The Story

It was my new employee’s first team meeting. They showed up at 8:03. The meeting started at 8:00.

It wasn’t a big deal; we were still exchanging pleasantries, and they didn’t miss much.

I decided to ask them to stay behind so I could chat with them. I reiterated that the meeting starts at 8:00, and I expect everyone to be in the meeting room by 8:00. I added, ‘Life happens, so I understand if you’re running late, but I need to know about it. A simple text or Teams chat in advance is all I need.’

It’s not a major issue unless it becomes a pattern.

Leaders can uphold expectations while remaining flexible. Your job is to model the appropriate behaviors and uphold the standards in your team interactions.

If I’m running late to a meeting with my employee, I’ll always ping them to say, ‘Hey, I’ll be five minutes late, sorry.’

The Lesson

Expectations are set by the actions and behaviors of leaders, not simply policies or words on a page. Every time you let something slide, the expectations change.

What you tolerate, what you model, and how you react to missed expectations are how you uphold or fail to uphold the standards you set.

If someone shows up to a meeting 5 minutes late, and you don’t address it. Guess what? They now believe that being 5 minutes late is acceptable.

Your job is to set and uphold the standards that align with your leadership style and your organization’s expectations.

A simple question

Until next time,

Rick