Success Relieves Urgency

In a recent podcast, the host said this profound quote, “Success is never owned, it is only rented. And, tomorrow, rent is due.”

Let me be totally honest; for whatever reason, every time I mention that quote it gets my juices flowing! It fires me up! And, with a little reflection, I realize how true that quote is. I think as professionals we have to constantly battle complacency.

Complacency relieves urgency.

First and foremost, complacency relieves urgency. Have you ever worked with someone that just seemed to be better than you? I have, and it fueled my urge to get better, quickly. For whatever reason I had to be better, and when that was not the case, my drive for improvement jumped into overdrive.

Similarly, so does an organization. In recent years, the school I am presently at went from a “D” ranking to an “A” ranking. When we became a “D” school, it was almost as if it was life threatening. In other words, we were in constant pursuit of excellence, and for whatever reason, we would not be denied! Our teachers worked after school, during lunch, and before school to tutor struggling students.

Then the new ratings came out this summer. We jumped to an “A.” No, that’s not a mistype, an “A.” Can you imagine the excitement in the air? The staff was rewarded for their hard work. We rolled through first of the year PD. We performed a pep-rally for all district teachers, organized an individualized approach to implementing technology on campus, and met with departments and whole staff about organizational needs. In the words of one new teacher, “This has been most organized and energizing PD I have ever experienced.”

Just to recap, we are now an “A” school, we fired the staff up with celebrations and focused PD, so what’s the issue. The issue is this, now that the emotions of achievement have worn off, what is our new level of urgency? Are we still in overdrive pursuing our mission? Or have we reached a level of complacency?

You see the biggest threat to future success is current success.

And just so you know complacency is scary, it cannot be seen in the mirror and is often not seen until it is too late. Complacency is a mindset, and if it sets in then, we start just GOING through the motions. We go to our J-O-B and go home. We forget that every kid depends on us every day. We lose focus, and start to think that since we are the best, how dare the kids of this year not step up! When this happens, we are in trouble! When we fell to a “D” we took on a new mindset, do we still have it?

“The default mode of any organization is complacency.”

I love Craig Groeschel’s quote, “The default mode of any organization is complacency.” Which make me wonder, what are we doing daily to inspire and motivate our teachers and students to become the “Absolute best high school in the state of Mississippi”? Do we understand that success is only rented and without the urgency of last year, our future success is not guaranteed? You see the biggest threat to future success is current success. So, as an organization we have to start dreaming bigger, seeing broader and caring deeper, because tomorrow… RENT IS DUE!

Because tomorrow… RENT IS DUE!