Claim Back Your Calendar
My clients reclaimed up to 90 minutes weekly by restructuring meetings.
One used that time to build a new revenue channel.
90 minutes doesn't sound like much. But when you're a C-suite executive with zero white space, it's the difference between reactive firefighting and strategic execution.
A leader told me: "My calendar is full. My strategy isn't moving. I know those two things are connected, I just don't know how to fix it."
His team wasn't incapable. His meeting structure was.
Circular discussions. No decision ownership. Agenda items like "discuss project X" that spiral for 60 minutes without resolution. Every meeting ended with "let's revisit this."
His team left asking: "What did we just decide?"
Answer: Nothing.
We restructured his meetings.
First meeting after: visible agenda, time-boxed items, trained moderator, commitments at the end.
30 minutes. Three items, three decisions. Everyone left clear.
The leader looked at me: "We could have done this six months ago."
Yes. And it costs you six months of strategic initiatives stuck in "let's discuss" limbo.
This is what I see constantly:
When identity (what leadership says), execution (what teams do), and perception (what employees + customers see) misalign, even capable teams underperform. Meetings reveal that gap faster than any survey.
Leaders reclaimed up to 90 minutes weekly. One client used that time to implement a new team identity framework we’ve built -> and that unlocked a revenue channel they'd been "too busy" to pursue. The ROI isn't just time. It's strategic capacity.
Here's the structure that reclaims time:
Visible agenda - Slides, whiteboard, napkin. Just make it visible.
Clear start/end time - Communicated upfront, non-negotiable.
Time-boxed agenda items - Max 15% buffer. When time's up, move forward or schedule a concrete, no-fluff follow-up just for that item.
Train your team moderators - Don’t just let the most senior person run the meeting. You need an appropriate moderator who guides the discussion, keeps time, and clarifies decision ownership. Train your team.
Three-phase clarity structure - For "figuring it out" meetings to stop teams drowning in question overwhelm:
(1) Collect questions
(2) Brainstorm solutions
(3) Summarise next stepsEnd with commitments - Who owns what. By when. Summary sent within 24 hours.
Track this:
How many of your meetings this week ended with clear commitments vs. uncertainty?
That number tells you whether your organisation values decision velocity or just fills calendars. Meetings reveal whether your teams have clarity to perform.
What could you build with 90 extra minutes a week?
Behaviour tells the story.
ST Sammel, founder
ST is an award-winning filmmaker and enterprise advisor who makes story tools accessible to global executives, linking narrative psychology with leadership.