Do you have a compulsive latecomer in your life?  It doesn't matter how much notice you give them they still arrive late.   Even if you attempt to trick them into believing the meeting is earlier than officially scheduled, they will still confound you as contrive to wander in well after it's begun.   And if you attempt to accompany them personally to the meeting to ensure they walk through the door on time, there comes a moment when you realise they have slipped over the horizon and out of sight as they conveniently remember something life threatening has been forgotten, or a minor emergency has been telepathically received.
 
Offices, teams, and projects often have a compulsive latecomer.  They always seem to arrive just at the moment when key points will have to be repeated to bring them exclusively up to speed.   Usually they stroll in with a slight 'fluster' that implies they have just dragged themselves away from having saved the world … again.  They may even carry that self important look combined with the slightly disdainful facial expression and body language that says, "God how boring and uninteresting lives you all must lead to actually be punctual and on time… all the time!".   And even if the compulsive latecomer is also the office introvert and they are as shy and retiring as a vampire at sunrise, they will quietly soak up the rippling waves of animosity that are hiding behind the wiped on warm and welcoming smiles.   They will even covet the attention and energy from the teams best sarcastic commentator when they say, "So glad you could make it", in a manner that is obviously as far from gladness as the Earth is from Jupiters fifth moon.   
 
While it's easy to become frustrated by the compulsive latecomer, there are usually underlying reasons for this particular behaviour which they will not be aware of themselves.   If we can recognise the reason it may provide us with the power of understanding which then allows us to remain detached and unflustered.  We can then also create a strategy to respond more effectively to the latecomers addiction.
 
Here are seven reasons why some people always turn up well after proceedings have begun.
 
1 No Sense of Time
Somewhere in their dim and distant past they learned that clock time is just not that important.   It's only clock time after all.   Perhaps a parent passed on a sense of 'supper can always wait' as they demonstrated that building a go-cart in the garden shed was much more important than a prescheduled event like dinner.   They learned to allow themselves to be so absorbed in a task that they easily lose all sense of clock time.
 
2 Attempting Control
The latecomer soon learns they will 'get a reaction' when they are late.  And they begin to develop the false belief, albeit subconsciously, that they are able to control others behaviours, even if invisible daggers are flying their way.   Coming late and triggering a reaction gives them a false sense of power.
 
3 Attention Seeking
To some people any attention is good attention, even if its hatred.  Somewhere in their past the only way to get attention was by acting against the will or approval of others.   Coming late is one such behaviour when they know they will become the centre of attention, for a few moments at least.  Thus their existence is affirmed.
 
4 Self Importance
When people obviously glare and complain at the latecomers arrival it gives the latecomer a sense of identity, "I am famous for being the latecomer around here".   This label and ongoing story of their regular lateness gives them a history, a personal story from which a sense of identity can be shaped.  They use their label and story to build and sustain their perverted sense of self-importance.   But it's all in their mind.  These are the subtle games of the ego.
 
5 Personal Inadequacy
Perhaps coming late is a confidence issue.  Coming on time would mean their self-image was positive, their actions accurate and they were respectful towards others.   But if their self-image is one of being inadequate with low self-esteem and self-respect, then such behaviours as always arriving late will emerge as an expression of that negative self-image. The self-image of inadequacy and failure, which has become comfortable, must be sustained.   Coming on time would mean their self-image is changing. 
 
6 Plain Lazy
Or perhaps it's just laziness, a can't be bothered attitude to most things, especially anything to do with work.   Somewhere in the past, being bothered and making the effort was either ridiculed or frowned upon.  Or work itself is seen as a necessary evil that just has to be survived and no more.   Laziness has a number of deep reasons and its zestless attitude can spread like a virulent strain of flu.   Laziness is a sure sign motivation has been deeply suppressed.
 
7 Timeless Consciousness
Sometimes you encounter someone who is truly in a timeless state of consciousness.   It seems to be the hardest thing for them to be time conscious.   It's as if no one ever taught them how read or use a clock.  For them the future is never a worry or even a concern.  It will come when it comes and whatever it brings is just fine.   So wandering into the meeting whenever they feel like it is so natural for them.   They have no ulterior motive.  They have no worry or fear of what others will think.  And they have no intention to get attention.   They are truly free spirits for whom we can all learn how to not take life and those 'darn clocks', so seriously.
 
Understanding why the latecomer is compulsively late allows us to shift from condemnation to compassion, and therefore not to lose the plot the next time they wander in well after they could have.   Otherwise we easily become the 'serial complainer'.  And when there are deeper subconscious reasons for why the latecomer is compulsively late, it is as if they know not what they do.   And even if it appears that they think they do know what they do, they don't!
 
Question:  Which of the above reasons do you think applies to your latecomers lateness?
 
Reflection:  In the larger 'scheme of things' why is there no such thing as 'arriving late'.
 
Action:  Create a proactive behaviour strategy towards your compulsive latecomer that has a positive response and not a negative reaction.