{"id":3838,"date":"2014-05-15T20:19:56","date_gmt":"2014-05-16T01:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottcochrane.com\/?p=3838"},"modified":"2014-05-15T20:25:17","modified_gmt":"2014-05-16T01:25:17","slug":"3-ways-a-leader-can-tell-if-youre-creating-real-energy-or-merely-urgency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/2014\/05\/15\/3-ways-a-leader-can-tell-if-youre-creating-real-energy-or-merely-urgency\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Ways You Can tell if You\u2019re Creating Energy Or Just Urgency"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most important jobs of a leader is to infuse a team or an organization with energy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Energy gives the team direction, motivation and the drive to succeed at all cost.<\/p>\n

The problem is that sometimes a leader thinks they are creating energy for the team, when in fact all they are producing is urgency.<\/p>\n

Urgency and energy are not the same thing.<\/p>\n

Whereas energy is the driving force that creates forward movement, urgency, by contrast is a pale imitation. Urgency can look and feel like energy, but it is a very different animal and can burn out a team.<\/p>\n

How can you tell if you are creating real energy, versus the counterfeit of mere urgency?<\/p>\n

There are at least three ways you can tell.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Urgency is driven by deadlines. Energy is driven by outcomes<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can create all the urgency you\u2019ll ever want simply by constantly placing your team up against tight deadlines. Place a deadline sooner than can reasonably achieved and watch the fur fly.<\/p>\n

But real energy, by contrast, is quite different. It is created not out of a sometimes artificially created deadline, but out of a shared, deep desire to see the team\u2019s outcomes achieved.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Urgency creates short-term excitement. Energy creates sustaining momentum.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I won\u2019t lie to you. Urgency feels great. It can create a palpable euphoria in the team.<\/p>\n

But it is almost always short-lived. As soon as the temporary crisis comes and goes, as soon as the deadline passes, it can be like experiencing a team-wide sugar crash.<\/p>\n

Whereas genuine energy doesn\u2019t nose-dive; it continues to build over time, resulting in ever-increasing momentum.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Urgency produces panic. Energy produces resolve.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Take the mood-pulse of your team. Is it characterized increasingly by a sense of panic?<\/p>\n

Chances are they are running on panic, fueled by urgency.<\/p>\n

On the other hand if the tenor of your team is one of resolve, steadfast determination and conviction, it\u2019s a good indication that they are not being fueled by mere urgency; it would indicate that your leadership is producing instead authentic energy.<\/p>\n

So resist the temptation to settle for mere urgency and focus your leadership on long-term sustainable results.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s worth an infusion of energy any day.<\/p>\n

How do you create energy for your team?<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the most important jobs of a leader is to infuse a team or an organization with energy. Energy gives the team direction, motivation and the drive to succeed at all cost. The problem is that sometimes a leader thinks they are creating energy for the team, when in fact all they are producing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,769,738,478,7,8,744],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-action","category-culture-2","category-effectiveness-2","category-featured","category-leadership","category-missional","category-team-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3838"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3847,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3838\/revisions\/3847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}