Rule 28: Minimize Meetings

Overview

SNAPSHOT

Do you maintain strict control over meetings?

Yes: 85 percent

No: 15 percent

"Minimize meetings," says Bill Shaw, president of Marriott. Echoing the view of most corporate leaders, Bill Winter, chairman emeritus of Dr. Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., was quick to point out that too many organizations are "ahead of quota on meetings and under quota in sales." The conclusion is almost unanimous: invincible executives do not like meetings.

Another message from the top: when you do have meetings, keep them short. "I have never been to a meeting that really needed to last longer than a half hour," according to Tom O'Neill of Parsons Brinckerhoff. Some executives—like banker Drew Baur—add another half hour to Mr. O'Neill's time threshold: "My rule is no more than an hour. If it lasts more than an hour, I do not want to be part of it." Have no doubt, therefore, that the overwhelming majority of invincible executives do not like meetings and, consequently, maintain very strict control over meetings. They control (1) the time of the meeting, (2) the content of the meeting, and (3) the way that the meeting is recorded.