My new CEO is meeting mad. Help!

Dear Aunty B,

I recently hired a new CEO to take some of the pressure of me, the founder. He comes with a great track record and he is rising to the challenge. But one of his flaws is a preference for every day meetings. In fact, chances are if I go in search of him he is in a meeting! It has got to the stage where I have to book in with his PA in order to catch up.

We are about to hit the busiest time of the year and I want to see bums on seats getting the work done, not sitting in endless meetings.

We have successfully grown the company to this stage without meaningless meetings. In fact, I far prefer to walk the floor and check everyone is on track.

I know everyone has different styles. And I am giving him space to run the ship the way he sees fit. But really! The other day he had a meeting about setting up meetings, I kid you not!

Meeting mad,
Hawthorn

Dear Meeting mad,

It hurts, doesn’t it, when the new kid on the block takes over and does things differently. But let’s have a close look at what you have just said. The new CEO is rising to the challenge. He has a great track record. So why do you care how he is running the place?

Your new CEO could well be professionalising the joint, putting in a framework and rules that will help the business get to the next stage.

Hopefully, he is also making sure the business is going where he wants and that it has the right core values and commitment to quality that can sometimes be lost when companies are growing fast.

And he is probably getting to know your staff so that he can ascertain who is on the team and how they play at the next stage.

If I were you, I would take him out to lunch and ask him in a curious way to explain his strategy to you. What is the thinking behind when meetings are held? What is the outcome? How does he measure their success?

If you think he is meeting mad for no purpose at the end of the conversation then you have a serious issue on your hands.

But if not, stay out of it. And make sure you give his PA plenty of notice to book in meetings with you!

Good luck!
Your Aunty B

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