Do Great Leaders Need to be Punctual?

Train Station in Nice, France

In Canada, if a train is 45 seconds late it is “on time”. In Switzerland that same train is “late”. In Germany, people at the railroad are getting fired. There’s a certain relativity to punctuality. A few years ago I was supposed to give a speech at one of our locations in Quebec. I flew in, got a rental car and arrived early to prepare. Something didn’t feel right. It soon became apparent that I was in the right province, but the wrong city. As I frantically fought the Montreal traffic to get to the correct location I felt terrible. Why? Because I felt like I was sending 350 people the message “I’m the leader here and my time is worth more than yours… you guys can wait for me”. I rolled in with 2 minutes to spare, looking like a wreck. I confessed and the team got a laugh.

It’s a fact of life that leaders have demanding and fluid schedules. There will be lots of last minute rescheduling, just-in-time arrivals and coaxing the Uber guy to get a move on. So, are good leaders punctual? Answer: Sometimes. But they are always respectful. Including a respect for other peoples’ time. It means having a pretty high threshold for last minute changes and showing up late. It means getting word to the person as soon as possible, so they can make effective use of their own time. And it means apologizing and meaning it, when you miss. That’s not too hard, is it?

Jack Ott, Founder & Coach, BolderBlue Leadership