We build playbooks around pre-wiring and designing meetings, and have guidance for how to run a meeting. Professionals know is another whole level of play beyond the mechanics.
Listen for what’s not being said. To the extent you can, sense the body language – who looks comfortable, who doesn’t? Who is exerting dominance, and who submits (it’s not always about positional power)? Is there a rhythm and flow to the energy over the couple of hours? Were you in the hotseat, how would you handle that tough question? What might have happened that didn’t happen?
This may sound woo-woo, but leaders with great potential (that’s you) study the “meta” aspects of meetings. Naïve people believe that a meeting is just a meeting; it’s actually a focal point in a complex thread of human interactions.
