EVER since I read the 2017 book "Thank You for Being Late" by three-time Pulitzer Prize winner and The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, I have become a bit devious to whatever dubious offers that are coming my way. Take at what happened to me these past three months that intrigued me a lot.

I received five late invitations as a subject matter expert to handle corporate exclusive workshops and public management events from different organizations. The average lead time given by the inviting organizations was two weeks, which included two invites that were sent one week before the event.

The other three invites were sent four to five weeks, which is also precarious.

I told myself: There must be a logical explanation to this.

I define a "late invite" that came in too late and disrupts my schedule. Also, that means they want me as a substitute to replace their first choice, who declined for some reason or probably asking for the moon and the stars for their professional fee.

The last invite I got was for a talk on leadership. They sent me a one-week notice to do a keynote one-hour presentation done as part of a multinational's teambuilding workshop at an upscale beach resort in Batangas. My contact was honest enough to claim the original speaker was their chief executive officer, who declined due to his pressing schedule.

I was offered $300, car service with driver, meals and overnight hotel accommodation.

In reply, I proposed a $800 counter-offer in addition to their original terms.

They gladly accepted it without any grumbling. They have no choice.

Windows of opportunity

I learned the following etiquette from my parents and grandparents — "Don't go when you're not invited. Don't ask the details of other people's problems unless they want your advice. Don't interfere when you're not asked to help, unless someone's life or limb is in peril. Don't call at 9:00 in the evening unless it's an emergency. "Don't visit someone at lunchtime unless you're paying for the food. Don't accept late invites to a birthday party, wedding ceremony or whatever. You're not part of the original plan, and you don't want to be a seat warmer. Just the same, be respectful to decline even if they don't deserve it."

I followed all those rules except the last one — not to accept late invites. But only to take it as an opportunity to charge a disturbance fee as payment for upsetting my schedule with my other clients.

You'll not believe it. I got an 80 percent batting average whenever I make a counteroffer, which they could also refuse.

I told them not to bother giving me certificates of appreciation to add to my inventory of more than a hundred plaques at home.

It's a win-win solution. I got a lucrative deal, while the event organizer was able to save face to their audience. But those are infrequent windows of opportunity and how often do they come?

Time-based

All windows of opportunity are time-based. They offer only a small timeline that expires without notice. Respond right away or the invites can be lost forever. Timing is important, as time flies as fast as an arrow. Delay a reply and the opportunity is gone forever. You'll never know when it would resurface.

Think about this to what happened to you in the past and you'll easily understand. Or, learn it from James Dean, whose life was "short but intensely exciting," as interpreted by Daniel Pink, author of the 2019 book "When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing."

In conclusion, we ask — what's the best approach to deal with late invites? Keep your reply short, simple and convincing. "The discipline of describing the opportunity in a short (five words or fewer) phrase forces the entrepreneur or manager to strip away the peripheral aspects and distill an opportunity to its essence," said Donald Sull and Yong Wang in a 2005 publication of the Harvard Business School.

For me, that phrase means — "I'm here to save the panic-stricken."

Rey Elbo is a business consultant on human resources and total quality management. Contact him on Facebook, LinkedIn, X or email elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.com