Better Meetings, Better Leadership
What Your Meetings Say About You
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Most leaders don’t need fewer meetings. They need better ones.
For many senior leaders, meetings are where the real work happens. They’re how strategy moves forward, how relationships are built, how decisions get made. Yet time and again, I meet leaders who feel completely overwhelmed by them, as though their diary is managing them, not the other way around.
They arrive at meetings still mentally in the last one. They spend the first five minutes trying to remember why they’re there, what matters, and figure out who’s in the room. All while keeping their game face on. Calm on the surface, paddling furiously underneath.
It’s not a sign of disorganisation. It’s a symptom of pace, pressure, and a culture of constant availability.
But the reality is that if meetings are where your leadership happens, you need to be excellent at them. Not just efficient. But intentional. Clear. And where you perform at your very best.
But for many leaders, we don’t actively choose our meeting load. It accumulates.
A standing call here, a quick sync there, a dotted-line relationship to stay across. Gradually, your calendar stops reflecting your priorities - and starts reflecting everyone else’s.
And because meetings feel urgent, they often crowd out the very reflection time that would help you reset them.
One of my clients (a CMO) recently decided to move roles. Almost overnight, he became more selective. “I only go to the meetings I can add value to or that truly align with what matters now” he told me. And he’s not received any push back or challenge, at all. So he smiled when we talked about applying that same approach in the next job. Because the truth is, that arguably, he could have done this in his current role all along. But it didn’t feel like he had permission - until he gave it to himself.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to figuring out which meetings you should go to, which you should ditch and which you should delegate. But there is a pattern.
Because whilst the leaders I see reclaiming control of their time don’t all follow the same system - they do share something in common: they treat their meetings as one of the most important tools in their leadership approach; something to lead, not endure.
Some choose to book meetings for 45 minutes, not 60 - and use the buffer to reset. They create transition time between meetings. Others block space in their diary for thinking and recovery. And some choose to initiate a re-set with others about when they are - and aren’t - available. They regularly audit which meetings serve them, and which could change.
None of this is revolutionary. But it is intentional. And that makes a difference - to your clarity, focus, energy and impact.
Here are four things to consider to help you give your approach to meetings a refresh.
Review: Pause for a moment and open up your calendar. If your coach (or me) looked at your calendar, what feedback might they give you?
If your coach looked at your calendar this week, or one that reflects how you actually spend your time - what would it tell them?
What would it say about your priorities, your boundaries, your energy?
What would it say about your leadership?
Reflect: When meetings are back-to-back, it’s easy to lose presence. But leadership is less about being in the room, and more about what you bring to it. Time is finite - but your focus and energy are even scarcer.
What has your recent meeting rhythm felt like - mentally, emotionally, physically?
When have you seen someone manage their diary well - what did you notice?
Where are you your own worst enemy when it comes to meetings and transitions?
What one change would create more space or sanity this week?
Explore: Meeting culture shapes how your team functions. Unclear meetings drain trust. Too many poorly managed meetings drain momentum. And if you’re always in meetings, your team learns that’s the only way to get your attention.
What kind of meetings do you and your team hold - and how well do they work?
Where might meetings be used as a default, rather than a strategic choice?
What would your team learn from how you protect your time and focus?
Scale: The patterns at the top ripple through the system. If the culture says “every diary gap is fair game,” people burn out. If it rewards being always-on, it penalises reflection and strategic thinking.
How do others respond when someone protects space or declines a meeting?
What permission could you role-model, so others do the same?
What kind of working rhythm would help your organisation think better, not just move faster?
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