Being on time tells a lot about you.

One of my all-time favourite quotes, ‘In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not!’ can be applied to many situations in life. Nowadays, we have many leadership and executive coaches running the internet, with ‘self-improvement and betterment’ being their credo. Yet, most fail to achieve one effortless thing based on my recent experience, which is called punctuality!

According to the dictionary, punctuality is the fact or quality of being on time. Simple, easy, effortless, be on time! I believe being on time tells a lot about a person. It shows they respect your time and their own and value the social agreement tied to it.

However, if you operate on Lombardi Time, like me, you are always 15 minutes earlier to the meeting. These 15 minutes give you the ease to recapitulate and prepare for the meeting, so you enter with clarity, not carrying the leftovers from the previous session(s). So not only are you on time and punctual, you are sharp and focussed.

In past months, I have experienced quite strange behaviours from various individuals proclaiming to be ‘executive coaches, leaders, thought leaders’ and whatnot, but fail in that simple thing called punctuality. Given that we have turned fully to the virtual meeting world, it is customary to cancel the appointment on d-day or not show up at all. Because we are digital, you don’t have to travel; thus, cancelling a meeting is like pouring yourself a cup of coffee.

The question arises, ‘How can you coach someone, be a thought-leader in a particular topic if the fundamental element of your structure is missing?’