Leadership Minute: Want A Meeting? Take A Hike

Spend more of your meetings getting some fresh air and exercise

Years ago, I asked a CEO for a meeting. He agreed, on one condition: he asked me to meet him for a hike, as that was the only setting in which he took external meetings.

I thought of this recently as I sat through an hourlong meeting with someone who, frankly, I should not have met. I’m generally a good screener for people who ask for my time, but this person slipped through my filter under misleading pretenses for the meeting. During that recent meeting, I found myself thinking ruefully, well this is an hour of my life I’ll never get back.

We all know this scenario: the meeting you don’t want to have, or the person who has asked you to chat for weeks and you don’t think you can keep putting it off. Sometimes it’s with a professional connection, sometimes it’s a personal one, such as a friend or relative who it’s always a bit awkward to spend time around.

Which brings us back to the CEO I met years back. He was right: if there’s a meeting or chat you aren’t interested in having or even if you are, think about doing it during a walk or hike. Going for a walk won’t make every meeting better, but it definitely won’t make it worse.

There are a few benefits to this walking meetings rule.

First, it’s a barrier that protects your time. It’s often good to ask a person who wants your time to require a bit of effort on their part. Some people will inevitably say no, which eliminates a meeting you don’t want to have anyway. And the conversations you end up having will be with people who are more invested in spending time with you.

Your time is valuable, and everyone needs to get better at saying no. If someone wants to take your time, but won’t take it on your terms, they probably aren’t interested in mutual value creation, which is the foundation of good networking. Unless the person is unable to walk—which is obviously a very different scenario—feel free to turn down their request for a meeting if they reject your request for a walk. Fair’s fair.