Are You Too Busy For Boring Meetings?

Meetings are a staple of the corporate world and many of us find our days filled with them, sometimes back-to-back. But with all the time we spend in meetings, it begs the question; are they helping or hurting our productivity? In this episode, Woods Kovalova Group president Jim Woods asks, “Are you too busy for boring meetings?”

Peter Drucker said, “Meetings are a symptom of bad organization. The fewer meetings the better.”

Drucker went on to say, “Even a conversation with only one other person is a meeting. Hence, if they are to be effective, executives must make meetings productive. They must make sure that meetings are work sessions rather than bull sessions.”

How much time do you spend in meetings? Too much?

That’s because today’s workforce is becoming more and more team-oriented—and as it does, the number of internal meetings keeps increasing. The weekly status meeting where everyone goes around the room and gives an update? Now standard practice… even though many people find it to be a complete waste of time.

About Jim Woods

Jim is President of Woods Kovalova Group located in Denver, CO. Working globally on every continent, Jim and his team have advised and trained Fortune 1000 companies, U.S. Military, Government, small businesses and individuals seeking performance improvement. Jim is a former U.S. Navy Seabee and earned a master’s degree in organizational development and human resources. He has taught leadership and human resources at Villanova, Colorado Technical University and Dickinson University. To have Jim work with your organization schedule an appointment here.

Workplace culture: Accelerating change for sustained results

Your workplace culture defines who you are as an organization, and some have aligned their culture to an organizational change strategy.

But how can HR executives rally the organization around actions that effect tangible change and sustain the results? We'll discuss:

• Why organizational culture is important to creating a consistently positive experience for your workforce.

• Driving business results by aligning business strategy with organizational culture – without having to rely on command and control.

• Balancing long-term culture change with short-term wins.

Participants will explore ways to narrow the scope of their culture initiatives for maximum impact and identify ways to assess progress and help ensure continuous improvement.

Archive

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• 2022 1
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About Jim Woods

Jim Woods is President of Woods Kovalova Group. A leadership and human resources training and development company located in Denver, Colorado. He has been an adjunct professor of business and organizational development at Dickinson College, Villanova, and Colorado Technical University.

The humble lesson my mother taught me about tobacco, humility and leadership

Image courtesy Sai De Silva

I was raised by a single mother. She was the epitome of kindness and grace. She was also judge and executioner when I let her down. I tried to do this as little as possible.

One time seeking to elevate myself from one to many self-assessments as an under achieving 7th grader I decided to smoke following the example of my peers. My only real friends at the time were books. I sorely wanted to be accepted.

On the way home crossing the school campus I had wrapped a strip of a paper bag torn earlier that morning. My mother’s friends in those days came to visit with a cigarette. Sometime, certainly without my mother’s knowledge I would add dry milk to the wrapper hoping to smoke it. I failed having burned my lip in lighting the “cigarette.”

This time walking across the campus I had added very small bits of tobacco found in the ash trays from home. Determined to be seen smoking I lifted the cigarette to my lips. My sister Sherry, a year younger and the brain trust of this little family saw me.

I was aghast. She said she would tell mom. She rushed home to do so. Fast.

When I arrived home mother whose life was emblazoned with virtue sat me down. She did not raise her voice. She did not reprimand me.

She said, “You let me down.” Then she got up and left the room.

Her words reverberated with me over the course of my life. I never smoked again. I did not wish to bring shame to her. For me smoking and hurting my mother were thresholds.

My mother saw in me great potential.

That is leadership.

She wanted me to love virtue. To be a man who worked more on the inside than being seen.

She patiently and lovingly let me choose my own way and move at my own pace.

You may have felt the power of such efficacious leadership where you live and work.

Whatever your experiences in families and in the presence of humble leadership you know unity is strong when it is bound together in unselfish love.

You know how precious and fragile that bond is in this challenging world where we are purposefully here to learn to be better.

We must be authentic humble leaders at home and at work.

Our duties are priceless gifts to make each of us and all we encounter better. We are agents to act and not acted upon. No one should have to prod us into being a consistent example of execution and virtue.

We can exercise patience, personal obedience to virtues and principles that we teach our children and often forget when no one’s looking.

Thank you for your time. Please take a moment to use this message in your meetings and family. Please subscribe to our blog at How to Lead by Jim Woods. If we can help you and your teams become better from the inside out visit us at Woodskovalovagroup.com. Remember there is nothing you cannot do if you care more about those you serve.