If You Don’t Set the Cadence, the Crisis Will

A lot of leaders find it very easy to convince themselves that constant meetings equal control.

I’ve done it, and regretted it.

When the mission is high-visibility and the pace is relentless, the instinct is to “stay close,” sit in the meetings, and keep your finger on every pulse point—just to make sure nothing surprises you.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth I had to learn—and am still learning:

The Hidden Cost of a Reactive Calendar

A reactive calendar feels productive because you’re always responding. But over time, it creates three predictable problems:

• You become the routing point for everything
• Your team waits for meetings to make decisions
• The same issues show up every week with different packaging

When that happens, “busy” becomes your normal. And you start losing the one thing leaders need to protect: capacity to think.

The Shift: Meetings Aren’t the Problem. Unclear Outputs Are.

I don’t think meetings are inherently bad. I think meetings without objective outputs are.

If the meeting ends and nobody can answer:

• What did we decide?
• Who owns what?
• When is it due?
• What changed?

…then that meeting wasn’t leadership. It was conversation. And conversations don’t scale execution.

The New Standard: No Output, No Meeting

I’m working to implement this rule: if there’s no defined output, it doesn’t go on the calendar.

Outputs can be simple:

• A decision
• A prioritized list
• A RYG status update with owners/dates
• An early identified risk
• A blocker removed

But it has to produce something tangible. Because if it doesn’t, your calendar slowly becomes a landfill of “just in case.”

What Good Looks Like

When an operating rhythm is working, it shows up fast:

• Priorities are clear and stable for the week
• Risks get surfaced early, not right at the deadline
• Decisions happen in the right meeting, not in hallway chats
• Updates are short, structured, and consistent
• Owners and due dates are routine, not awkward
• Escalations decrease because the path is clearer
• You get actual time back to think, plan, strategize, and coach

The goal isn’t more meetings. The goal is predictable accountability.

The Minimum-Viable Operating Rhythm

You don’t need to overhaul your entire organization. You need a simple cadence that fits your environment. Here’s a practical structure that works in most operations and program delivery settings.

1. Weekly Leadership Priorities (30 minutes)

Purpose: Lock in the week’s priorities and make tradeoffs visible.

Inputs: Last week’s results, current constraints, upcoming deadlines.

Outputs:

• Top 3–5 priorities (written, not verbal)
• Known risks (RYG)
• Decisions needed this week

This is where you protect your focus.

2. Weekly Execution Review (45–60 minutes)

Purpose: Ensure the work is moving and obstacles are cleared.

Inputs: Departmental scorecard/RYG, constraint list, decision log.

Outputs:

• Updated RYG with owners/dates
• Cleared obstacles (or escalated with options)
• Action list that survives the meeting

This is where you protect delivery.

3. Monthly Strategy + Systems Review (60 minutes)

Purpose: Stop repeating the same fires—actually learn your lessons learned.

Inputs: Top recurring issues, process pain points, resource constraints, stakeholder feedback.

Outputs:

• 1–3 systems/process fixes (owned and tracked)
• Adjustments to thresholds and guardrails
• A “stop doing” list

As a Scoutmaster, we call this “Start, Stop, Continue”—what did we not do that we should do next time, what did we do that we should not do again, and what worked so well that we should keep doing it?

This is where you protect scale.

The Three Artifacts That Make Cadence Work

A rhythm without simple artifacts turns into “status theater.” These three keep it real:

1. RYG Status (simple, honest, and consistent)
You don’t need a novel or a 30-page slide deck. You need a clear view of what’s green, what’s yellow, what’s red—and what you’re doing about it.

2. Owners/Dates (every time)
If it’s discussed and no owner/date exists, the problem didn’t move.

3. A Decision Log
You will forget what you decided. Everyone does. Write it down. This saves you from re-litigating decisions later—and it quietly builds trust with your team.

The Hard Part (And Where I’ve Had to Check Myself)

The temptation for high performers is to attend everything “just to be safe.” I still feel that pull.

But if your presence is what makes things move, you’re reinforcing dependence.

The goal is not to be indispensable. The goal is to build an operating rhythm where the team can execute—even when you’re not in the room. That’s not letting go. That’s leading.

Your One Commitment for This Week

Pick one recurring meeting on your calendar and do this:

1. Write the required output in one sentence
2. Require a pre-brief (even if it’s just a short note)
3. End with owners/dates and log decisions
4. If it doesn’t produce the output, cancel or redesign it

You don’t need a perfect cadence. You need one that protects focus, drives decisions, and creates predictable accountability.

Reflection Questions

• Which meeting on my calendar produces the least value?
• Where are decisions stalling because we “need another meeting”?
• What would improve if we required RYG + owners/dates every week?
• Where am I attending “just in case” instead of building a system?
• What is one meeting I should redesign or eliminate this month?