Company Blog

My time is your time

by Adam Zack — January 14, 2020

He is on time to the minute, every single meeting without fail.

I was watching the documentary “Inside Bill’s Brain” about Bill Gates. I know what you’re thinking – “Does this guy just watch TV all the time or what?? Does he ever work?” Anyway, Bill Gates is a fascinating dude, and after he gave up his daily duties running Microsoft in 2008, combined with his $100 billion dollars of wealth, you’d think he’d pretty much have all the time in the world to play Bridge with Warren Buffet and just tinker around the mansion and watch Netflix. But no, Bill is one very busy guy. From his charity work to being an industry advocate, he’s busier than ever.

I have always valued being on time. When someone is late and holds up a meeting, it wastes everyone’s time and is disrespectful to the group. I’m not one of those idealists that says something like “If you’re not there 10 minutes early, you’re not on time.” On time is on time, period. So when Bill’s secretary is listing his typical very busy day, she says: “He is on time to the minute every single meeting without fail. Time is the one commodity that he can’t buy more of. It’s a limited resource. It’s finite. He’s got the same 24 hours in a day that the rest of us have.” Man, that’s powerful stuff. When someone is late, it’s not just rude and disrespectful, it’s stealing minutes from others that they can never get back, ever. I have been late plenty of times, excusing myself with a dismissive “Sorry, traffic was a bitch.” Or “Sorry, time got away from me.” We all have. I just never considered that I have something in common with Bill Gates.