11. Exhibit urgency in your body language. Don't shuffle around.
12. Encourage and offer help. Don't nag, bully or threaten.
13. Find reasons to celebrate small successes and communicate them far and wide.
14. Get personal with one-to-one praise. Put your emotional intelligence to work.
15. Agree on deadlines for action.
16. Keep meetings short, to the point, and agenda-driven.
17. Get to the point quickly and encourage others to do the same. Wipe out waffle.
18. Meet your personal deadlines, and expect the same of others.
19. Provide initial guidance and encouragement to get things going.
20. Get peoples' senses involved. Don't just talk and make them read reports.
Kotter declares that a true sense of urgency is rare
In his book, “A Sense of Urgency,” John Kotter explained that a true sense of urgency is rare; mainly because “it is not the natural state of affairs. It has to be created and recreated.” So the task of leading a team of people in a transformation at any level will often require an ability to create an atmosphere of urgency that can be embraced, and in turn bring about an atmosphere of achievement.
Kotter offered four fundamental tactics to establish a sense of urgency in any environment:
1. Bring the outside in
A “we know best” culture reduces urgency; so help people see external opportunities.
2. Behave with urgency every day
Managers and leaders need to walk the talk and lead by example.
3. Find opportunity in crises
A well-leveraged crisis can be a valuable tool to break through complacency.
4. Deal with the NoNos
Address those who are always working hard to hinder change.
Lead, support and walk the talk
As Kotter and the Gallup poll suggest, a sense of urgency is rare, which is why leaders need to step up and address that fact; because without it, mediocrity prevails and mediocrity is not the stuff that successful transformation is made of. Instead, it's a key ingredient for failure.
The majority of people who struggle to work independently with a sense of urgency need support. Support to help them feel accountable and committed to achieving their goals, which in turn ignites a sense of urgency in their work. So leaders need to challenge themselves to bring about this change in peoples' hearts and minds – and not sit back declaring that the people around them are not motivated. The ability to move people to being actively engaged with a sense of urgency plays an important role in separating highly effective modern-day leaders from the rest.
[ Want to create a sense of urgency in your organization? Take 5 quick steps with our Fast Start Guide: Creating a sense of urgency, with John Kotter. ]
