Excuse Machine

You’re late.

For a very important date.

You said 3:00 pm EDT.

You showed up at 3:01. Or 4:00. Or next Tuesday.

How late doesn’t really matter.

You weren’t there.

And you weren’t in communication beforehand.

(Missed yesterday’s post on this? Go check it out — then come back → https://lnkd.in/e7BDnaPq

Back? Good. Let’s keep rolling.

So where were we?

Oh yeah.

You’re late.

Now what?

Some folks pretend it didn’t happen.

Ever met one of these ghosts? (Ever been one?) 👻

Others throw out these greatest hits:

"Traffic was insane." 🚗
"I lost track of time." ⏰
"Something came up." 🙃
"I couldn’t find parking." 🅿️
"My alarm failed me." 🤖
"Zoom decided to update itself." 🔄
"It’s been a crazy morning." ☕

And of course, the classic:
 "So sorry I’m late."

Then they plow ahead like nothing happened.

After all, time's already ticking — gotta get moving, right?

You said "sorry," isn’t that enough?

Not quite.

Here’s the real move (thanks to the brilliant  Trevor Timbeck for his coaching on this; I’m mostly stealing from his smart brain):

Being late creates a ripple.

It’s not about bad person vs. good person.

It’s about impact.

So instead of ignoring it...

Instead of tossing out an excuse...

Instead of a drive-by apology...

Get curious.
→ Ask if your lateness had an impact.
→ Ask how you can make it right.

Simple. Human. Powerful.

That’s how you actually clean it up. 🧹
(And build real trust while you’re at it.)

Speaking of cleaning up — if we’re not connected yet, let's clean that up right now →  Eric Woodard

🚀 Let's get your career stuff handled, find time to talk here. 📲