Are you on time for most things in your life or do you move from day to day feeling like you are always running late? Time management is one of those skills that very few people can get their arms around… not because there just aren’t enough hours in the day, rather they just haven’t committed to being on time. It really is a mindset you have to adopt. Some people would say, “Well I’m just a late person.” To that I say, No, you’re just a rude person. You have to choose to be on time… ALWAYS!
I can remember myself, a fidgety 10 year old boy, in line at the hardware store with my dad. There we waited one by one as we moved through the line. My dad could tell I was being impatient. He said,”You don’t like standing in line do you?” “No,” I replied. He then said, “Remember this feeling because this is what other people will feel every time you keep them waiting.”
The great Hall of Fame football coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi, invented a strategy that he recommended to his coaches and players. It came to be known as “Lombardi Time,” and it embodied a valuable habit that is even more appropriate to salespeople than it was to football players.
Lombardi Time states “Show up for every important business meeting 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled meeting time.” The idea is to use the 15 minutes to catch your breath, collect your thoughts and preplan what you want to accomplish in the meeting and how you’ll go about it.
I’ve practiced Lombardi Time off and on during my career and have found it to be not only valuable for planning purposes, but a wonderful source of humor and character reading. It turns out you can find out a great deal about people by watching them arrive at a meeting.
If you look closely, you’ll observe that people arrive at meetings the way they do business and the way they lead their lives. But, you’ll only be able to tell, if you’re on Lombardi Time yourself.
I have to go now. I’ve got an important 3:00 o’clock meeting at 2:45.
Be on time and have a great weekend!
