I Stopped Running Random Meetings After Using This Level 10 Meeting Template
Level 10 Meeting
Have you ever walked out of a meeting thinking,
“That could have been an email.”
If you’re a founder, CEO, or leadership team member, you’ve probably had that thought more times than you’d like to admit.
For years, my leadership meetings followed the same frustrating pattern.
We’d spend an hour discussing updates.
Everyone would share opinions.
A few good ideas would come up.
Someone would promise to “look into it.”
Then we’d schedule another meeting for the following week.
Nothing really changed.
The same issues came back.
The same conversations happened again.
The same projects stayed unfinished.
At first, I blamed my team.
Then I blamed the workload.
Eventually, I realized the real problem wasn’t the people.
It was the meeting.
Everything changed when I discovered the EOS L10 Meeting framework.
Instead of treating meetings as weekly status updates, we started using them as structured execution sessions. Every discussion had a purpose. Every issue had an owner. Every action had a deadline.
The result wasn’t just shorter meetings.
It was better execution.
If your leadership meetings feel random, repetitive, or unproductive, this article may completely change the way your team works.
The Hidden Cost of Random Leadership Meetings
Most businesses don’t realize how much time they lose because of ineffective meetings.
A one-hour meeting with eight leaders doesn’t cost one hour.
It costs eight hours of leadership time.
Now multiply that across every week.
Every month.
Every year.
According to Harvard Business Review, executives now spend an average of 23 hours every week in meetings — more than double the time spent in the 1960s.
That’s a significant investment.
Yet another Harvard Business Review survey found that 71% of senior managers believe meetings are often unproductive and inefficient.
Think about that for a moment.
The people responsible for leading organizations often believe the very meetings they’re attending aren’t helping the business move forward.
The cost isn’t just time.
Poor meetings create:
Slow decision-making
Missed deadlines
Confused priorities
Repeated conversations
Low accountability
Frustrated employees
Eventually, meetings become something people attend instead of something that drives results.
That’s exactly what the EOS L10 Meeting was designed to fix.
What Is an EOS L10 Meeting?
An EOS L10 Meeting, also known as a Level 10 Meeting, is a structured weekly leadership meeting created as part of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS).
The name comes from one simple idea.
At the end of every meeting, participants rate the meeting on a scale from one to ten.
The goal isn’t simply to finish the agenda.
The goal is to create a meeting so valuable that everyone consistently rates it close to a ten.
Unlike traditional leadership meetings, which often drift from topic to topic, an EOS L10 Meeting follows the same agenda every week.
That consistency helps leadership teams stay focused, improve accountability, and solve problems faster.
Rather than asking,
“What should we talk about today?”
the team already knows exactly what needs to happen.
The meeting becomes a rhythm instead of a reaction.
Why Most Leadership Meetings Fail
Most meetings don’t fail because people aren’t intelligent.
They fail because they’re unstructured.
Here’s what usually happens.
The meeting begins five minutes late.
Someone starts discussing a customer issue.
Another person changes the topic.
Marketing provides updates.
Operations raises a problem.
Finance asks a question.
Before anyone realizes what’s happening, the hour is almost over.
Very few decisions have been made.
No clear ownership has been assigned.
Everyone leaves with a slightly different understanding of what should happen next.
The following week…
The exact same conversation happens again.
According to Atlassian’s workplace research, employees spend approximately 31 hours every month in unproductive meetings.
That’s nearly four full working days lost every month.
Imagine recovering even half of that time.
The impact on productivity would be enormous.
The Difference Between Talking and Executing
One lesson completely changed the way I think about meetings.
Meetings aren’t supposed to be information-sharing sessions.
They’re execution sessions.
Information can be shared through dashboards.
Emails.
Project management tools.
Chat platforms.
Leadership meetings should exist for one reason:
To make decisions and remove obstacles.
That’s what makes the EOS L10 Meeting different.
Every section of the meeting has a purpose.
Nothing is random.
Nothing is added “just because.”
Every minute contributes to moving the business forward.
According to PwC’s Global CEO Survey, more than 80% of CEOs identify execution as one of their biggest business challenges.
Most businesses don’t struggle because they lack ideas.
They struggle because great ideas never become consistent action.
The Standard Level 10 Meeting Agenda
One of the biggest strengths of a Level 10 Meeting is consistency.
Instead of reinventing every meeting, leadership follows the same agenda each week.
While organizations may make small adjustments, the meeting typically includes the following sections.
1. Segue (5 Minutes)
The meeting begins with positive news.
Leaders briefly share personal or professional wins.
This creates energy before diving into business discussions.
2. Review the Scorecard (5 Minutes)
The team reviews key business metrics.
Instead of debating opinions, everyone looks at measurable performance.
If a number is off track, it’s noted for later discussion.
3. Review Quarterly Priorities (5 Minutes)
Leadership checks progress on major quarterly goals.
Completed priorities are celebrated.
Delayed priorities are flagged.
No lengthy discussions happen yet.
The objective is simply to review progress.
4. Customer and Employee Headlines (5 Minutes)
Important customer feedback.
Major employee updates.
Significant wins.
Urgent concerns.
Anything leadership should know gets shared here.
5. To-Do List Review (5 Minutes)
Action items from the previous meeting are reviewed.
Were they completed?
Yes or no.
Simple.
No excuses.
This section alone dramatically improves accountability.
6. IDS: Identify, Discuss, Solve (60 Minutes)
This is the heart of every EOS L10 Meeting.
Rather than spending time discussing every issue equally, leadership focuses on solving the highest-priority challenges.
The process is simple.
Identify the issue.
Discuss the root cause.
Solve it.
Assign ownership.
Move forward.
This structure prevents conversations from drifting while ensuring important issues receive meaningful attention.
7. Conclude (5 Minutes)
Before ending the meeting, leadership confirms:
New action items
Meeting rating
Key messages for the rest of the organization
Everyone leaves knowing exactly what happens next.
No confusion.
No assumptions.
No forgotten commitments.
Why This Meeting Format Actually Works
At first glance, the agenda seems almost too simple.
But simplicity is exactly why it works.
Get OKR Hive: Set Goals. Track Progress. Win.’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
It removes uncertainty.
Everyone knows what to prepare.
Everyone understands the meeting structure.
Everyone knows decisions will be made.
Research from Deloitte found that organizations with aligned leadership teams are 1.9 times more likely to outperform financially.
Structured meetings create that alignment.
Instead of every department operating independently, leadership begins making decisions together.
Over time, this consistency builds trust, improves communication, and increases execution across the organization.
Meetings Don’t Need to Be Longer — They Need to Be Better
Many leaders believe longer meetings produce better outcomes.
In reality, longer meetings often produce more discussion — not better decisions.
The EOS L10 Meeting proves that a structured 90-minute meeting can accomplish more than several hours of unstructured conversations.
When leaders know the agenda, review the right metrics, focus on solving issues, and leave with clear accountability, meetings stop feeling like interruptions.
They become one of the most valuable execution tools in the business.
How EOS L10 Meetings Create Real Accountability
One of the biggest problems in growing businesses isn’t a lack of ideas.
It’s a lack of follow-through.
Most leadership teams leave meetings with good intentions.
Everyone agrees on what should happen.
Everyone nods.
Everyone says they’ll take care of their action items.
Then the week gets busy.
Customer issues come up.
Emails pile up.
New priorities appear.
By the time the next meeting arrives, half of the action items haven’t been completed.
The discussion starts all over again.
That’s where the EOS L10 Meeting changes everything.
Every commitment made during the meeting has an owner.
Every owner is expected to report back the following week.
There are only two possible answers:
Done
Not Done
There are no long explanations.
No blame.
No excuses.
This simple approach creates accountability without creating a culture of fear.
When people know they’ll review their commitments every week, they’re far more likely to complete them.
According to Gallup, organizations with clearly defined goals improve employee performance by up to 22% because expectations are visible and measurable.
Accountability isn’t about pressure.
It’s about clarity.
Why the IDS Process Is the Most Valuable Part of the Meeting
Most leadership meetings spend too much time describing problems.
Very little time is spent solving them.
That’s exactly why the Identify, Discuss, Solve (IDS) process exists within every Level 10 Meeting.
Instead of jumping straight into solutions, the leadership team first identifies the real issue.
This matters because the first problem people mention is often just a symptom.
For example:
The issue might appear to be:
“Sales are slowing down.”
After discussion, leadership discovers the real issue:
Lead response times are too slow.
Marketing is attracting the wrong audience.
Pricing isn’t clearly communicated.
Sales representatives aren’t following a consistent process.
Only after identifying the root cause does the team begin discussing solutions.
Finally, they assign ownership and move forward.
This structured approach prevents leadership from repeatedly fixing symptoms while ignoring the real problem.
Common Mistakes Teams Make During Level 10 Meetings
Even with the right agenda, teams can still reduce the effectiveness of an EOS L10 Meeting by falling into common habits.
Here are some of the biggest mistakes to avoid.
Turning Updates Into Long Discussions
The Scorecard and quarterly priorities are designed to highlight issues — not solve them immediately.
If a number is off track, simply note it and move it to the IDS section.
Trying to solve every problem during the review sections quickly derails the meeting.
Discussing Every Issue Equally
Not every challenge deserves twenty minutes of discussion.
Leadership should focus on solving the issues with the greatest impact on the business.
Smaller items can often be handled outside the meeting.
Leaving Without Clear Owners
If an action item doesn’t have one accountable owner, it probably won’t get completed.
Ownership should always be specific.
Instead of saying,
“The marketing team will handle it.”
Assign it to one individual.
Clear ownership creates clear accountability.
Ignoring the Meeting Schedule
One of the strengths of a Level 10 Meeting is consistency.
Skipping meetings or changing the agenda every week weakens the entire process.
The rhythm matters.
Leadership teams build momentum by meeting consistently and following the same structure.
How an OKR Tool Makes Leadership Meetings More Effective
As businesses grow, leadership teams often struggle to keep priorities visible between meetings.
Quarterly goals live in one spreadsheet.
Project updates are stored in another system.
Action items are buried inside email threads.
By the following week, everyone spends valuable meeting time searching for information.
This is where a modern OKR Tool becomes valuable.
Instead of collecting updates manually, leadership teams can review goals, key results, and strategic initiatives in one place before the meeting begins.
That allows the EOS L10 Meeting to focus on decision-making rather than information gathering.
An effective OKR Tool helps teams:
Track company objectives
Monitor key results
Review progress in real time
Identify stalled initiatives
Improve transparency across departments
According to Betterworks, employees who understand organizational priorities are 3.6 times more engaged than those who don’t.
Visibility creates alignment.
Alignment improves execution.
Supporting EOS Meetings with ShiftFocusOS
A structured meeting framework is only part of the equation.
Leadership teams also need a reliable way to track priorities between meetings.
That’s where ShiftFocusOS adds value.
Instead of managing scorecards, quarterly priorities, meeting notes, and action items across multiple spreadsheets and disconnected applications, leaders can manage everything from one centralized platform.
For organizations already following the EOS L10 Meeting framework, ShiftFocusOS makes it easier to:
Track weekly commitments
Monitor progress on strategic priorities
Review leadership dashboards
Keep meeting action items visible
Improve accountability across departments
Rather than replacing your meeting process, the platform helps reinforce it by keeping execution visible throughout the week.
The Long-Term Impact of Better Leadership Meetings
Businesses often underestimate how much their meeting culture influences overall performance.
When meetings become shorter, clearer, and more focused, the benefits extend far beyond the conference room.
Leadership teams make faster decisions.
Projects move forward with fewer delays.
Employees receive clearer direction.
Departments collaborate more effectively.
Customers experience more consistent service.
Research from Deloitte found that organizations with aligned leadership teams are 1.9 times more likely to outperform financially than those with poor alignment.
That alignment doesn’t happen by accident.
It develops through consistent communication, measurable priorities, and disciplined execution.
The EOS L10 Meeting provides a practical framework for building exactly that.
Is the EOS L10 Meeting Right for Every Business?
Not every business needs formal weekly leadership meetings.
If you’re a solo entrepreneur or have only one or two employees, a simplified planning process may be enough.
However, once your business begins growing, structured leadership meetings become increasingly valuable.
If your company experiences any of these challenges:
Meetings that regularly run over time
Repeated discussions without decisions
Missed action items
Unclear accountability
Poor communication between departments
Slow execution
then adopting an EOS L10 Meeting can significantly improve the way your leadership team operates.
The goal isn’t simply to have better meetings.
The goal is to build a business that executes consistently every week.
Final Thoughts
For years, I believed the solution to ineffective meetings was finding better agendas, inviting fewer people, or scheduling longer discussions.
I was wrong.
The real solution was creating a repeatable system that turned conversations into action.
That’s exactly what the EOS L10 Meeting delivers.
It replaces random discussions with focused execution.
It replaces vague commitments with clear accountability.
And it replaces weekly frustration with measurable progress.
Whether you’re leading a startup, a growing small business, or an established company, your meetings should create momentum — not consume it.
When combined with the right OKR Tool and supported by execution platforms like ShiftFocusOS, the Level 10 Meeting becomes much more than a calendar event.
It becomes the heartbeat of your leadership team.
If your meetings end with more questions than answers, more discussion than decisions, or more promises than progress, it may be time to stop running random meetings.
Start running meetings that move your business forward.
