I know what you can do. And you know what I can do. So is there any reason to put us in a room together and expect something better?
A leader we teamed with last week is investing in that “something” that can be taken from a room – that wasn’t brought into it. “I want to accelerate our performance,” she said, “By discovering what we can do uniquely together.”
There are people who attend meetings and check the box with a “here’s-what-I-think” contribution. Those who are changing tomorrow, however, are walking into the room determined to discover what can only be done collaboratively with the person next to them.
One of my favorite parts of our book, Degrees of Strength, is where we describe people who are Accelerators: They “get those around them to the point of realized potential quicker.”
We can all do this. By being our inspired self, we can engage with others in ways that brings forth a greater expression. This is the door to greater possibility.
Are you invited to meetings because you’re smart? Or because you make those around you better? (Only one of these approaches accelerates what the customer wants.)
We’ve created a space for conversation below. Please share your thoughts on why you – and others – are in meetings and what you’ve created as a result.
This is a great topic! This is a chronic disease for corporate life. If you look at the root-cause, it is probably the politically correctness and inclusion. People, in general, want to be close enough to the topics/projects; therefore, they like to be invited to the meetings. They may or may not contribute, but they will know what is going on. Human nature! How many times you have heard people saying “please keep me in the loop…”
In old days, when we had food and refreshments in our meetings, we used to call these folks “donut drifters….!” I know sounds bad, but I am sure you can relate.
There are two people who create this situation: Inviter and Invitee….
When we are inviting people in our meetings, we have to start thinking twice – what will be this person’s contribution? How does he/she fit in this project? Similarly, when we receive an invitation, we should ask the same question(s) – What is my contribution? Am I the right person? Do I have time among the other priorities?
I agree that not all of the great meetings have to take place in a meeting room. However, I do not want to degrade the value of well-organized and focused meetings.
As a starting point, either you or your admin assistant, should be able to send invitation as “required”, “optional”, and “Information only” label to determine the expectations. This will tell the invitee about meeting organizer’s expectations. If the invitee disagrees and wants to actively involved, nothing prevents him/her to reach out to the inviter and share his/her expectations to be involved in this meeting.
Your thoughts?
Ferhan – Everything you share resonates. And, the undertone is something that probably should be articulated: Those teams that function with great levels of trust are better suited to take the effective steps you outline. That probably goes without saying – yet, we can always ask ourselves, “What am I doing in my interactions today that create MORE trust?”….thus freeing us to fully leverage the wisdom you outline.
Thanks for contributing to the dialogue –
Craig