FULL TRANSCRIPT

00:00 – Show Opening

As a meeting leader, not only do you have to do all the practical things to get ready for a meeting, like do the agenda and set up the room and this kind of thing. You also have to be in the right mindset. And today on the Meeting Leadership Podcast, is another installment of the Meeting Leadership Mindset Series. And today we’re going to talk about how to manage your team meeting expectations.

Are you a professional who wants to become a morning factive leader? Then get ready for daily tips from the coach with the experience and inspiration to help you succeed in any leadership situation. You’re listening to the Meeting Leadership Podcast with Gordon Sheppard.

00:48 – Podcast content starts here!

Welcome to another episode of the Meeting Leadership Podcast. My name is Gordon Sheppard. I just want to say thank you so much for being here. Thank you for being the type of professional who wants to be a meeting leader, not just a facilitator, someone who actually brings all of their leadership skills, and their strategies, and their abilities, and wants to combine that with running highly effective meetings. Because you understand that that combo is a really powerful one and it’s the best way to influence your team and you’re coming to this podcast to get those skills to do just that. I really, really appreciate that you’re here.

01:25 – The Meeting Leadership Mindset Series

And today in the show, we’re going to get another installment of our Meeting Leadership Mindset Series. Today, we’re actually going to talk about how to manage your own team meeting expectations. And let me set the stage for this by sharing a real story from a time when I was working in the corporate world.

01:36 – A story from corporate

Now, there was a manager that I worked for, and one day he was running through the hallways and he was just going crazy and he was gathering everybody that he could find. So he got me and about eight other people into a room and he said, “Oh my goodness, sales are down. We need marketing ideas right now.” And then two hours of my life went by, and everybody was trying to do their best suggest this and suggest that. 

02:03 – Vertigo – Check for what to expect

But I had one of those moments that’s like from the movie Vertigo, it’s an Alfred Hitchcock movie. And it’s where the camera’s moving away, but the zoom lens is going forward and it looks like a person standing in one place, but the background just takes off and goes far, far away. I had one of those very moments when I looked around the room and I realized that nobody in that room really had any marketing experience.

And I tell that story with a huge passion because the reality was the manager who gathered all of us there had not checked his mindset. He had not checked for what he was going to expect from the people in the room. And so he went forward with trying to get something done, that the people in the room just actually really couldn’t accomplish.

And when you think about it from a leadership perspective, I mean, you would never expect a college football team to win the Super Bowl. You wouldn’t ask an eight-year-old to drive a car. So why would you go into a meeting, not having the right people in there, but expecting them to actually come up with solutions to problems they actually cannot solve? Let me give you another example that will hopefully help you cement this idea.

03:03 – The example of the non-profit board

Now, can you imagine if you were volunteering on a nonprofit board and they had to raise $1 million. And you went to this board and whoever was there, you didn’t check out their credentials and you didn’t know what they were capable of, but you just kind of walked in, you expected them to come back with answers that they were going to be able to raise $1 million. And then inevitably when that process fails, you kind of blame out, and you’d say it’s their fault for having not come up with the money. And hopefully, after listening to this episode, you’re not going to put yourself in that position. 

03:34 – Take responsibility for your own mindset

Actually, what you’re going to do is take responsibility for your own mindset and how to manage your team meeting expectations. Now some solutions to this would be to, in that case, bring in a real fundraiser who can raise that amount of money.

And if we go back to my earlier example, that managers should have brought a rockstar marketer into that room. And really not have the rest of us there, but gotten ideas from somebody who can give them quickly, who’s specialized in it, and can really get results.

And the last thing that I want to say about this, especially from a meeting leadership mindset perspective, is that if you’ve got a tough challenge and you’re going into deal with your meeting team, don’t expect more than they can deliver. Make sure that you set them up for success and bring in the extra people that you need to solve a specific problem. Or, maybe you send some of those people on that team actually for additional training, but really allow them to get the competencies. And then when you see them put those into action, you’re really setting them up for success.

04:40 – More learning – MLP 095 – MLP 112

If you’ve enjoyed listening to this episode, I really hope you check out episode 95 on the Meeting Leadership Podcast. It’s another installment from our Meeting Leadership Mindset Series, and it’s called, Three Pre-meeting Questions that Facilitators Must Answer. And you can get that episode by going to meetingleadershipinc.com/9. And then you may also want to check out episode 112. It’s called, Meeting Leadership Mindset: Why you Should Value All Personality Types in Meetings. And you can get that episode by going to meetingleadershipinc.com/112.

05:17 – Meeting Leadership Academy – https://meetingleadershipinc.com/academy

I also want to let you know that this episode of the meeting leadership podcast is brought to you by the Meeting Leadership Academy. Now, if you and your team really want to dig into the leadership skills and the effective meeting techniques that you need to run outstanding meetings that not only sort of raise up your project level, but actually have an impact on your entire organization, and help you to serve your customers and your community at the highest possible level, then visit meetingleadershipinc.com/academy to learn more.

And for those of you who have already subscribed, thank you so much. And if you haven’t, take a moment, hit the subscribe button on your favorite podcast app. Those downloads will start flying in. You’ll get more information again to build your leadership skills and learn how to have great meetings. It’ll benefit you. And then also, if you want to take a moment, we’d really appreciate if you leave a rating and review, and we’ll use that information to create even more great content for the show. And as always, thank you so much for listening, and we’ll see you tomorrow, on the Meeting Leadership Podcast.

06:21 – Podcast Outro

Thanks for listening to the Meeting Leadership Podcast. Be sure to subscribe for more strategies to help you become an outstanding leader. And don’t forget to rate and review so we can bring you fresh content every day. We’ll see you tomorrow, right here on the Meeting Leadership Podcast.