about everything in their day to day since they are never happy with the life they have.

References

1. Ares Parra. A (S / F). Proactive behavior as strategic behavior.
2. López Salazar, A. (2010). Business proactivity as an element of competitiveness. Ra Ximhai, 6 (2), 303-312.
3. Li, WD, Fay, D., Frese, M., Harms, PD, & Gao, XY (2014). Reciprocal relationship between proactive personality and work characteristics: A latent change score approach. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99 (5), 948.
4. Moreu Jalon, PN (S / F). Reactive personality versus proactive personality.
5. Bateman, TS, & Crant, JM (1999). Proactive behavior: Meaning, impact, recommendations. Business Horizons, 42 (3), 63-70.