Here’s today’s tip: Every facet of your campaign should be infused with a sense of urgency. No lollygagging.
A lot of people equate urgency purely with speed. Speed is obviously important in campaigns but just looking at urgency as a tempo measurement comes up short of what I’m talking about here.
I mean that you must be purposeful. If you’re needing to knock doors or put up yard signs, speed and urgency may be synonymous. However there are plenty of campaign activities that may require urgency at a slower pace. More deliberate and thoughtful. You’re still being purposeful but the manifestation of urgency looks different to the outside observer.
Think about Special Operations forces and how they work. They are so incredibly swift but they would be the first to tell you that, “Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.” They understand that you need to be urgent with every action but that speed is only one component of being effective.
As it turns out, the easiest way to increase speed is to get good at something while practicing at a slower rate.
The great thing about this is that the beginning months of a campaign are perfect training for the frenetic pace of the last few weeks. If you use that slower time to polish your machine and hone your abilities, you’ll be just fine when the heat cranks up as you near the finish line.
Be urgent, purposeful, in everything you do. Set an example for your team