Business

Space Is Power, Command It, and It’s Yours

Manage your meetings like a boss

“We are all connected: to each other biologically, to the earth, chemically, to the universe atomically. — Neil deGrasse Tyson

The Fortune 500 company promoted a technically excellent woman to her first director position. She had a hell of a time briefing the executive leadership team, which I was a part of. The men on the team were subtly dismissing her and her presentations. Oh, we all attended the meetings as her presentations were extremely useful. However, some on the leadership team were very disrespectful concerning the meeting space management during her presentations. She did not control the meeting’s physical space, resulting in a chaotic feel to her presentations.

After she attended one of my meetings, held with her and my colleagues, she came to my office to find out what I did that made my meeting smoother than hers. She asked for my help. I would help her with the agreement she assists the next woman she encountered with the same type of problems. We became allies.

My Seat At The Table Is My Place of Power

We discussed an incident that occurred when I first arrived on the campus. I started 9 am meetings with my team and invited the entire campus. For those meetings, I sat at the head of the table. My group went around the table clockwise and provided quick updates for the boss (me), who did not know what was going on since she was new.

Anyone who wanted to attend the 9 am status was welcome to contribute information or ask a question. One of my peers came in early and sat in my space. Before the meeting started, he jokingly commented that now he was in charge. I laughed at him and said, “I control this meeting no matter where I sit,” and started the clockwise review from my position down the table. When I got to his turn, I asked him what information he had brought of value to the meeting. No matter what he said, I was going to downplay and discount it, which I did. He stopped attending the 9 am meetings.

The Lesson: Your spot at the table is your place of power. It does not matter where the leader sits at the table. Leaders prefer the head of the table, but any location, including leaning against a wall, is the same for the leader. My spot at the table is my place of power. The attention of all attendees will focus on the leader as long as the leader demands the attention.

My Table Territory Is My Place Of Power

The next lesson was about the space around you once you took your seat at the table. Each person should have enough space to put a cup of coffee, notebook, cell phone, and handouts at their position at the table. The men sitting on either side of her routinely encroached on her area. Her notebook was on her lap, and she was holding her cell phone and notes in her hands while their things sat in her space.

Instead, I told her when she sat down and one of the other attendees put their items into her space, act as if the things were hers. They were in her area. Set a cup of coffee on their notes. Pick up their handouts and put them in her lap. Turn over the cell phone sitting in her space and start pressing buttons. Always apologize for the “mistake,” but claim your space. Spread out. Show them the territory in front of you is yours. If you mess around and put something in my space, you might have to come to my office to get it back. I’m claiming it as mine and leaving the room with it. My territory is my place of power.

My Meeting Room Is My Place Of Power

The last lesson: my meeting room is my place of power. It is no issue if people come to the meeting late and leave early in corporate culture. Shit happens all the time. The way they were leaving her sessions was disrespectful… noisily and starting conversations before they left the area. Any person going in that fashion deserves a standing acknowledgment. If I was presenting and they left in such a fashion, I stopped talking and asked what their question was, directing the focus of the meeting to them. Since they were not paying attention, it was difficult for them to pose a credible question. No one wants to look stupid in front of their colleagues, but there they were appearing unprofessional.

If I was sitting, I stood up with them and started walking to the door. I would step into their personal space as they passed by and open the door for them. I always did this with a smile. Being in their space was even more effective if I was the presenter. It took only one or two times before people learned to leave my meetings quietly.

Controlling Space is Power

Any area a leader commands becomes their place of power. When you send a message, hold an intimate meeting with three or four people but execute all meeting space control techniques. They will understand what you are trying to communicate.

1. My area at the table is my place of power.

2. My table territory is my place of power.

3. My physical meeting room is my place of power.

Once she understood the rules of commanding meetings, she was in control. The understanding of these simple rules ended much of the disrespectful behavior. Commanding your space is your power. The command of space extends to real life: riding the train, sitting at a lunch table, meeting with a teacher, etc. Take control of the space and choose to use your domination of the area to achieve what you want in your meetings (and your life). Space demonstrates power. Use it to be the best leader that you can be.

Toni Crowe retired as the Vice President of Operations to pursue her dream of being a writer. Toni has written six books, two of which won the 2019 Reader’s Choice Gold Awards. Her bestselling business book, “Bullets and Bosses Don’t Have Friends: How Do You Manage A Man Sitting With His Dick in His Hand?” was one of the winners. Her first book, “Never a $7 Whore” was the other.

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