The first step to becoming a champion is showing up on time. It may seem trivial, but how am I supposed to trust you to come through in a huge spot when you can’t make it to a 12:30 lunch event on time? This is a brief message to those people who are consistently late.
What does it mean when you are late?
- Your actions say, “My time is more important than yours.”
- Time is the most valuable commodity in the world. When time is wasted, it can never be replaced. It is important to understand that no person’s time is more valuable than another.
- You cannot be counted on by others
- The show cannot always go on without the whole party. If you are late, you are wasting the time of everyone else that had the courtesy to show up on time. Showing up on time is the STANDARD for any team.
- Unprepared and unprofessional
- When you are late, you are letting everyone know you were rushed to get here. It says that you felt other things were more important than preparing for this meeting/event. Think about any leader in your life. Were any of them consistently tardy?
Why are people late in the first place?
- The Planning Fallacy
- Basically, a lot of people are bad at estimating how long tasks will take to do. If a person thinks that it will take an hour to get ready and leave, and really it takes an hour and fifteen minutes, they are going to consistently miss the mark. If this is you, then it is time to start factoring in your poor estimates into your planning.
- Didn’t leave early enough
- This is the most common excuse I hear for being late. Well why not? You can be an hour early and be fine, but one second late, is late. Sometimes people can get intimidated by showing up too early. Well, sit in your car! This is not an excuse for your tardiness.
How to improve punctuality
- Walk through all necessary steps mentally
- Be sure to go through ever step in your head before guessing the time it will take. This will give us a better idea of what a good timeline is.
- Prepare for the worst
- Imagine you are going to hit traffic, forget something at home, and get a flat tire. You need to prepare for these things ahead of time so you can be ready when it does.
- Ten minutes early is five minutes late
- We used to say Lombardi time was 15 minutes early. That has been the standard for almost every baseball team I have been on. That means if you are only ten minutes early, you have still missed the standard.
