Rumsfeld's Rules - Leadership Lessons in Business, Politics, War, and Life

CHAPTER TWO

RUNNING A MEETING

Meetings: We all know their pitfalls. The long-winded colleague who enjoys the sound of his own voice . . . the guy whose singular interest seems to be getting in the boss’s good graces . . . the fellow who wanders in late with a question that has already been asked and answered . . . or the person tapping loudly on her BlackBerry while others are trying to listen . . . or the joker who forgets to turn off his or her cell phone. Then there is the silent type, careful not to risk offering an opinion until everyone else has. And then invariably the hamburger who is quick to shoot down other people’s ideas but without offering his own solution.

At their worst, meetings can be both useless and mind-numbing. It calls ...