Over on the excellent RethinkHr.org blog, Benjamin McCall writes a thoughtful post on meetings (with a bonus dollop of hilarity at the end). 

In "Meetings Can Be Unbearable," Benjamin laments purposeless meetings as time-wasting and dull. No argument here! His examples include meetings with no agenda (disastrous, generally) and meetings to which you’re invited for no apparent reason.

Americans can rest a little easier today reassured that people with genuine differences of opinion can find it in their hearts to compromise rather than allow their constituents to suffer from a dangerous game of brinksmanship. I’m referring, of course, to the resolution of the NFL lock-out. Our government may default on our financial obligations, but at least we’ll be able to watch athletes pass a football while our politicians pass a devalued buck. The new, dreaded “C” word of the day is “compromise.”

Two conversations this week with leaders from large companies reminded me again about the value of context in meeting business challenges, and how social entrepreneurs address challenges with context front and center.

Have you found it difficult to build relationships and achieve optimum results in online meetings? Recent research shows many leaders believe it is impossible to build relationships outside of face-to-face meetings. We know that isn’t the case, and we’ll make a believer out of you in this 90-minute recorded webinar.

Whether you're a leader at your company, or you help develop them, the practice of delegating to others successfully is both an art and a science. And the upside to your organization is huge: Effective delegation can empower and engage employees, fuel initiatives, and spur energy and creativity. What's more, delegation clears a leader's crowded plate of things that someone else can do, so you can focus on the things you must do. When a leader excels at delegating, ownership and accountability take off, too.
 

Virtual meetings are here to stay — and so is the challenge of keeping people engaged while they multitask during meetings.

In fact, our recently-conducted business survey points to multitasking in meetings as the top challenge to keeping people engaged and focused — nearly three-quarters of those surveyed say the distractions of people caught up in several tasks at once interfere with meetings and impact their effectiveness.

Accelerator Expedition is the leadership immersion experience that transforms high potential leaders into confident, globally savvy innovators. In this program, action learning goes beyond the classroom to immerse gifted leaders in challenges at the leading edge of change - with social innovators who are creating powerful and sustainable solutions.

Leaders don't get it right all the time, which sometimes is a big let-down when the person stepping into a high-profile leadership role has widespread support as the best qualified candidate for the job. Take President Obama, for instance. Already he's had a few missteps in bumping up against variables —situations and people —beyond his control. Politics aside, his adjustments and calibrations are similar to those of all new leaders challenged with driving a change agenda.