Leading a Meeting Revolution: Cultivating a Healthy Meeting Culture in Your Organization
We all know what a bad meeting feels like. It’s the one that drains your energy, wanders aimlessly, and ends with a collective sigh of, “Well, that’s an hour I’ll never get back.”Here’s the frustrating part: most of us also know what a good meeting should look like. We know there should be an agenda and a clear purpose. Yet, as we’ve seen across countless industries, there’s a massive gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it. This knowledge-action gap creates a systemic problem, and as author Patrick Lencioni notes, dysfunctional meetings can become the “birthplace of unhealthy organizations” (2004).The good news? Your meeting culture can be fixed. The solution isn’t just about running one or two “better meetings.” It’s about being intentional with meeting design to spark a fundamental cultural shift. It’s about leading a meeting revolution.
The 3 C’s: A Framework for Your Revolution
To start a revolution, you need a framework. Ours is built on three powerful pillars: Cadence, Content, and Culture. While we dive deep into each of these in our webinar and toolkit linked below, here’s a high-level look at what they mean.
1. Cadence: The Strategic Flow of Information
Cadence is the “when” of meetings—the strategic rhythm and flow of information throughout your organization. Mastering cadence means thinking like an architect, ensuring that senior leadership meetings act as the “first domino” to cascade information logically and consistently to all teams.
2. Content: The “What” and the “Who” of Your Meetings
Content is what happens inside the meeting. The absolute non-negotiable is Purpose. This involves a critical two-step process: first, articulating the desired outcome, and second, identifying the type of meeting (e.g., Brainstorming, Decision-Making) best suited to achieve it. A clear purpose dictates who needs to be in the room and what belongs on the agenda.
3. Culture: The “How” of Your Meetings
Culture is how your meetings feel. It’s the shared norms, behaviors, and atmosphere that can either foster engagement or breed cynicism. A healthy meeting culture is built on a foundation of psychological safety, where people feel safe to contribute honestly, and is reinforced through intentional norms and clear accountability.
From Leader to Revolutionary - Your Three Paths to Change
So, how do you take these concepts and start a revolution? It happens on three fronts.
Lead Yourself: The revolution begins with you. Practice what you preach. Use the tools and strategies you’ve learned to make the meetings you personally lead models of efficiency and purpose. Walk the walk, and people will notice.
Lead Your Team: As a leader, you have the ability to mandate change within your portfolio. Consider changes like requiring that meeting invitations from your team members include a clear purpose and meeting type. or insisting that agendas go out 24 hours in advance. By setting clear expectations for your direct reports, you create a pocket of excellence that can inspire the broader organization.
Lead the Organization: True, systemic change requires building a coalition. Identify allies across the organization who share your frustration. Find the "co-conspirators" who are also trying to improve how work gets done. By building a movement with other influential leaders, you can begin to advocate for systemic improvements that impact everyone.
Your Next Step: Get the In-Depth Tools for Your Revolution
Reading about a revolution is one thing; leading one is another. This post just scratches the surface. To truly equip you for this journey, we’ve distilled these concepts into a comprehensive set of resources.
We invite you to watch our free, on-demand webinar, “Leading a Meeting Revolution,” where we dive much deeper into the 3 C’s framework with real-world stories and examples. We also want to share a resource to support you on this journey, The Meeting Revolution Toolkit – a free, downloadable PDF complete with a guide to help you plan for systemic change alongside the tactical tools you need to immediately lead more focused, engaging, and productive meetings.
This toolkit is your next step to moving from theory to action. And if you’re interested in exploring how we could partner directly to support your team’s development and transform your organization’s culture, we’d love to connect!
