Tag Archives: management

I have inside information that former Australian PM Kevin Rudd lost the respect of senior public servants when he kept them waiting too long for meetings – even the Chief of the Defence Force. As if the CDF had nothing better to do! He would also have them up all night writing reports that he would then not bother to read. How to lose friends and demotivate people.

There are many well-known historical and contemporary examples of leaders who deliberately kept others waiting as a way to assert dominance, establish hierarchy, or test the patience and deference of subordinates or rivals. This behaviour is often described as a form of “status display” or “power signalling.”

Here are some illustrative cases:

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1. Louis XIV of France

At Versailles, Louis XIV’s entire court life was choreographed around his personal schedule. Courtiers had to wait hours for brief audiences or even to watch him wake up, eat, or dress. By making access to himself scarce and tightly controlled, Louis reinforced his image as the “Sun King” — the centre of political gravity.

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2. Joseph Stalin

Stalin was notorious for keeping Politburo members and foreign dignitaries waiting for hours or even all night before meetings. This created anxiety and dependence, demonstrating that his time and decisions were the only ones that mattered. The unpredictability increased subordinates’ fear of displeasing him.

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3. Adolf Hitler

Hitler frequently arrived late for meetings with both allies and adversaries, including Neville Chamberlain and Mussolini. His lateness was part of a broader psychological strategy — projecting importance and unsettling others before negotiations began.

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4. Charles de Gaulle

De Gaulle often kept even senior ministers waiting. He viewed the presidency as almost monarchical and believed that grandeur demanded distance. Waiting emphasised his role as the embodiment of France rather than an ordinary politician.

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5. Modern Examples

• Vladimir Putin is well known for arriving hours late to meetings with world leaders (including the Pope, Angela Merkel, and the Japanese Prime Minister). Russian observers often interpret this as a deliberate assertion of power and independence.
• Donald Trump was reported to keep some visitors waiting before meetings, a common business tactic in New York real estate circles that migrated into his political style.
• Corporate executives in some hierarchical cultures (e.g., certain East Asian or Middle Eastern contexts) sometimes use lateness as a subtle signal of seniority — the idea that “those with power wait for no one.”

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Psychological and Social Analysis

Keeping others waiting functions as:

• A display of control over time (the most valuable resource);
• A test of loyalty or submission;
• A method to heighten anticipation and perceived importance;
• A ritual of hierarchy, where waiting becomes a form of homage.

However, in more egalitarian or efficiency-oriented cultures, such behaviour can backfire — seen as arrogance or poor leadership.

Here are examples from non-political contexts where leaders or influential figures used lateness or deliberate waiting as an assertion of dominance or prestige. They span business, entertainment, academia, and religion, showing that this tactic transcends politics.

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1. Business and Corporate Leadership

Steve Jobs (Apple)

Jobs sometimes made subordinates or even business partners wait outside meeting rooms, often without explanation. Former Apple employees have said this was not always conscious cruelty — he valued control of timing and energy — but it did reinforce his power and the sense that his attention was a rare commodity.

Wall Street Executives

In the high-pressure culture of finance, lateness by powerful figures (e.g., CEOs or managing directors) is often used to project scarcity and importance. A junior banker or client left waiting in a glass-walled office learns quickly who controls the tempo of business.
This behaviour became known informally as “power lateness.”

Elon Musk

Musk’s meeting style is famously erratic — he sometimes cancels or delays meetings at the last minute. While often due to overcommitment rather than strategy, it has the same effect: signalling that his time is far more valuable than others’.

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2. Entertainment and the Arts

Hollywood Stars

Old Hollywood contract stars (e.g., Bette Davis, Marlon Brando) sometimes arrived hours late to sets or meetings. This was partly temperament — but also a statement that the production waited for them. It established a clear hierarchy between the “talent” and the rest of the crew.

Pop and Rock Stars

Performers like Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses were notorious for taking the stage hours late. This became a ritual of dominance — the crowd’s frustration eventually feeding into the sense of spectacle and power when the artist finally appeared.
In contrast, Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen are known for punctuality, deliberately rejecting this tactic to show respect and professionalism.

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3. Academia and Intellectual Life

Senior Professors or Nobel Laureates

At elite universities, there have long been stories of eminent professors arriving late to seminars or lectures, forcing students and junior academics to wait in hushed respect. This can function as a subtle hierarchy ritual — signalling intellectual superiority and social status within academia’s “courtly” culture.

Sigmund Freud

Freud was said to make some analysands wait deliberately in the waiting room, using the delay as a way to unsettle them — part of the psychoanalytic dynamic of authority and dependency. (His followers, such as Jung, sometimes copied this style.)

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4. Religious and Ceremonial Contexts

Popes and Monarchs in Religious Audiences

In papal or royal audiences, the tradition of waiting before an audience is ancient. The personage’s delayed entrance heightens reverence. The ritual is not meant as rudeness but as a liturgical expression of hierarchy — time itself is used to separate the sacred or royal from the ordinary.

Gurus and Spiritual Leaders

In some Eastern religious traditions, a guru or spiritual teacher may keep followers waiting for hours before appearing. This waiting is interpreted as a test of devotion or patience — though from a sociological perspective it also reinforces asymmetrical power.

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5. The Psychology Behind It

Across all these domains, the underlying dynamics are similar:

Function	Effect
Scarcity	Making one’s time appear rare increases perceived value.
Dominance	Control over others’ time displays superior status.
Ritualisation	Waiting becomes part of the power theatre — a modern echo of royal protocol.
Testing	Those who endure waiting prove their loyalty or desire.
Insecurity Compensation	Occasionally, lateness is not confidence but insecurity masked as importance.