Is This Urgent?

I did a double-take as a walked by the door of the retail shop. It was too early for any of the stores to be open. But posted on the door was a sign that read, “Closed. For urgent brow care, call _____.” Perhaps I’m just ignorant of the nuances of fashion, but I can’t imagine any kind of care for eyebrows that would necessitate after-hours calls. And yet, some people clearly feel differently. In your leadership role, I’m sure that you are presented with “urgent” needs that aren’t truly urgent. How do you respond when this happens? One option is a philosophy that says, “If you think it’s urgent, then I think it’s urgent.” Perhaps this is done out of a people-pleasing personality or fear of how someone will react. Regardless, this mindset will keep a leader jumping through hoops and will teach followers that they can get what they want simply by raising the banner of urgency. The better option is to start with clarity about organizational direction and priorities. Where are we trying to go? What are the most important steps that we need to take to get there? In addition, leaders need to have clarity about their unique roles in taking these steps. This clarity then becomes a filter for deciding whether something is truly urgent. For example, a non-profit ministry is planning to expand into a new geographic area. Two of the key steps are forming partnerships with local churches and securing a location in the target area. If a key church is wavering on entering into the partnership, it’s probably an urgent leadership issue. If negotiations for a lease aren’t going well, that may be an urgent issue that can be handled by someone else. But a volunteer who is unhappy because the expansion will divert attention from the original ministry isn’t urgent – unless that volunteer is also one of the top donors. That retail shop has no control over what its customers consider to be urgent. But they do have a choice in how they respond. The same is true for you. It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>