Are you always late getting to meetings, events and places? Do you figure you have done the best you could to get there on time and it’s got to be good enough that you even showed up? Do you assume that no one will really notice or mind that you are late? Do you beg for forgiveness when you get somewhere late? Or worse, do you always have a really really really good reason why you are late…again?

We all have a tendency to have “life” come up when we are rushing out the door to get to a meeting or to work. However, at some point being late becomes more consistent and we get noticed for being the late one. If this happens, you are now stuck with a pretty ineffective and notorious personal brand.

As I always say, people buy people, not products or services. So, what does it say about you, the person I am supposedly to buy, if you are most often late to our meetings? People will draw all sorts of conclusions about you when you are late- even three or four times in a row. They assume you don’t value their time and may get offended. They assume you can’t take care of yourself and manage yourself, so how can you possibly manage their business needs? They assume you don’t have enough help to manage and properly allocate your schedule. Or they may assume you just can’t read time!! Well, maybe not so much the latter. But they may just write you off as being ignorant of time.

I have someone who handles my calendar and schedules all my appointments just wonderfully. However, I had a stretch of three days where I was running ten minutes late pretty much to every appointment. It was starting to drive me crazy. I had to stop and assess what was going on because it was getting embarrassing. I realized that I was pushing the envelope and underestimating how long the commute between appointments would be. It was not any one’s fault except mine. And I wasn’t going to let it reflect poorly on my personal brand.

So if you are running late often, stop and reflect on why it is so. Do you have a good calendar blocked off well for appointments? Do you estimate well how long you’ll be in a meeting and how long it takes you to get somewhere? Do you pad your time to ensure optimal personal brand success?

Email us your best, “I’m so sorry to be late to this very important meeting story”, and we’ll publish it anonymously in our next newsletter.