I used to get petrified of these meetings. At an earlier stage of your career, you're less likely to be involved in these sorts of meetings and so you're less likely to know how to deal with them. Just know that over your career there is a transition of first being scared, then confident, then knowing what your outcome will be and then finally getting to be the executive who decides the outcome i.e. the H or F part. Let's first define what this meeting is.

It's the sort of meeting where something fundamental is about to change, and you are single-handedly the cause for that change. It is most definitely not a status meeting, a platform meeting, an update meeting or any kind of regularly scheduled meeting. It also isn't a panic, pin the blame or root-cause analysis meeting. It most definitely isn't a technology-related meeting. It's much more.

When you present something fantastic, uniquely value-adding, a proposition that could get people above you in hot water, or stand out by challenging the status quo of business, that's when you have a GHOF meeting. When you challenge basic assumptions, organizational models, executive wisdom, redefine competition, identify new business opportunities, or all of the above that's GHOF at it's best. You have to identify something, typically a problem or five, a host of solutions, investments or deas and tie all the pieces together. You're basically identifying something no one else thinks about - and because you have - are implicitly or explicitly applying for any opportunity that arises out of that. The untold assumption is that you're suggesting status quo isn't an option, and so if not given the opportunity to solve the problem, what else exists?

I like these meetings because it reduces outcomes to two fundamental options. Green light, red light. No amber. It dramatically increases odds of success to a guaranteed 50%, gets you visibility, makes you known as a non status-quo'er (there are too many of those) all while painting a giant 3-d bullseye on your back. Things will change for you. Guaranteed.

I'll follow up with tips for one of these, but I try to work on at least one or two of these a year. That means at least three-four ideas you have to discard in the process. Desh Deshpande, of Sycamore Networks, famously used to recommend his employees always go on job interviews at least twice a year. That way they know what they're worth, aren't afraid of taking risks where they are, and can dive headlong into an opportunity without worrying about unemployment. They know they're good enough. They just found a job elsewhere to prove it. I recommend if you don't or can't head down the entrepreneurial path, try to create for yourself at least 1 GHOF meeting a year. It does the work soul much good.

Oh, and if offered cake at one of these meetings, never refuse.