URGENCY! My clients use the word a lot these days. I find myself using it a lot too. As I sit sipping my pre-dawn cup of tea pondering my own challenges relative to creating and sustaining urgency, I’m asking myself “What is the true essence of URGENCY?” Here’s what I have so far… I’m just scraping the surface here, and I hope you’ll contribute through the “Comments” area below.
In terms of core emotions, the emotion I find that correlates most directly with my sense of urgency is fear. It could be fear of a missed opportunity, fear of failure, or fear of losing integrity in a client relationship. Regardless of the source, fear seems to be at the root. True urgency, it seems, is not rooted in opportunity but rather in fear.
But for someone to feel “urgent” instead of just afraid, I think there must be some sense of personal responsibility. If I don’t feel personally responsible for the required action, I’ll feel the fear but dismiss it with an “It’s not my job”. We must “own” the fear and the required action as being our responsibility, and then we’ll be motivated to act upon it.
Motivation to act isn’t enough either. We need to know how to act – what to do. When I find that I’m stuck, it’s often because there isn’t a clear action to take. Give me 2-3 good options and I might choose to evaluate them (a.k.a. procrastinate) instead of act. Clarity about what to do is certainly key to action.
The last thing that occurs to me is priority. It isn’t enough that I’m concerned about something. Urgency that elicits immediate action seems to be tied to the thing that is my #1 priority… not a secondary priority. I’ve got a long list of things to do in front of me that stand as proof that items sitting below 3rd on my list aren’t going to get the same urgent attention as item #1.
So, how do we get our team to feel our urgency?
It seems that…
- Urgency requires a very real and shared fear
- Responsibility must be owned by every member of the team
- Actions to take must be clear and well understood
- Everyone must agree upon the concern as priority #1
Regarding the challenge and urgency of “sales” in this economy, my focus is mainly on #3 – the “what to do” and “how to do it”. But how do we achieve #’s 1, 2, and 4 in a constructive way that people will take to heart – a way every employee regardless of functional role will understand and act upon? What are your thoughts?
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