How to decline pointless meetings tactfully

Rebecca gives strategies: use curiosity, ask if attendance is necessary, and leverage AI rules for agendas.

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Episode notes

AJ and Johnny sit down with Rebecca Hinds, author of Your Best Meeting Ever, to uncover why meetings aren’t broken — they’re just poorly designed. Rebecca shares how better meeting design can accelerate your career, increase visibility, and help you stand out as a leader in the AI era.

They dive into how collaboration has quietly become a visibility trap, how to gain recognition without more airtime, and why treating meetings like a product can transform your influence, culture, and career. From managing “meeting suck reflex” to using AI responsibly, this episode offers a playbook for making every meeting meaningful — and finally reclaiming your time.

Chapters:
00:00 – Why meetings feel broken (and why they’re not)
05:00 – Collaboration overload and the visibility trap
10:00 – Presence ≠ productivity: the illusion of busyness
15:00 – How AI is reshaping collaboration and meaning at work
20:00 – Designing your best meeting ever: rhythm, purpose, and focus
25:00 – Declining pointless meetings without fallout
30:00 – Using AI to build better meetings, not replace them 35:00 – The four D test: when a meeting actually deserves to exist
40:00 – The visibility tax and remote work trade-offs
45:00 – Building career leverage through better meeting design

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Episode resources:

Your Best Meeting Ever: 7 Principles for Designing Meetings That Get Things Done

RebeccaHinds.com