Cort Johnson: Never Late for an Appointment

 ‘Never late for an appointment Salmon Chase had no patience for the sin of tardiness which stole precious minutes from the life of the man left waiting.’ - Said of Salmon Chase (6th Chief Justice of the United States and Treasury Secretary under Lincoln) in Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. 
 
If you are like me you’re hustling to meet with those who can teach you how to be a better entrepreneur.  There’s nothing better than developing a relationship with an experienced, well connected person within the startup community who takes an interest in what you’re doing.  Not only do you get an advocate for your project but more importantly you get someone who will give you their undivided attention and provide you with guidance.
 
Developing relationships is a lot of work.  There are some aspects of relationship building that are out of our control which means that we need to capitalize on the aspects that are within our control.
 
In my eyes the easiest victory we have to create a solid first impression is to show up for a meeting, phone call or event on time.  I know, it sounds pretty obvious, and it is, but I’ve seen far too many people fail at this easy win.
 
To make sure we’re on the same page let’s define the phrase ‘on time’?  If you’ve played sports at one point or another you may have heard of this before… If you’re 10 minutes early you’re on time, if you’re on time you’re late, if you’re late don’t bother showing up. This statement has stuck with me over the years and is what I use to measure being ‘on time’.
 
Now I’m not perfect but I put a lot of effort into making sure that I’m early to all my appointments. So here are a couple things that I do to help me be on time.
 
My first tactic is to schedule meetings at locations that are close to where I live and work as well as at times that are convenient for me.  I’ve talked about how Ischedule meetings in an earlier post but in a nut shell I tend to put myself in the driver’s seat when it comes to choosing a time and place to meet someone.  When you’re in the driver’s seat you get to meet at your convenience.
 
The second tactic is to make sure you are religious with your calendar.  Even before I check my e-mail, I look at my calendar every morning when I wake up to see what appointments I have going on for the day.  If you haven’t chosen your go-to calendar I recommend gCal, she’s not the most beautiful but she gets the job done.   Most important, make sure your calendar syncs with your phone so that you’re getting a heads up about your appointment from your phone.
 
Finally if I am about to commit the sin of being late I get on the phone as fast as possible to give the person I’m meeting with a heads up.  Remember, expectation breeds disappointment so if someone is expecting you at a particular time and you don’t make it you’re going to be leaving quite the disappointing impression.  If you are going to be late and you know it get on the phone to alter those expectations.
 
I know this seems pretty simple but too often have I seen people be consistently late for things blemishing their credibility.  If you are successful at being on time it will certainly help you in your efforts to develop relationships with those in the startup community who can really help you.
 
Cort Johnson is an entrepreneur in Boston and co-founder of DartBoston, a community of twenty something entrepreneurs students and professionals in Boston.