My resolution for 2009 is to reduce the amount of time I spend waiting. I always arrive punctually at internal meetings and am enraged to have to wait five or 10 minutes for colleagues. At external meetings I am sometimes left waiting in reception, or, worse still, am made to wait for guests at restaurants. I could simply opt to be 10 minutes late for everything myself, but that goes against the grain. Are there any ways of encouraging others to be as punctual as I am myself?
Manager, male, 51
LUCY'S ANSWER
On January 1 people resolve to change their behaviour, in spite of the fact that such resolutions hardly ever stick for more than
a day or two. You have wisely skipped this stage and are resolving to change others instead. The popular belief is that changing others is harder than changing yourself, but this isn't true – at least it isn't if you are the boss.