Episode 27: Mastering Your Meeting - 4 Keys for Leaders | 12MinuteLeadership

Ready to breathe new life into the meetings you are leading? Today's episode provides four simple keys to turn meetings many dread into a tool for clarity, trust, and results. Four simple keys—purpose, agenda, motives, and ground rules—show how to design conversations that people want to attend and that move work forward.

In this episode we cover-

• defining a clear outcome and attendee list
• building and sending an agenda 24–48 hours ahead
• designing for people, performance, and process motives
• creating ground rules that build psychological safety
• balancing airtime and inviting quieter voices
• ending with decisions, owners, dates, and AI-assisted notes
• celebrating wins to reinforce momentum
• reflection on one change to improve meetings

Like what you heard on today's episode and want to go deeper? Subscribe to this podcast so you never miss an episode.You can also pick up my book, Lead Anyone, on Amazon.Then go to my website to check out ways that we can support your leadership goals. From executive retreats to customized training and coaching, my team of experts will help you level up your leadership and accelerate your results. Go to www.eliseboggs.com for more info.

Share it with another leader who wants to breathe some new life back into their meetings.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker (00:02):
Welcome to the 12-Minute Leadership Podcast,
where in 12 minutes or less,I'll share small things that you
can put into immediate practicethat will make a big difference
in your leadershipeffectiveness.
I'm your host,Elise Boggs Morales, leadership
professor, consultant, andcoach.
For the last 17 years, I havehelped thousands of leaders

(00:25):
level up their influence andachieve remarkable results.
If you want to treat compliancefor true commitment and create
your dream team, you are in theright place.
Get ready for a quick hit ofpractical wisdom to increase
your team's engagement, inspiretop performance, and retain your
best talent.
Ready to level up yourinfluence and get better

(00:46):
results?
12 minutes starts now.
Hi everyone, Elise here.
Welcome to episode 27.
Today's topic is one we can allrelate to: meetings.
We've all been in thosemeetings that feel like they
last forever.
Go nowhere and end witheveryone wondering, why did we

(01:10):
even meet?
In fact, there's an entire bookcalled Death by Meeting by one
of my favorites, PatrickLencioni, which tells you how
common and painful bad meetingscan be.

But here's the thing (01:21):
when done well, meetings can be one of
your most powerful leadershiptools.
They can align people, clarifydirection, and even strengthen
culture.
Recently I've been leading somehigh-stakes meetings and had
people tell me that was one ofthe most productive meetings
I've been in.
For me, that is very meaningfulfeedback because I'm very

(01:44):
intentional in how I leadmeetings.
So today, I want to share theprinciples that make meetings
not just bearable but genuinelyeffective.
We'll cover four keys tomaximizing your meetings and
creating the kind of meetingspeople actually look forward to.
So let's get started.
Key number one, every meetingneeds a purpose.

(02:06):
If you remember nothing elsefrom this episode, remember
this.
If you can't define the purposeof your meeting, you probably
don't need to have one.
Before you send the invite,ask, what outcome do I want from
this meeting?
What decisions need to be made,and who truly needs to be in
the room.
Meetings should drive results,not just share updates.

(02:29):
Here's an example.
If your goal is to make adecision in a meeting, structure
the time around that.
Review key data, discussimplications, and confirm
ownership before ending.
When the purpose is clear,people show up focused, not
frustrated.
Key number two is the power ofthe agenda, specifically sending

(02:52):
it ahead of time.
An agenda may seem basic, butit's one of the most powerful
leadership tools you have.
It creates clarity, focus, andinclusion.
And here's why it matters.
First, it gives direction.
It keeps everyone aligned onwhat's important.
Two, it invites input.
If you send it ahead of time,people can add things that got

(03:14):
missed, they can adjust thingsbased on their areas that are
going to be covered.
And generally, people are giventhe opportunity to also
prepare.
And three, it reduces anxiety,especially for your
process-oriented team memberswho like to think things through
before they speak.
When they get an agenda aheadof time, they can prepare

(03:35):
thoughtful input rather thanfeeling put on the spot.
If you have the same people notparticipating in meetings, this
could be why.
So try sending the agenda 24 to48 hours in advance.
So you may be wondering whatshould a standard agenda
include?
Here's some direction on that.
First, the objective of themeeting, then key topics or

(04:00):
decisions, who's leading eachitem, and desired outcomes.
Then ask, is there anythingwe're missing?
That one question turns anagenda into a tool of engagement
where people can weigh in andnothing gets missed.
Key number three, lead withmotives in mind.

(04:20):
If you've been following thispodcast for some time, you know
about a training I do calledCore Strengths.
In that training, I share threecore motives that people have,
or the three Ps, which are apeople motive, a performance
motive, and a process motive.
You can go back to episode 12for that series.
The insights of tapping intomotives give you a major

(04:43):
advantage in leading meetings.
As I mentioned, every person inyour meeting brings a different
motivational lens.
And when you lead with thosemotives in mind, engagement and
collaboration go way up.
So let's break that down.
Let's start with our peoplemotivated, our blues.
Blues are relational, theythrive on connection and

(05:05):
belonging.
So start meetings with a momentof connection, a brief
check-in, gratitude, orrecognition.
You could ask a question like,What's one win from your week?
That few minutes fills therelational tank and sets a
positive tone.
And for yourperformance-motivated people or
your Reds, Reds want results.

(05:27):
They like momentum, action, andoutcomes.
Keep the meeting focused andpurposeful.
You could say something like,Our goal today is to finalize
our priorities for quarter four.
By the end of this meeting,we'll have three clear
objectives and owners for each.
When you're clear and decisive,red stay engaged.

(05:49):
And for our process motivatedpeople or our greens, greens
want things done right.
They value clarity, accuracy,and good follow-through.
So set agendas early, pauseoccasionally to summarize key
points, and end with the writtenrecap of decisions, owners, and
next steps.

(06:10):
Structure builds trust withyour greens and it actually
helps everyone.
So the key takeaway here isthat leading meetings through
the lens of people, performance,and process motives helps every
personality feel seen,respected, and engaged.
All right, key number four.
Create ground rules to buildand maintain trust.

(06:34):
Ground rules are what transformmeetings from transactional to
trustworthy.
They're the invisibleguardrails that keep
communication open andrespectful.
So here's the essentials.
Obviously, you'll come up withyour own ground rules, but
here's a couple ideas.
One, be on time.
Respect everyone's time.

(06:55):
If someone joins late, they'reresponsible for catching up
without derailing discussion.
Two, create opportunities foreveryone to contribute.
Avoid the loudest voice winsdynamic.
Invite quieter voices in.
You could say, hey, let's hearfrom a few people who haven't
spoken yet.
Rotate facilitation or useround robins to balance air

(07:19):
time.
Three, create psychologicalsafety.
Encourage curiosity beforecritique.
Replace, "I don't think that'llwork" with "help me understand
how that would work".
You can even say, "let's take apause before we respond.
There may be something valuablein that idea we haven't seen
yet".
Next, determine next stepsbefore ending.

(07:43):
Agree that you will end withclarity, recap what was decided
and who owns it and when it'sdue.
So somebody could summarizewhat we're walking away with.
No one should leave guessingwhat happens next.
One of my favorite modernpractices is having AI take
meeting notes and generating arecap afterwards.

(08:03):
This keeps everyone accountableand allows you to stay present
instead of typing.
So when you receive the notes,you can quickly review them and
edit the summary before sendingit to the group, ensuring that
you've got key decisions, actionitems, and owners and
timelines.
This step adds polish anddemonstrates strong leadership

(08:25):
follow-through.
Alright, and finally, anotherground rule can be celebrate the
wins.
And on a positive note,recognizing even small wins
create momentum for the nextmeeting.
So, in closing, meetings arewhere leadership shows up in
real time.
They can either drain your teamor drive your mission forward.

(08:48):
When you lead them withpurpose, structure, and an
understanding of what motivatespeople, they become one of your
most valuable leadership tools.
So here's your reflectionquestion for this week.
What's one thing you couldchange in the way you lead
meetings that would make themmore engaging and effective?
And one more, whose needs mightyou be overlooking and how

(09:10):
could you adapt for them nexttime?
I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
Share it with another leaderwho wants to breathe some new
life back into their meetings.
I'll see you next time.
Like what you heard on today'sepisode and want to go deeper?

(09:31):
Subscribe to this podcast soyou never miss an episode.
You can also pick up my book,Lead Anyone, on Amazon.
Then go to my website to checkout ways that we can support
your leadership goals.
From executive retreats tocustomized training and
coaching, my team of expertswill help you level up your
leadership and accelerate yourresults.

(09:53):
Go to www.eliseboggs.com formore info.