Do you arrive late to work every day?  You may think that because you have earned your position after devoting so much extra time to your organization that you have the right to show up whenever you choose.  Or perhaps, because you put in so many extra hours, you are entitled to arrive 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or even hours late if you have something important going on at home.

But is this the appropriate example to set for the rest of the employees?  You may feel that because you are in a well-deserved position of authority, no one has the right to demand that you show up at any given time.  You work well above your 40 hours anyway, right?  Why does it matter if you are on time?

1.  Disappoint the team. Everyone will be perpetually waiting for you.  Maybe you do not have to clock in or relieve another worker upon arrival in your current position.  But, you probably work with other people as part of a team.  They may be waiting for you to make a decision, speak to a client, view a proposal, sign a document, etc.  Every time an employee or client has to wait when you are late, your credibility as a leader slowly diminishes.

Build travel times in your calendar.

2.  Damage your personal brand. If you are late to work, you are probably late for client meetings or other work-related functions.  Meaning, your supervisor is most certainly aware that you are constantly late for everything whether he has mentioned it or not. Do you want to be  known as “the late leader?”

3.  Poor standards. You are setting a horrible example for your subordinates.  If attendance or promptness is a factor in which you evaluate your employees, you are setting yourself up for pushback when you have to correct this.  How can you possibly present formal corrective action for attendance when you are never on time? Most likely, you will not.  You will overlook this company rule because you are not following it.

Review your schedule the night before each new day.

4.  Lose credibility. If your employees see that you are willing to ignore this rule, they will assume that you are willing to overlook other rules.  And they are losing respect for you little by little with every rule you overlook.

5.  Fail as a leader. No one will be able to rely on you—for anything.  If you cannot arrive to work when you say you will your employees will view you as unstable and unreliable.

Ordinary people think merely of spending time. Great people think of using it! ~ Anonymous

If you are in a leadership position and consistently absent or late for work, you may want to reevaluate your perception as a leader from the point of view of your team.  We are in the age of open door policies and upward coaching.  So, if you still think your employees won’t say anything, you are mistaken.  They most definitely will—and they should.  Save them the effort of correcting something so elementary and just be on time.