Urgency Kills Resourcefulness
What a Leadership Program Taught Me About Sustainable Performance
This leadership course was different.
I thought I was signing up to become a better leader.
Instead, I found myself in something that felt more like a sales bootcamp.
There were quotas. Leaderboards. Even a bell that rang every time someone enrolled three new people.
At first, I resisted. But slowly, I started playing along.
That’s when I noticed something I couldn’t unsee...
The hidden cost of urgency that we all felt, but couldn’t quite explain.
😰 Urgency Isn’t Always a Motivator
When urgency takes over, we stop being intentional.
I watched as people around me shifted from thoughtful engagement to transactional outreach. Conversations became shorter. Interactions felt forced.
Have you ever experienced a high-pressure sales pitch?
It’s uncomfortable. You can feel their desperation, and it makes you want to run.
That’s the energy urgency creates.
It doesn’t just affect how others respond.
It affects how we lead.
Because urgency, when it’s not aligned or grounded in a valid reason, can erode trust.
I’m not saying urgency is always bad. In the right context, it can unite teams and accelerate progress.
But when urgency is constant or feels reactive instead of purposeful, that’s when trust starts to slip. And when people feel rushed instead of supported, they stop thinking creatively. Urgency overrides the very qualities that drive effectiveness: adaptability, insight, and trust.
It drains resourcefulness.
🧠 The Problem with Operating in Survival Mode
When urgency becomes our default, our nervous system responds.
We enter fight or flight.
That means:
Creativity drops
Perspective narrows
We focus on short-term wins instead of long-term impact
We miss signals. We lose the ability to adapt. And we forget the bigger picture we’re trying to serve.
💡 What Changed for Me
Instead of competing, I focused on connecting. I prioritized real conversations over metrics.
We weren’t leading teams or managing workgroups in that program, we were learning to enroll others into something bigger.
I didn’t love the methods at first, but I see now what it was teaching me:
We weren’t just enrolling people into the next class.
We were learning how to influence.
To enroll people in a vision.
To help them own their goals.
To build buy-in around results that matter.
And once I let go of the pressure to “hit the number,” I focused on connection.
I prioritized real conversations over performance.
If someone joined the next class, great.
If they didn’t, that was okay too.
Ironically, I ended up enrolling more people than most, not because I pushed harder, but because I led with purpose.
❓ Reflection
Where is urgency showing up in your life or leadership?
Is it helping you move forward, or holding you back?
And if you stepped back and led with intention instead of pressure…
What might become possible?
To your clarity,
Penny
P.S. Want your team to lead with more purpose and less pressure?
Forward this to them and invite them to subscribe.
This reset mindset works even better when your whole team is using it.
It’s how we build teams that think clearly, adapt quickly, and lead intentionally.