"Sorry...I'm late." is simply another way of saying, "I lied, and I don't respect you or your time."

Sorry I'm late.

What it really means...

More often than not, these three words instantly communicate to others the person saying them has character work to do. It's simple. The more a person uses these words the more character work they need.

Whenever someone hears these words, it means someone has lied to them and wasted their time. I don't invest much, if any, of my time with people who don't mind wasting my time, lying to me, and then making excuses for doing so.

Are there legitimate reasons (key point: outside of our control) to be late or miss a meeting such as an accident, death in the family, etc? Absolutely. This lesson isn't about those times. This lesson is about the other times when we could have shown more respect for others and made better or different choices to arrive on time as scheduled.

When someone is late for a scheduled meeting or call with me, they might as well walk in and say, "I lied to you and wasted your time." because that's already the opinion I have of them. If it's the first meeting (the first impression) and they choose to begin our relationship by wasting my time and lying to me, there is very seldom a second meeting.

There's something worse than wasting someone's time and lying to them...

What's worse than wasting someone's time and lying to them? Providing a list of excuses in an attempt to cover up poor character. When you hear the words "Sorry I'm late," the next thing you typically hear is a list of excuses. That's what weak-minded people with poor character do in life. They make excuses for their behavior. Instead of choosing to accept responsibility, they choose to transfer responsibility and blame others.

The impact...

We are always building trust or creating distrust with those we're interacting with and with those who are watching us interact with others. Who we are matters personally and professionally. We tend to judge others based on their actions. "They were late!" However, we tend to judge ourselves based on our intent. "Sorry I'm late. Something came up last minute." We should judge others and ourselves based on our actions.

Wasting someone's time creates distrust. Lying to others creates distrust. Making excuses creates distrust.

I hope you realize that being late isn't a little thing. It's a BIG thing. It's easy to see the impact when you're on time and others are late. But, that's on them. It's not a reflection of your character. However, it's harder to see the impact when you are the one who is late. And, that is a reflection of your character.

The impact on leadership...

Too often, positional leaders are the worst. They expect their team to be at the meeting on time, but they don't always hold themselves to the same standards. The leader thinks they can be late, or worse, not show up at all without any consequences. Nothing is farther from the truth.

Consequences always flow from our actions.

Leadership is influence. Whether you have a position of authority or not, you have influence. In every relationship, your actions will always lead to more influence with others or less. This is especially true for formal authority leaders.

Everyone must understand that wasting people's time, lying to people, and making excuses for your actions will never increase your influence. These behaviors will always decrease your influence because it creates distrust.

If you're a formal leader at work and are late for meetings, your behavior communicates many things to your team:

• It's okay to waste each other's time.
• It's okay to lie to each other.
• It's okay to make excuses.
• It's okay to hold others to one standard and yourself to another.

These same things are communicated by us all, regardless of our position or our location, when we say "Sorry I'm late" and make excuses. Parents communicate these things to their children all the time. Parents are often late while expecting their children to always be on time.

We're always teaching what we're modeling, regardless of what we're teaching.

Who you are matters...

Today, too many people value their own time above others and don't mind showing up for a meeting or call when and if they get ready while disrespecting those who did show up on time.

Keeping commitments always builds trust. Breaking commitments always creates distrust. Honesty always builds trust. Dishonesty always creates distrust. Trust always increases influence. Distrust always decreases influence.

Being late is not being honest. When you say you will do something and don't, that is defined as a lie. If you want to build trust and increase your influence, you must do what you said you would do when you said you would do it. If you don't care about the relationship, you can just do whatever you want whenever you want. It doesn't matter to you anyway. But if you do care about the relationship, what you do compared to what you said you would do matters a lot.

FREE downloads available:

Click here now for a FREE download of the entire leadership principle-packed Chapter 11, "Get Out of the Way and Lead" from the first book in my Demystifying Leadership Series: Defining Influence. In this nearly 20 page chapter, I share about:

·      Managing vs Leading

·      Scarcity vs Abundance

·      Formal Authority vs Moral Authority

·      The 5 Types of Leaders

·      Compare/Contrast 17 Manager vs Leader Perspectives

Click here to access the first 5 chapters of “Blue-Collar Leadership: Leading from the Front Lines.”

·      Ch. 1: I’m one of you.

·      Ch.2: I believe in you.

·      Ch.3: You’re in the perfect place.

·      Ch. 4: Common sense is never enough.

·      Ch.5: There is an “I” in Team.

Note: I encourage you to be a river, not a reservoir. Please share my blogs with others if you find value in them. I believe in abundance and write them to help others become more effective, successful, and significant.

Make an impact!

Mack Story

My passion is to help you live with abundance, achieve success, choose significance, and leave a legacy. In other words, I want to help you make a High Impact !

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Mack’s story is an amazing journey of personal and professional growth. He began his career in manufacturing on the front lines of a machine shop. He grew himself into upper management and found his niche in lean manufacturing and along with it, developed his passion for leadership. He understands that everything rises and falls on leadership.

Mack is the author of 10 Foundational Elements of Intentional Transformation, Blue-Collar Leadership, Maximize Your Potential, Blue-Collar Leadership & Supervision, Maximize Your Leadership Potential, Defining Influence, Change Happens, PHOENIX, & 10 Values of High Impact Leaders. He's an inspiration for people everywhere as an example of achievement, growth, and personal development. His passion inspires people all over the world! Order signed copies here.

Mack’s experience as a Leadership Coach, Trainer, and Speaker includes an international training event in Guatemala with John C. Maxwell as part of the Cultural Transformation in Guatemala where more than 20,000 Guatemalan leaders were trained.

Contact Mack at 334-728-4143 or [email protected] for Keynote Speaking, Corporate Training, Professional Leadership Development, Cultural Enhancement/Transformation, and Process Improvement.