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Welcome to The SHAPE of a Leader. I write this blog with the SHAPE leadership development program (for women pastors) I lead in mind, but it is for all who are interested in leadership, faith, and the intersection of the two.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Urgent or Important?

When the same topic comes up 3 times in one week, I take note.  In three different settings last week, the topic of urgent vs. important landed front and center.  As leaders, a vast majority of our time is spent in the urgent, but how many urgent things are all that important?  Or more importantly, do you let the urgent take priority, such that the important never gets done?

Urgent is a customer problem, server failure, or the email that decides for you that you need to place a priority on it.

Important is strategic planning, employee relationships, or your continued learning.  

As a leader, you maybe have to allow for the urgent interruptions, but can you afford to not pay attention to the important things? I think not.

1 comment:

  1. Ever since the 80s, I have carried with me a sign from office to office: "If I were to let my life be taken over by what is URGENT, I would never get around to what is ESSENTIAL!"

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