I have often said that the world is very passionate about their dreams, ambitions, money, schedule, etc. The best businesses out there are devoted to their cause, and it gives them a focus that is contagious… and convicting. As important as the almighty dollar is to these people, think of how much greater our work is. Church ministry is eternal. The article below is about far more than building a good business. It’s about a mindset of respect. It’s a mindset that sees importance in a certain area of life—your schedule. Have you ever thought of being late to choir in these terms? I’ve removed all the profanity, but the force of his blog post is indeed felt. Why can’t we see church ministry schedule at least as important as Peter Shankman sees his business schedule?
Source: http://shankman.com/if-you-re-late-i-m-done-with-you-that-s-it/
IF YOU’RE LATE, IF YOU FLAKE, I’M DONE WITH YOU. THAT’S IT.
I want to share two days of my schedule with you for this week:
Tuesday:
- 9am coffee: Person never showed, emailed about a train disruption at 8:45am, when I was already there.
- 10am in-person meeting in my office: Person never showed up, never called.
- 1pm: Call with Lori Russo of Stanton Communications. She called me at 12:58. Perfect.
- 2pm: Call, my phone rang at 2:07pm.
Thursday (Today):
- 8:30am call – Call with Steve Stein of Better Listen. Called on time, perfect.
- 9am coffee – Person showed up at 9:18, “sorry, train delay” We had 12 minutes to have a meeting.
- 10am Skype Interview for someone’s podcast: They called me at 10:18am, “Sorry, I got held up.”
- 11am call: It’s 11:15. The phone hasn’t rang yet.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE NOWADAYS?
That’s it. I’m done. I don’t care who you are, I don’t care how important you think you are, or worse, how not-important you think I am. If you’re late for a meeting for any reason other than something truly major, we’re done. Done. No more rescheduling. No more “oh, we can do it over the phone.” None of that.
If you don’t respect my time as much as you value your own… We. Are. DONE.
I’m through with making sure I get up on time, I get an earlier train, to get to the meeting 15 minutes early. I’m through with being the only one in the equation who respects the other person’s time. I. Am. DONE. You’re late? I don’t care if it was the subway. Traffic? Guess what? This is a major city. THERE’S ALWAYS TRAFFIC. YOU PLAN FOR IT, LIKE A GROWN-UP.
Think this is harsh? Think I’m being a bit heavy-handed? GOOD. BE ON TIME.
Want a call with me? If we have a call at 10am, and you don’t call until 10:15am? I’m not answering. My life isn’t here for you to dictate when I’m allowed to get work done and when I’m supposed to be waiting for you. No.
If I respect you enough to get somewhere on time, to call you when I say I’m going to, and to plan for most eventualities, I expect, no, I DEMAND that you do the same.
If you don’t want to? That’s fine. I don’t want to meet with you. Ever.
Wow. Pretty intense, huh? Luke 16:8 “…for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” Regardless of who said it, we can (should?) always learn from others.
-Bro. Ryan