Several members of our leadership team consistently arrive two or three minutes late to our weekly Level 10 Meeting, which disrupts our start time and forces us to repeat the personal and professional best segue. How do we enforce a strict start time without sounding like a hall monitor?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Arriving late to a Level 10 Meeting™ is a direct violation of the meeting pulse. When leaders wander in late, they signal to the rest of the team that their own personal calendars are more important than the collective time of the leadership group.

To stop this behavior, you must enforce a strict, non-negotiable rule: the meeting starts exactly on time, whether everyone is in their seats or not. If your meeting is scheduled for nine o'clock, the facilitator must begin the personal and professional best segue at nine o'clock sharp.

Do not pause the meeting, do not repeat the agenda, and do not catch up anyone who walks in late. Let them experience the natural discomfort of stepping into a meeting that is already running at full speed.

If a leader is late, do not lecture them in the moment. Simply keep the meeting moving. However, their lateness should be dropped onto the Issues List at the end of the meeting. During IDS®, address the behavior as an issue of team health and respect for the company's core values.

You can also introduce a fun, lighthearted penalty for late arrivals, such as contributing to a team lunch fund or taking on an extra operational to-do.

Maintaining a disciplined meeting pulse is the foundation of driving accountability throughout your entire organization. When your leadership team respects the start and end times of your Level 10 Meeting™, that discipline cascades down to every department and builds a high-performance culture.