Accountability: The Key to Driving a High-Performance Culture

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INSTILLING A SENSE OF URGENCY

Urgency

We make decisions and act on them with a sense of urgency.

Rise early. Work hard. Strike oil.—J. Paul Getty

When J. Paul Getty died in 1976, he was worth more than $2 billion and one of the richest men in the world.

Ever the overachiever, Getty reminded a reporter that “a billion dollars isn’t worth what it used to be.”¹

Getty earned his wealth in the oil business as a shrewd, hard-working man who spoke four languages fluently, was conversational in four others, and could read Latin and ancient Greek. His collection of essays on success became his book, How to Be Rich. In it, he wrote that he believed most ...