In research, urgency is one of the most underrated qualities a leader can bring. Not the frantic, stressed-out kind of urgency. The quiet kind. The kind that says: if we don’t start today, we’re already behind.

Research takes time. A lot of it. Months to gather data, years to publish, even longer to see impact. That’s why waiting until “later” almost always means “too late.” A day not started is a day you don’t get back.

Urgency in this sense isn’t about outrunning competitors or cramming more work into an already full schedule. It’s about momentum. The earlier something begins, the more room it has to grow, change, and actually finish.

Leaders who instill urgency give their teams a gift: clarity that today matters. Not next week. Not when things calm down. Now. Because the work is slow, the world is fast, and the only way to bridge the two is to begin.

--João