5 Rules of How to Have Patience and Urgency at the Same Time

    

It’s that time of the year. That interesting, frustrating, exciting, tormenting time of the year when thePatients and Urgency glorious hot days of summer start winding down and the realization that September and the rest of the year are just a couple of weeks away.

Traditionally (pre-pandemic), things tended to find their own nice rhythm and balance as a lot more planning for the fall, the rest of this year and then the following year were done much more methodically and with more openness in June and July. But as we try to figure out the new normal at the same time the “delta variant” enters the mainstream conversation of business planning, it seems that all bets are off, and most business professionals are stuck in the uncomfortable place of trying to have both patience and urgency at the same time.

And it’s hard. If you are leading a team, function, or project you want to move quickly and get ahead of the game now, and if you are a vendor working with an existing or prospective customer, it’s a difficult game of wait, wait, and hopefully see.

As a veteran of 35+ Augusts, it’s my pleasure to share five things that I have learned that can hopefully help you stay calm and focused on success at the same time. Here are 5 tips on how to have patience and urgency at the same time.

Reach out and try twice

Just twice. Not three times, not five times. Twice. You know what I am talking about. You want to get in touch with a prospect and they aren’t returning your call. Or you are waiting for a supplier to let you know the raw materials are about to be shipped. But that other person is not being responsive. It’s okay. They will. Unless it is literally a life and death emergency then after the second attempt let it go. The other person knows you’ve reached out. There is nothing more you can do. They are probably either very busy or on holiday. It can wait and they will respect you more if you don’t drive them crazy with relentless emails and phone calls.

Respect the vacation

Even if you are an 80-hour a week workaholic and would rather write a silly blog than take a break, you must respect other people’s vacations. It is sacrosanct and I can share from personal experience that if you disturb someone on their vacation when it is critically unnecessary you have a chance of destroying the relationship forever. It’s not worth it! Respect the vacation and wait for the other person to return tanned, rested, and ready.

Use your forecasting skills

You are a strong business professional. Use your Business Acumen skills to make your best forecasts. Create different scenarios and use the data and insights that you have to predict what the rest of the year will look like and then use your agility skills to make adjustments as things change.

Don’t be afraid to prioritize

When you don’t have all the data and you are using your best Business Acumen skills to forecast, you also must use your Business Acumen skills to prioritize. Prioritize your resources, your time, your best customers, how you are going to execute your strategy. A lack of commitment from people you are waiting on because they are on vacation shouldn’t paralyze you.

Think long-term

Thinking long-term should give you the guiderails you need to be patient and urgent while you are waiting for others. The long-term happens as a result of a series of short-term decisions and actions. When stuck in the precarious position of trying to ride out the last two weeks of August, then it’s imperative that you need to keep your eye on the long-term because in actuality you don’t have a choice. Be patient in knowing that as soon as Labor Day comes all hell will break loose and if you’ve set things up for the long term, you will be okay!

In summary, these next two weeks will be excruciating if you are waiting on others to come decisions and commitments. I hope you can use these 5 tips of using Business Acumen as a way to be patient and still have that focus and sense of urgency.

New Call-to-action

Robert Brodo

About The Author

Robert Brodo is co-founder of Advantexe. He has more than 20 years of training and business simulation experience.