Espresso Shot 18: A Sense of Urgency

Nicoa is wondering if she's just old school (probably) or accurately highlighting a real need for understanding the power of communicating A Sense of Urgency!
She takes a look at a bit of a convoluted example where, not only did she get triggered by a Gen Zer's initial response to a task request, she ultimately takes responsibility for communicating her needs more effectively to collaborate towards a solution. Where do YOU need to either enhance your own personal Sense of Urgency or do you need to work on giving others more of a chance when they don't show up for you the way you wish they would.  

Transcript

Nicoa Coach: 0:02

sometimes don't you just need a quick moment of inspiration. Or maybe you just need a moment of caffeinated contemplation to reflect on life. That's the idea behind my weekly coffee with Nicoa espresso shots. I'll be sharing short jolts of inspiration in each clip, in addition to my longer Coffee with Nicoa interview episodes, make sure to subscribe so you never miss an espresso shot, or a full length Coffee with Nicoa interview created just for you. Hey, y'all, it's Nicoa Coffee with Nicoa. This is your espresso shot for the day, or the week or the month or whatever you're listening to this. I want to talk about a phrase, a sense of urgency, the phrase, a sense of urgency. Now, I'm a little old school, I come from a generation I'm, what am I Gen X. I was born in 1969. And I am 54 years old. And I was raised in a couple of cultures, corporate cultures, where if you said you were going to do something, then you tended to carry a sense of urgency around getting that done. And if you had a deadline, you met the deadline. Now maybe I'm talking old school, maybe I'm talking to some of these Gen Zers who sometimes forget Oh, well, I haven't gotten around to it yet. Hmm. I got a little bug in my bonnet the other day a bee in my bonnet. Because I was trying to interact with someone at an organization. And this was a while ago, actually last year. And they we had a big meeting coming up. And I had communicated with them as the consultant from the outside working with an internal employee, which is always pretty tricky. And I said, Look, we need ABC, you know, your leadership is asking for this and, and they said, Okay, well, I'm not going to be available for the next four days, because I'm traveling, it's my grandmother's birthday. Now, that's fine. And that's good. But the meeting was in three days. So instead of in some way, helping me facilitate a solution, they took the responsibility of the item. But then they didn't in any way with me demonstrate a sense of urgency that it needed to get done. Now, I'm giving you a general high level of what I experienced. But oh, my it really triggered me. And I was thinking, man, what back in the day, I would have been like, Yes, ma'am. Let me get that done for you. Especially if it was for the leader for the CEO and the president, they were very eager and getting this work done. And being an outsider, I had to leverage internal resources. I was just a shop of one. And they knew how to get the information that I needed. So wow, I really paid attention to my my judgment of that individual. Now, here's the thing about having a sense of urgency. I don't think you have to carry the sense of urgency like internally. Now some people think well, do you mean that they have to be all, you know, eager and anxious and work till midnight to make it happen? That might have been how I used to do it, because I didn't really know how to set boundaries. Nor did I ever think to set a boundary, I just thought that was what you did. But in this day and age, let's talk about how to have a sense of urgency, and still be calm, committed. And communicate,I want you to be Calm, Committed, but Communicate. So, when you are given a task, or someone is expecting you to demonstrate a sense of urgency around something, stay calm, take the task, or tell them you are unable to do it, and communicate exactly why or where they might find another solution, someone else to help them. Perhaps you could guide them somewhere else. Perhaps you could set a future date and time where you could work on it with them. And flexibility, communicating and finding the flexibility in your life and not being too rigid about well, I have a boundary, I can't cross it. Okay, well, sometimes we have to cross it in order to get stuff done. And there are time sensitive requests that you're going to be asked to do maybe at work or even with friends and family. And that will require some calm and some some consistent communication, maybe even sharing transparently, authentically vulnerably how you are feeling in that moment. Tell them the absolute truth about your experience with this request. You know, let's say someone asked you to do something but you made plans with a friend. Make sure they understand you made plans with a friend and you're you're not really sure how to juggle your commitment to your friend and your commitment to work. So at the end of the day, I think the more engaged you are and the more you're able to really create a sense of urgency with the person who is in need of that. It really comes down to your style of communication. A lot of times we get triggered by these things like I was, and I had to really be transparent with that individual and say, Hey, I hear you, and happy birthday to your grandmother. Here's how I'm feeling, can you help me, like instead of judging the person for not showing up for me the way I wish they had, I was able to communicate more effectively. And not only did she go with the flow in the long run, she actually ended up ended up sending the information sooner than she thought she'd be able to. So notice where you either one are or are not demonstrating a sense of urgency where it might be needed. And, two, if you are expecting a sense of urgency from someone else, and you're not getting it, how you might try a different way, staying calm and communicating and being really clear about what the goal is, and recognizing by observing yourself and overhead if you are judging and getting triggered. A bit of a convoluted story about sense of urgency, but I hope that that you can parse out some pieces that will benefit you this week. Coffee with Nicoa and Nicoa. Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an espresso shot or a full length Coffee with Nicoa interview created just for you.

Unknown: 6:35

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