CEO check-ins every month are a waste of time if you dont actually listen

I sat in on a meeting last week where our CEO flew in for a monthly update. He talked for 45 minutes straight about revenue goals and never once asked a single question about what's really happening on the ground. Meanwhile our team has been struggling with a broken CRM for 3 months that's costing us about $12k in lost leads every week. How can you call yourself a leader when you dont even bother to ask what needs fixing first? Has anyone else here seen their upper management skip over the real problems like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

bettymurphy1mo ago

That drive by update line hit me hard. I used to defend these meetings, not anymore.

simon_wood721mo ago

Honestly, that's a classic case of a CEO doing a 'drive-by' update instead of actually managing. You need to stop hoping he'll ask and start forcing the issue. Send a one-page brief to his EA three days before his next visit with the CRM breakdown and the $12k figure in bold at the top. Then during the meeting, when he opens for 'any quick questions', you stand up and say you've got a three-minute update on a critical blocker that's eating revenue. Leaders respond to data that hurts their bonus, not polite silence.