Harvard Business Review Leadership Library: The Executive Collection (12 Books)

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Establishing a Sense of Urgency

Ask almost anyone over thirty about the difficulty of creating major change in an organization and the answer will probably include the equivalent of “very, very tough.” Yet most of us still don’t get it. We use the right words, but down deep we underestimate the enormity of the task, especially the first step: establishing a sense of urgency.

Whether taking a firm that is on its knees and restoring it to health, making an average contender the industry leader, or pushing a leader farther out front, the work requires great cooperation, initiative, and willingness to make sacrifices from many people. In an organization with 100 employees, at least two dozen must go far beyond the normal call of duty to produce ...