Why is Darryl “The Dominator” in your inbox? You open your email (granted perhaps earlier in the morning than you should have) and you see it: The reminder to start preparing for the annual corporate meeting. Your stomach drops. Is it already that time again?

Let’s face it, meetings are an important opportunity to make sure everyone’s on the same page. If meetings aren’t working, maybe it’s got something to do with who’s leading them. Maybe it's Darryl “The Dominator.” Or maybe it's one of his friends, who you might recognize.

If you don’t already have it, download your copy of all Top 10 Leader Personality Types That Destroy Your Meetings here.  (No opt-in required!)

Let's take a look at 5 of those personality types now, and see if they look familiar to you. Maybe you'll see a resemblance to one of your managers, or a member of your exec team, or the head of sales. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even see yourself in one of them.

That’s ok. I’m not here to judge.

But being more self-aware is important to noticing how even you might be the one getting away of your company meetings. Along with each personality type, I’ll offer a mind shift, a slight nudge in the right direction, to the kind of mindset that leads you to more assured success.

If you’d like more in-depth, personalized training on how to lead killer meetings instead of killing them, schedule a 20-minute Meeting Mastery Session with me here.

Let’s dive right in:

1. Walter “Wish I Had A Plan:” He can point out stats about revenue or sales, but he’s working so far down in the weeds that he completely misses the bigger picture.

Mind shift: Create a One Page Business Plan and look at it every day when you’re at work. This helps you to start flexing your Big Picture muscle and reminds you that everything you do is a micro-stone, bringing you towards even greater success.

2. Dylan “the Disappointed Downer:” He only seems to have something negative to say. Be it a milestone that was reached too late or a less than perfect campaign that was launched, Dylan the Downer is hyper-focused on the “should haves.”

Mind shift: Being a downer is really coming from a desire to be perfect. Whatever criticisms you give others might be nothing compared to the criticisms you constantly have for yourself. Make the commitment today to stop everything that you’re doing once an hour, and acknowledge one new accomplishment you have achieved today.

Tomorrow, do the same, except add one accomplishment made by someone else in your team. Keep track of those accomplishments, then go and acknowledge them to your team members, personally, at the next meeting.

3. Larry “The Lousy Role Model:” He always seems to know what everyone else should be doing—just ask him! Famous for his Dump and Run, he can give you a to-do list that’s longer than a Thanksgiving meal shopping list, and always seems to have spare time to give you more, if you’d like. He’s seen as a hypocrite, and he’s often resented by his team.

Mind shift: Accountability is the name of the game. Everyone’s got to have clear KPIs to work towards; everyone’s got to have clear tasks in the business that they “own” and see through to the end, come hell or high water.

Write out the tasks that you are supposed to own and tape that paper somewhere near your desk, where you and anyone else can see it. Show this list to the team members you work closely with. Show this to your spouse or your mentor. Nurturing a sense of accountability within yourself will ultimately yield results that you’ll truly deserve to take pride in. And don’t be surprised if you see the rest of the team take your lead.

4. “Fight or Flight” Frank: Time never seems to be on his side. With all the important and urgent tasks Frank focuses on, he’s too busy putting out fires to actually work on the tasks that he’s best at, and which ultimately yield the highest ROI. Instead of saving the company, he’s actually keeping the company from moving forward and reaching its full potential. Not to mention, all of the negative side-effects of constantly being in a state of stress!

Mind shift: Slow down to speed up. Stop everything and take a good honest look at what has filled your every single day for the past month. Often, when we’re pressed for time, we’re either having time management issues, we not delegating enough, or both. Identify your HABUT (Highest And Best Use of your Time) and focus on only the tasks that fall within that category. As for the remaining tasks, hand over ownership of them to the relevant members of your team.

Or as I like to say: Do what you do best, then delegate or outsource the rest!

5. Darryl “The Dominator:” When Darryl walks into the room, everyone goes quiet. No one’s ever quite sure when they’re about to get called over to go through some sort of inquisition about their latest progress. Ever-armed with a handful of criticisms, Darryl makes others feel small and unempowered. You want honesty and vulnerability? You can go to your mamma for that!

Mind shift: Say this with me, “Let it go!” Take all of your unreasonable expectations, your hyper-negativity, your blame for everyone not getting things right, and let it go. The more you criticize your team, the more you take away their motivation and confidence in taking initiative and adding more value to the company.

So turn that magnifying glass inward. Deal with where all that negativity is coming from. Have high expectations for yourself, and make sure you do your own job right. As for everyone else—give them the space to make mistakes and learn for next time. Give them the chance to break a glass ceiling or two. They just might surprise you!

Who is in charge of your next meeting? Maybe it’s you, maybe it’s another member of the executive team. Send over the Top 10 Personality Type guide to your managers and let them be more aware of their own personality types. Because the way your meetings are led can make or break their impact on your company.

And if you only knew the potential that successful meetings have to the overall success of your company!

If you’d like more in-depth, personalized training on how to lead killer meetings instead of killing them, schedule a 20-minute Meeting Mastery Session with me here.

Taking you from where you are to where you want to be,
Jon