Ross' Rules: Never Wait

Over the weekend I visited my daughter and her family in Colorado. She and her husband had just purchased their first second home and wanted to have me out to celebrate. They were proud of their new vacation home, and though it was just a quaint little place with only six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, I told them it was a good "starter" second home, especially if they were only going to spend two weeks a year in it.

Now, I myself am a big fan of Telluride. Some folks say Aspen; others, Tahoe. But for my money the place to be is southwest Colorado. Ralph Lauren has a place down there. For some reason, Sophia and her husband love to ski at Copper Mountain, I think the place is a bit low rent, but they seem to enjoy the place, so I didn't make too many comments.

However, I will say that one of the problems with affordability is that it brings out the riff raff. The lift lines were choked with commoners and I was so relieved by the presence of the "Beeline." This welcome attempt by Copper Mountain to cater to VIPs by allowing us to bypass lift lines was obviously not nearly as nice as the efforts made at Telluride, but appreciated none the less. Of course, there are no commoners to be found at Telluride. More importantly, the Beeline reminded me of a little rule that to me is so common that I often forget to even mention it: waiting is for the weak.

Let me clue you in on a little secret: the powerful wait for nothing and no one. With my schedule I have no time to wait for the simple things regular people are accustomed to waiting for. Do you think a busy executive like myself has time to wait for a table at his favorite restaurant, much less the airport security line? Do I sound like a man who has the luxury of being able to wait while one of my underlings “gets back to me” with an answer?

I cannot, nor will not, be bothered by such trivial wastes of time.

Nor should you.

As you steadfastly climb the corporate ladder I encourage you to leave your patience at home with the rest of your useless personality flaws that have no business in the workplace. There is no better way to exude importance and power than by dismissing others when you have something to say or by berating subordinates for not having immediate answers.
The powerful do not wait for the world to cater to them. It is the world that waits.