We have all been there: the big town hall meeting, the CEO announcing an urgent new initiative with a slick slide deck full of bold declarations, and internal comms anxiously crossing their fingers in the wings. Kotter’s “burning platform” has become the go-to playbook for leaders desperate to ignite action. But let’s be honest; when the message is always “Drop everything!” or “This is urgent!” instead of running for the fire extinguishers, people just start rolling their eyes.

False urgency is leadership laziness in a shiny wrapper. It’s easier to stoke panic than to do the hard work of prioritising, aligning, and committing. Burning platforms only work if people believe the flames are real—and that jumping is worth the risk. In organisations where priorities shift weekly and “critical” projects pile up like unread emails, slapping a “URGENT” label on everything doesn’t motivate—it creates inertia. Employees develop a form of corporate immunity to urgency, and teams grow numb.

When leaders cry wolf quarter after quarter, they’re not driving change. They’re eroding their own credibility, and their team’s resilience.

True change leaders understand the difference. They create clarity around why change matters, without manufacturing crises. They distinguish between what’s truly time-sensitive and what requires steady, consistent effort. They build sustainable momentum rather than exhausting sprints that lead nowhere.

Instead of false urgency, try these approaches:

• Define “urgent” like your strategy depends on it. Ruthlessly clarify what must happen now, what can wait, and—crucially—what to stop.
• Trade theatrics for transparency. Instead of breathless declarations, explain why this matters, what it replaces, and how progress will be measured.
• Listen to your team’s pushback. If your “urgency” consistently crashes into overloaded calendars, the problem isn’t your people—it’s your planning.
• Acknowledge the cumulative fatigue of constant “urgent” initiatives. When leaders weaponise urgency to compensate for poor planning or indecision, they’re not driving results. They’re outsourcing their accountability to exhausted employees.

Next time you hear “we’re building a culture of accountability,” ask yourself: are we creating conditions for success, or just identifying who to punish for failure?

The future of change isn’t about cranking the urgency dial to 11. It’s about rewiring the system from the top down and from the bottom up. Audit legacy projects sucking the life from your teams. Protect capacity like it’s a finite currency.

Change leadership is about creating space for the quiet moments between storms—when trust is deepened, clarity is honed, and people actually believe the next fire might be worth fighting.

And if you’re still clinging to burning platforms? At least have the decency to admit you’re the one holding the matches

Welcome to the Friday Confessional. If you know, you know.