“I’m not going to be there.”

Continued from last week’s thoughts on canceling meetings. 

Often, I see leaders eager to cancel team meetings because they are out of the office, for whatever reason. And, because the leader has done this in the past, any future situations inherit the same pattern. This type of pattern holds back your team’s business agility; its ability to quickly adapt and adjust. 

First, let’s assume the leader is missing the meeting for a valid circumstance. 

Although there are times when a leader’s presence is required to meet the intent of the meeting, it’s not as often as assumed. By the leader or the team. A true self-organizing team knows the intent of their meetings and likely knows if they need their leader there to fulfill the intent. 

Changing this pattern likely requires a discussion or two with the team and the leader. If you practice team retrospectives, this is a good place for that discussion. Look at your meetings together, review the intent, and determine if any of them can’t get value without the leader there. You might find it a worthy exercise to at least do annually.