Look back at the meetings of your senior leadership team and describe what happens in them, what is talked about and what behaviours are exhibited. In my experience far too many of these meetings are “chaired” in such a way as to stifle courage, creativity, compassion, conflict, controversy, challenge and conversation. 
Too often agendas are produced that restrict and “contain” content and conversation, and instead promote sharing of data that could easily have been read before the meeting.
Operational, tactical, strategic…..present, past, future – what is most important for the senior leaders to be considering for the sustainable success/performance of your company. Is the right focus created at the right time and with the right intent in your meetings?
I believe that too often we pander to the people who consistently choose not to self direct their preparation for meetings. We don’t want to assume people are walking in prepared – much safer to present the data or better still allow and encourage PowerPoint presentations to share such data. We “spoon feed” far too often.
Sometimes we go as far as waiting for people to show up before we even start the meeting – far too many meetings start late because the culture promotes this kind of tardiness and lack of respect for colleagues time. In many organisations it is the expected “norm” that meetings start late so people no longer bother arriving on time. When I started in a new firm many years ago this is exactly what happened and I recall sitting in a meeting room for 20 minutes while people popped their heads around the door saw only me there and told me they would be back in 10 minutes- and this went on for 20 minutes until finally people decided to join me and we got the meeting started!
How about mobile phones – do you allow them into the meeting and do you make it OK for people to use them during the meeting – checking email, texting and at its worst stepping out to take or make “very important” calls.
We need far more senior leadership meetings to be filled with:
– real conversations
– controversy, challenging and differences of opinion
– complete presence
– constructive conflict
Take a moment to analyse what happens in your senior leadership meetings – do people fade in and out depending on what interests them? Do people participate based on seniority – the newer members quietly encouraged to sit tight and learn the ropes? Are people distracted and preoccupied with their own stuff? Technology enables such intrusion so beautifully.
What would happen if all your senior leaders were challenged to come along to meetings only if they could be completely “present” with each other and with the issues being talked about; and only if they committed to transparency and honesty in what they shared and how they contributed. What if they could only come along if they took total accountability for the preparation expected of them. What if they were asked to commit to having all conversations in the meeting – no side bar conversations before the meeting to create alignment and no corridor conversations after the meeting? I believe this could cause a significant shift in what you would experience in your senior leadership meetings.
Take a good hard look at your meetings and ask yourself are they really using the time of each individual and the combined intellectual power of the group to its full extent? Is there untapped potential – is there wastage that could be reduced?
