You can’t influence if you continuously show up late and unprepared.  My father engrained in my sisters and me, “Show up on time and you will be in the top 1%.”  That’s it!  Showing up on time and prepared isn’t rocket science or painful.  Many people stroll into meetings and events late. Just by avoiding being “that” person, you’re immediately in the top 1%.

I attended a dinner party last week where we waited for an hour for everyone to arrive.  What was the person who strolled in an hour late thinking?

My team and I are very grateful for the many organizations and corporations we partner with.  It does not take us long to figure out their culture and what is acceptable.  Some companies honor and respect others’ time by arriving 10 to 15 minutes before we kick off our workshops.  Then there are the companies where participants show up 15 to 30 minutes after we are already deep into our workshop.  The communication that follows in an attempt to explain late arrivals is, “That’s just how they are.”  “This is our culture.”  Why do we accept these excuses?

Avoid jeopardizing your reputation and influence by being labeled as the latecomer.

When you show up late and unprepared, you run the risk of creating a reputation Monday to Monday™ that communicates:

• Your listener’s time is not valuable.
• You don’t care. (If you don’t care, why should your listeners?)
• Everyone else does it. (If the meeting facilitator or leader are always late, why should your listeners show up on time?)

You owe it to yourself and your reputation to take these action steps Monday to Monday:™

1. Honor the beginning of your day. In the first 30 minutes each day, organize your to-do’s based on   Decide what you need to prepare for each conversation that is scheduled that day.
2. Review your meetings and commitments. Know your calendar: meeting start and end times.  What will you do to guarantee that conversations you lead start and end on time?
3. Prepare to influence. Write down your key points, objectives and call to action for every conversation you lead.  Identify how you will add stories, analogies, references, quotes or visual aids to your conversations to make your message stick long after the interaction occurs.

Drop me a note and share the steps you took this month to NOT be late and to always be prepared.  Tag me on my Facebook page.