If every email is marked URGENT… is anything actually urgent?
Amanda Opie
When everything is high priority, people stop knowing where to focus.
Clarity disappears > Stress rises > Performance drops.
Constant pressure might get short-term results. But over time, it doesn’t build high performance, it builds burnout.
We see it all the time:
• Teams firefighting instead of thinking strategically
• Managers reacting instead of leading
• Employees feeling “always on” but never caught up
Urgency should be the exception, not the culture.
Strong leadership isn’t about creating pressure. It’s about creating clarity:
What really matters today?
What can wait?
What does “good enough” look like?
When people have clear priorities and realistic deadlines, they don’t just cope, they perform.
High-performing teams aren’t fuelled by panic. They’re fuelled by focus.