When Everything Feels Urgent: What Happens to Our Leadership Habits?

Nothing reveals our habits quite like the weeks where everything feels urgent. I was talking with a group of managers recently about what happens when the pace picks up and the pressure climbs. Without meaning to, many of them found themselves slipping into a familiar pattern: everything became about the task.

We used John Adair’s model: task, individual, team, and it was obvious which circle had expanded and which ones had shrunk. Not because they don’t care about people or culture. They do. But when you’re stretched and deadlines keep shouting the loudest, it becomes harder to give attention to anything that isn’t immediately on fire.

And yet they could all see the long-term risk.

When we stop paying attention to individuals and team dynamics, we don’t actually save time. We simply postpone the consequences. Burnout gathers quietly. Frustrations settle in. Small issues grow because no one had the bandwidth to catch them early.

What came through strongly in the discussion was a shared recognition: if they don’t protect time for the individual and the team now, the task will only become heavier later. Short-term survival can never be the whole story. Leadership is about managing the immediate demands while still nurturing the conditions that help people thrive over time.