Is sitting in back-to-back meetings actually part of your job — or does everyone just assume it is?
A senior executive sat across from me recently – impressive career, multiple board roles, significant responsibility – and made a remark I haven’t stopped thinking about.
“Some people,” she said quietly, “justify their salary by having meetings.”
It was said without malice. She wasn’t ranting. She was making an observation she’d reached after years of watching organisational behaviour from the inside. And the more I’ve thought about it, the more I believe she’s identified something genuinely important. Meetings are sometimes just part of the job.