n. 25B6; noun
employers are looking for initiative : ENTERPRISE, resourcefulness, inventiveness, imagination, ingenuity, originality, creativity; drive, dynamism, ambition, motivation, spirit, energy, vision; informal get-up-and-go, pep, punch.
he has lost the initiative : ADVANTAGE, upper hand, edge, lead, whip hand, trump card.
a recent initiative on recycling : PLAN, scheme, strategy, stratagem, measure, proposal, step, action, approach.