So...What Exactly Do You Do Here?

We all know this person. They show up to the meeting with LOTS of thoughts. They ask questions. They offer suggestions. They say things like, “Have we thought about...” and “Maybe we should consider...” Sometimes they even volunteer someone else to do something. And for 60 glorious minutes, they look incredibly helpful.

Then the meeting ends.

Need an actual answer? Can’t reach them. Need them to handle something? They’ll connect you with someone else. Need a decision? Let’s circle back. Need help with the thing they JUST suggested in the meeting? Oh. Apparently they didn’t mean they were going to do it.

And eventually you find yourself staring at their little square on Teams thinking, How did you get promoted over me? Or perhaps the even more confusing question: How did someone create an entire job where you apparently just attend meetings and suggest work for other people?

Looking Helpful and Being Helpful Are Two Different Things

There is an art to sounding helpful in a meeting without actually committing to anything. “I think we need to make sure we’re supporting the team.” Yes. Absolutely. Groundbreaking. “We should probably improve communication around this.” Excellent point. Who is going to do that? “We may want to think about creating a process.” Great. Are you creating it?

Because there’s a big difference between identifying work and actually doing work. And sometimes the people carrying the heaviest loads are too busy actually working to give a 12-minute speech about how the work should be done. They’re sitting there quietly calculating how many additional hours of work were just created by someone who will not be participating in any of it.

Sometimes the most helpful person in the meeting is the one thinking, Please stop giving us more things to do.

Delegating Everything Is Not the Same as Leading

Good leaders delegate. They should. Nobody expects a leader to personally handle every task that crosses their desk. But there is a difference between delegating strategically and apparently having developed a severe allergy to owning anything.

If every request gets forwarded, every problem gets assigned, every question gets redirected and every follow-up gets handed to someone else, at some point people start wondering what exactly you do. Especially when you are remarkably visible when leadership is in the room and mysteriously unavailable when someone actually needs help.

Leadership isn’t about being the person with the most suggestions. It’s about helping move the work forward. Sometimes that means delegating. Sometimes it means removing a barrier or making a decision. And sometimes it means saying, “I’ll take that.” And then, this is the important part, actually taking it.

And Yes...Sometimes You Wonder How They Got That Job

This is the part we probably aren’t supposed to say out loud. But we’re saying it.

Sometimes you work beside someone and genuinely wonder, How did they get promoted? Not because you’re jealous. Not because you think you’re perfect. And not because you know everything they do behind the scenes. But because you are watching people do the actual work, solve problems, answer calls, make decisions, support teams and clean up messes while someone else seems to have mastered the much more lucrative skill of looking important in meetings.

And that’s frustrating. Especially when you’re the person leaving the meeting with six new action items while they’re leaving with another meeting on their calendar.

The Bottom Line

Being visible isn’t the same as being valuable. Good leadership isn’t measured by how many meetings you attend, how many questions you ask or how many times you say, “Have we considered...” It’s what happens after the meeting that matters.

Are you available? Do you make decisions? Do you help remove barriers? Do you occasionally take something OFF someone’s plate instead of adding another thing to it?

Because eventually people figure out who actually gets things done and who just has really good meeting attendance.

And if you’re currently sitting in a meeting listening to someone volunteer your department for something...

Maybe keep your camera off.

Your face is probably saying too much.

Contact

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