The Strategy of Meetings

Meet to win

Meetings are where careers are made; they're opportunities for you to see and be seen, hear and be heard, and take charge of your career. Now George David Kieffer, a noted attorney and businessman, draws on the advice of today's top movers amd shakers to show how meetings really work — and how you can use them to get exactly what you want. Whether you're a senior executive or a more junior manager, you'll soon be able to approach your next meeting with a powerful strategy to make your words count, advance your ideas, and get an edge on your competition as you learn:

• Why where you sit in a meeting — and where the meeting is held — may be more important than what you say
• Five key steps to rig an agenda, and accomplish your goals
• Why every meeting is theater, and how to use drama to make a meeting work
• How to spot secret agendas — and overcome them
• A seven-step approach to dealing with difficult problems in a meeting — and getting them solved.

Plan, communicate, succeed

From preparing and setting your goals to knowing when not to attend, here is the first, complete, hard-hitting guide to making the next meeting you attend a springboard for your success.

• Introduction: The Strategic Importance of Meetings
• Part One: The High Stakes in Every Meeting
1. You Are Judged on How You Handle a Meeting
2. Every Meeting Is a Win or a Loss
3. Leading or Attending, Make Every Meeting Your Meeting
• Part Two: Wise Men/Foolish Meetings
4. Understanding the Psychology of Meetings
5. Control Is Not a Dirty Word
6. Learn to Say No
• Part Three: Strategies for Heading Your Meetings in the Right Direction
7. Start with the Right Attitude
8. The Cardinal Rule: Never Attend a Meeting Without Knowing What You Want to Accomplish
9. Distinguishing Success from Failure
• Part Four: Strategies for Achieving Your Goals at Every Meeting You Attend
10. Prepare More and Meet Less
11. See Yourself as Others See You
12. The Theater in Meetings
13. Using the Cast of Characters
14. Your Most Powerful Weapon — The Agenda
15. The Order of Discussion: Rome Wasn't Built in a Day
• Part Five: Special Strategies for Handling Special Situations
16. Tips for Leading the Meeting
17. Making the Most of Brief Encounters
18. Combat: Winning Your Point of View
19. Techniques for Meeting Follow-Up
20. More Important Than You Think: Rules, Customs, and Protocol
• Part Six: Personal Strategies for Successful Meetings
21. The Art of Listening
22. Being There
• A Checklist for Any Meeting

Interesting guidelines on how to use meetings effectively. A real no-nonsense book. Well worth reading.