Leading with a Sense of Urgency (#176)
The Confident Leader
BOOST YOUR LEADERSHIP IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
As the year comes to an end, I find myself reflecting over how I spent my time in 2023. Reviewing my calendar, I’m reminded that we accomplished many of our business goals. I feel fulfilled. Yet, at the same time, I’m feeling a new sense of urgency… perhaps for unexpected reasons.
“Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value. If necessity is the mother of invention, urgency is the uncle of change.”
― H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (American author)
This Week’s Edition
As a leader, you have influence. With what urgency are you leveraging that influence for the benefit of your employees and the growth of your business?
Clarify Your Thinking
Recently, I lost a dear friend. His passing at the age of forty-four was a devastating unexpected loss. However, with each passing week, I find the grief giving way to a growing sense of urgency, a palpable necessity to support even more leaders.
As many of you know, my “job” is to help people – specifically leaders whose influence directly impacts tens of thousands of employees and millions of clients, customers and followers world-wide.
As blessed as I have been to build this leadership development firm to this point, I sense we are only just getting started. I believe we are called to support even more ambitious high achievers to realize their greatest leadership potential for the betterment of the world.
I am compelled to make the most of the time I have in this role both as a tribute to my friend and as a realization that life is short (and our leadership influence is even shorter).
Old Thinking: Am I operating with any sense of urgency to leverage my impact? I’m concerned that I’m highly reactive merely fighting fires. How do I get to a place of proactively expanding my leadership influence?
New Thinking: I will review how I spent my time last year and let that realization motivate me – with urgency – to use this coming year to make the impact I’ve always want to make.
Thoughts Lead to Actions
Proactively expanding your leadership influence may require new routines. Consistent daily and weekly routines (or habits) allow leaders to enhance time management, efficiency, and overall effectiveness.
James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, is the master at helping people establish new routines. A recent comment in his newsletter spoke to the very issue of “urgency” in connection to identity habit building:
“The way to live a full life is to act quickly. Particularly as you grow older, it’s alarmingly easy to let a year or two (or five) slip by without doing the big things you always felt like doing. You get into a rhythm — not necessarily one you love, but one you become comfortable repeating — and the grooves of your daily routine become deeper and more established.
Speed is perpetually undervalued. That doesn’t mean you should feel frantic or rushed. In fact, it’s likely you should eliminate some of the things that make you feel so busy to make space for things you always wanted to do. But it definitely means you should stop letting the days drift by waiting for the moment to be right.
Stop acting like there is infinite time. This — the way you are living right now — is your one life.”
Take action today:
Step 1: Buy Atomic Habits
Step 2: Read it (or listen to it)
Step 3: Start the new year by defining the thing you will do in the coming year to leverage your leadership influence.
Let’s walk the journey of 2024 together, supporting one another to impact the world with the influence you have been given right where you are planted today.
Boost Your Performance
This week we “boosted” our performance by working ahead. We scheduled the publishing of this newsletter (well in advance of today) so that none of us is working on Christmas day. We are relaxing with family and friends and hope that you are too. Merry Christmas!
What’s Your Opinion?
Is there anything you feel a sense of urgency to do in 2024? Share it with me at robin.pou@robinpou.com.
If you are going to be a leader, you might as well be a good one. Don’t let doubt count you out. Have a confident week!
Robin Pou, Chief Advisor and Strategist
We live to make bad leadership extinct so forward this newsletter to others who strive to be confident leaders.
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What is “The Confident Leader”?
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I began a video series called “Panic or Plan?” It was designed to equip leaders to navigate the doubt they experienced and to rise in the confidence they needed to lead during turbulent times. It took off. I then started this newsletter to equip leaders in the same fashion each week for the doubt that crashes across the bow of their leaderSHIP.
