Make The Most Of Leadership Team Meetings

When I meet with clients for their quarterlies, we need to make the most of the time we have together because every leader is busy. After all, they’re using EOS® to efficiently run and grow their business.  When they go back to their office, every Level 10 Meeting™ should continue that efficiency each week.

What Should Leadership Team Meetings Focus On?

Too often leadership teams get hung up on Rocks and Scorecards. Don’t get me wrong, these serve as important indicators of a business’s health. But when it comes to reporting, all you need is the quick and simple response of  “on track” or “off track”.

Some leadership teams only allow one-word answers: on or off. It shouldn’t surprise you to know how quickly they get through these portions of the meeting. They won’t allow conversation, defense, or elaborate stories.

Besides, no one should feel the need to defend their reporting -– basically their word -– to their colleagues. If a leadership team wants proof of Rocks and Scorecard indicators, then they have much bigger issues than results. They have trust issues that need solving immediately.

We’ve heard over and over: tackle issues, don’t tackle people. You cannot hurl rocks (real or metaphorical) at fellow members of your leadership team. The Core Focus® should remain on whatever best serves the greater good of the business. When you get good at always keeping the focus on the business, your team can do great things together.

Clarity Around “We”

We’ve all seen businesses that have very involved Visionary owners, usually to the detriment of their leadership team’s functioning. Through careful, yet open and honest conversation, an Implementer can help them see how this behavior doesn’t serve the business.

By utilizing the Delegate and Elevate™ Tool, the owners can empower their leadership team. Ultimately, leaders get back to doing when they love and, frankly, what they were hired to do. Visionaries remember why they started the business in the first place,

With a well-humming leadership team working together, the Visionary’s purpose becomes more to serve the leadership team rather than attempt to control it. And a bonus happens.

The leadership team enjoys one another’s company again and they start to buy into the concept of “we.” As in: we own the outcome of our decisions. And they recognize that even if they don’t own the business, they own management of the business.

Reluctant Sharers

Yet every team will hit a ceiling. Sometimes a member falls silent or actively disengages from the group. As an Implementer, when I see a leader holding back in a session with me, I take that as a challenge. Of course, not everyone sees it that way, especially their peers on the team!

Assuming personal situations aren’t affecting their demeanor when someone leans back and doesn’t contribute, we need to find out why. What’s holding them back from being completely open and honest?

Even if someone is an introvert, they need to understand that silence equals acceptance. So, if someone has something to say, they need to speak up.

If I’m running a session with clients and this happens, we’ll stop. I won’t move forward until we’ve heard from everyone. It’s really important that everyone weighs in and I set that expectation from our very first minutes together.

Companies work best when leadership team meetings are run with efficiency, focus, and respect. When a leadership team can focus on what really matters, they make the most of their leadership team meetings. When leaders trust the right people who are in the right seats are doing good work, they make the most of their leadership team meetings. When everyone around the table feels respected and their voices heard, the leadership team makes the most of their meetings.

It’s that simple.

Next Steps:

• Download a copy of our free eBook, How to Lead World-Class Meetings
• Unlock the EOS Toolbox to download a copy of the Level 10 Meeting™ Agenda
• Watch Mark O’Donnell describe the 8 Questions Your Leadership Team Should Answer to help you clarify your company vision