People’s sense of urgency varies. It’s a common leadership frustration and we’ve often heard our CEOs remark: Across Europe employees seem to lack the same sense of urgency when compared with the U.S.
One of the biggest frustrations when working across cultures is a different sense of urgency, follow-through, and deadlines. Paradoxically, (according to David Dye) leaders with a high internal sense of urgency seem to struggle with this the most.
How can you ensure things get done on time?
You probably won’t have success by telling people “We need to have a sense of urgency.” Urgency means different things to different people. People naturally have different perspectives on what matters and why. Some value thoroughness above timeliness, others may have a sense of timeliness that differs from your own. (If you need proof, ask three people to define the word “soon.”).
David Dye is President of Let’s Grow Leaders, a global leadership development firm known for practical tools and techniques for human-centered leaders. Our CEOs in LifeScience ORG really like his work.
Since 2013, David has helped grow tens of thousands of leaders on every continent (except Antarctica) with his leadership development programs and keynotes.
David is an award-winning author of six books including:
Courageous Cultures – How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers and Customer Advocates
David also hosts the popular podcast, Leadership Without Losing Your Soul.