A Sense Of Urgency

Startups need a sense of urgency — they have a market they need to capture against the backdrop of a myriad of competitors and a draining bank account. I define a sense of urgency as :

• setting ambitious company, team and person goals and striving to meet or exceed them
• never having a feeling of comfort with status quo — always thinking about and suggesting ways to be better as an individual or team
• being relentless in ensuring we’re prioritizing ruthlessly for spending our time on the highest value work
• being engaged in meetings, asking probing questions and making the best use of the expensive time together
• demonstrating awareness and concern when things are not going to plan, sharing the information, and taking every action possible to get back on plan
• be empathetic to everyone feeling the pressure, and supporting each other to keep good mental health. Any feedback we give each other is ‘with love’, not intended to be fundamentally personal in nature (although it will sometimes feel that way initially), and with the goal of being the best we can be and getting the company to success.