A Sense of Urgency

As you enter the year of 2009, how would you describe your approach? Casual? Confused? In his book, A Sense of Urgency, John Kotter discusses the nature of change in the 21st century. He suggests that change is no longer episodic in nature but rather that it is a continuum. It is now something that has become a part of your life challenge. So, exactly how will you change in ’09 and how urgently will you engage the process?
How does the word “casual” fit into your performance style? What if you hit this New Year with a positive sense of urgency? Kotter makes an important distinction between a positive and negative sense of urgency. The urgency being called for is not a frantic, fear-based reaction. Rather, it is a purposed response that is fixed in an integrity-based approach to living. There is not much room for waste. For managing leaders, ’08 has called for some challenging changes. People have been let go. People have lost jobs. However, managers I have heard from have suggested that many, if not most, of the people who lost their jobs were not performing people anyway. So, why would people who were not doing the job be on the job anyway? Leaders managing into ’09 and beyond must stay focused on performance responsibilities and realities. Non-performing people have no place on a professional performance team. Selling professionals know that their selling success depends upon the quantity and quality of people they consistently contact. Selling teams need to be built around professionals who choose to get, and stay, fit for the challenge. Casual is an approach that simply cannot characterize a 21st century life performance.
Confusion seems to reign as we enter ’09 and for good reason. We are facing this New Year with a new President and a deep economic crisis. We are still at war and people continue to be hungry and dying of thirst in the world. Global warming seems to be a reality and green strategies do not represent a quick fix. We have seen oil prices go out of control and then plunge to significant lows in a short period of time. We stay confused about the energy question. The stock market represents no marketable security and yet tax payers are being asked to make significant investment in failing companies who represent that insecurity. Capitalism and free enterprise have created destructive and criminal results. So, what do we do? We respond. We respond by doing the things we can do. We choose not to spend money we do not have. We choose not to become so focused on retirement for tomorrow that we become non-engaged employees today. We choose not to focus on accumulating wealth for ourselves when we see people close by living in a crippling poverty. We choose not to live as though we are entitled to be served and live with privilege. We choose not to sacrifice honesty on the altar of necessity. We respond. We respond by doing what we know we need to do today, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. We eat less. We waste less. We love more. We serve more. We learn more. We lead more. We choose not to play the victim. We choose not to make excuses. We choose not to blame others for choices we have made. Confusion is a state of mind. Clarity is the preferred option to confusion. Get clear about who and why you are. Then, respond!
So, what if you were to substitute clarity for confusion as you enter ’09? What if you have in place a plan for your life and work that keeps you on course? What if you seek someone out as an accountability partner who can help you stay clear about the important things? What if you choose to read something every day that helps you keep your mind straight? What if you get healthier than you have been in years? What if you get more connected to the people in your world? What if you become the leader your world needs you to become? What if you actively love and serve people more? What if you get clear about who God is and who you are and stay that way?
Let’s do it! Let’s not just talk about it. Let’s do it! Let’s make this year a benchmark year for our lives. Let’s respond to change. It won’t just happen. Let’s engage it with a sense of purpose. Life really does require an urgent response. Let’s give it one!