"Move with a sense of urgency."
To move with a sense of urgency, as Kelleher admonished, you have to understand what a healthy sense of urgency is.
Simply being in a hurry to get something done, or feeling pressured to do anything, isn't what a sense of urgency is; nor is it helpful. That can just result in a lot of wasted movement with little benefit to anyone.
I think of sense of urgency as being more of a controlled movement; a sense of knowing where you're going, and from there a willingness to push quickly to get it done.
A sense of urgency is a sense of purpose; A sense of purpose is knowing exactly what business you're in; knowing what business you're in gives you the confidence to move forward.
With that in mind, it's there that movement can develop that sense of urgency. Once we know where we're going with existing projects, we can then vigorously pursue them.
Urgency also implies making a decision. How many times is there a sense of unsurety in a business, and then a decision is made and the urgency simply emerges from that decision and direction?
If there isn't a sense of urgency in what your business or department, take a look at how well workers know the purpose you exist as a business, and then give them specific direction within that purpose. Usually that takes care of the vast majority of times workers don't have that sense of urgency.
Most the time it isn't laziness or lack of conern by a worker, rather it's paralysis from not knowing the purpose and direction to take within the business. Take care of that and a great worker will respond.
Other Herb Kelleher Sources:
Herb Kelleher on the Record, Part 1
Belief Model for The Leadership of Herb Kelleher (Southwest Airlines)
Herb Kelleher, Chairman, CEO and President, Southwest Airlines
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