Brent Sordyl's blog

As you manage bigger groups of people, you cannot be as closely connected to specific underlying issues and challenges. Your contribution has to become more of making sure that you’re getting the best out of others, that others are really thinking the issues through, and that you’re creating the broad framework in which they can get their jobs done and be as productive and focused as they can be. What makes it a challenge is that every time you cross one of those boundaries, you become less of a specialist, less knowledgeable about specific issues. You have to realize that your contribution becomes more symbolic, in the sense that you’re trying to set a general direction. People want to see you as representing the general mission, not just yourself.
(Link: Corner Office – Companies Need 4 Leadership Types, Says VMware’s Chief – Question – NYTimes.com)

How can you distinguish good urgency from bad urgency?

There are lots of signs of false urgency. Frenetic activity. Everyone is exhausted, working 14-hour days. One red flag is how difficult it is to schedule a meeting. With true urgency, people leave lots of white space on their calendars, because they recognize that the important stuff — the stuff they need to deal with immediately — is going to happen. If you’re overbooked, you can’t manage pressing problems or even recognize they’re pressing until too late.

People think that in urgent situations, they’re expected to take on more and more. They’re worried about keeping their jobs, so they try to demonstrate their value by being incredibly busy. But the leader should be telling them to do just the opposite. He should say, “I want everyone to look at your calendars. What’s on there that doesn’t clearly move us forward? Get rid of it!”
(Link: John Kotter’s Urgent Message for Entrepreneurs- urgency – not panic – is the key to getting ahead)