Business owners ask me this all the time:
“Doc, why is everything urgent?”
Here’s the blunt answer: because you’re making everything urgent.
Most of the fires you’re putting out today didn’t appear overnight. They started as small sparks: unclear expectations, half-made decisions, tolerated underperformance, missing processes; things you noticed, then postponed.
Urgency is rarely a sign of “bad luck.”
It’s usually a symptom of weak leadership rhythm.
Let’s name the usual causes.
1) Lack of clarity creates chaos
When people don’t know the target, they guess.
When they guess, they miss.
When they miss, you jump in to fix it.
And suddenly, everything feels urgent.
2) Lack of process accelerates chaos
Without a repeatable way of doing things, every task becomes a reinvention. Every handoff becomes a risk. Every deadline becomes a scramble.
Great businesses don’t rely on memory and motivation.
They rely on systems.
3) Lack of delegation guarantees chaos
If every decision, approval, and solution has to route through you, your business becomes a bottleneck with branding.
You don’t have a workload problem.
You have an ownership problem.
So if you want fewer emergencies, here’s the equation:
Clarity + decisiveness + downstream accountability = fewer emergencies
Not “working harder.”
Not “being more available.”
Not “checking in more.”
Clarity. Decisiveness. Accountability.
Now, do something practical today:
Identify one key decision you’ve been avoiding.
The one sitting in the back of your mind.
The one you keep “meaning to address.”
Then:
- Make the decision.
- Communicate it clearly.
- Assign ownership. (One owner. Not a committee.)
- Set a check-in date. (Accountability needs a calendar.)
Your business isn’t chaotic.
Your leadership rhythm is.
Fix the rhythm and you’ll be shocked at how quickly the chaos calms down.