Inside Scoop: What They're Saying Behind Your Back
The Other Side Of Late.
Woody Allen says that 80% of success is showing up. Goldie says that 80% of success is showing up on time!
Picture it: There were four of us sitting at the table in the restaurant dining room ready to begin our business meeting at 12:10pm. We were awaiting four more when we began our 'rant' about being late. Now mind you, the lunch was called for 12:15pm. No one was technically late at that point! But we had four extremists at the table, and I'm one of 'em. I often claim that I'm allergic to late!
Preaching To The Converted
We all shared our gripes about people being late: it's disrespectful of our time; it interrupts our agenda - our flow; missing participants miss out on vital information which leads to miscommunication; others are distracted; the latecomer looks 'sloppy' upon arrival....just to name a few.
Truth Be Told
The bottom line is, promptness is greatly controllable. 90% of the time, we can ALL be on time. It's not lack of brains, it's lack of effort and realistic planning. Do I want to do business with someone who doesn't respect HIM or HERSELF enough to appear professional? Of course, Murphy's Law rears it's ugly head about 10% of the time - subway challenges, a client meeting goes long, a manager asks for a couple of minutes as you're on your way out of the door - life happens. Simply put, if you control the controllables, the uncontrollables are better managed. Ask any Goldie's employees about this....they were subject to this speech as part of pre-service meetings most nights.
Living The Lesson
Last week I took this philosophy to the mat. I was invited to a power lunch with a group of impressive women. I was coming in from Cold Spring for the lunch that was called for noon. My train was due to arrive at GCT at 35 minutes past the hour. What I wanted, and in some ways needed to do was take the train that hit at 11:35am, and arrive near the stroke of noon, if all went well. BUT, if the train was a few minutes late or the subways weren't in sync (which always seems to happen when you're under time pressure), I'd rush in 5 to 10 minutes late. I had a major decision to make. Any ideas?
You guessed it! I took an earlier train, got in an hour early, and was totally focused on work during the train ride because I wasn't worried about being late. I even got to socialize for 10 minutes with killa' women while waiting for all to arrive. This was an ideal time to share personal challenges, like keeping a charge on the IPhone! Precious time, indeed.
BONUS: In my punctuality, I also carved out time for a quick manicure at my new favorite spot: Rafael's. Check it out, and tell them that Elly Rosenthal's friend sent you!
What techniques do you use to be on time consistently?