{"id":2573,"date":"2026-08-18T17:11:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T17:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573"},"modified":"2026-08-18T17:11:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T17:11:54","slug":"dropbox-co-ceo-has-just-shared-the-simple-rule-he-follows-for-when-to-turn-down-a-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573","title":{"rendered":"Dropbox co-CEO has just shared the simple rule he follows for when to turn down a meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Meetings have become a constant annoyance for white-collar professionals: they often drag on, interrupt focused work, and don\u2019t require everyone\u2019s participation. Now, business leaders are protecting their time by setting boundaries around when they join the conversation. Dropbox co-CEO Ashraf Alkarmi follows a simple rule to decide what calls make the cut.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI pick things that I can make significant progress on in that quarter,\u201d Alkarmi said in a recent interview with Business Insider<\/em>. \u201cAnd so it becomes a filter for how I prioritize my time.\u201d<\/p>\n

To pick and choose which meetings to attend, Alkarmi sets five goals he needs to achieve every quarter at the $7.3 billion cloud storage company. He uses these important target areas\u2014like people, business, and performance\u2014to shape his weekly schedule and decide where to focus his efforts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To make sure everyone is on the same page, the Dropbox co-CEO shares his key priorities with his circle, chief of staff, and administrative team. These objectives \u201cwin at all times\u201d when a lot falls on his plate, he explained.<\/p>\n

For example, during the first quarter, Alkarmi combed through data and worked toward solutions to reduce customer churn. Making \u201cmeaningful progress\u201d and moving that needle became one of his main priorities on Dropbox\u2019s business side. To keep all his ducks in a row, the leader said he uses the daily task-tracking app Trello to stay on track with his quarterly goals. Sticking to his list of five also narrows down what conversations are worth a chunk of time in his busy schedule.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I get meetings that are not related to these things, and I don\u2019t go,\u201d Alkarmi continued.<\/p>\n

Alkarmi\u2019s intentionality also clarifies when his priorities require his direct involvement, and when he can step back and rely on his team.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Dropbox, our mission is to design a more enlightened way of working, and to me, part of that is being intentional about where I spend my time,\u201d Alkarmi said in a statement to Fortune<\/em>. \u201cClear priorities help me focus on where I can have the greatest impact. Just as importantly, they help me know when I need to be in the room and when I can trust my team to keep things moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

CEOs have their own meeting rules: call-free afternoons, fewer one-on-ones, and later start times\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Like Alkarmi, other CEOs are protecting their calendars from unnecessary meetings and treating uninterrupted focus time as a resource worth guarding.<\/p>\n

Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan has called out the fact that meetings are crowding out the actual work that really needs to get done. For that reason, he set a 2026 goal to keep his calendar completely clear every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoon, blocking anyone from booking calls during those hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jordan acknowledged that approach might sound \u201ccrazy\u201d to some executives, but he reasoned that CEOs are hired to do work only they can do\u2014and that rarely happens if they\u2019re trapped in back-to-back meetings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you first start, it\u2019s easy to confuse busyness and going to meetings with leadership,\u201d Jordan said on a panel of CEOs at the New York Times<\/em> DealBook Summit last year. \u201cBecause what we all find, I\u2019m sure, is there\u2019s no time to \u2018work,\u2019 and you confuse going to meetings with the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, Jensen Huang, the cofounder and CEO of $5.3 trillion technology giant Nvidia, has trimmed the fat from his work routine by prioritizing efficiency over regular check-ins. The chips leader doesn\u2019t believe that frequent catch-ups with his 55 direct reports are the best use of his time, given that a continuous stream of meetings would only clog up his work schedule and slow him down. Instead, he frees up space for broader, team-wide collaboration\u2014which Huang said also helps maintain transparency within one of the world\u2019s largest companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t do one-on-ones with any of them, unless they need me; then I\u2019ll drop everything for them,\u201d Huang\u00a0said at the\u00a0Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research summit in 2024. \u201cThey never hear me say something to them that is only for them to know. There\u2019s not one piece of information that I somehow secretly tell the staff; I don\u2019t tell the rest of the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has established his own rules around the flow of his day. He believes that no leader should apologize for how they choose to run their businesses\u2014and he\u2019s unabashedly following his own advice. Even though many leaders operate on a rise-and-grind mindset, Chesky hits his creative stride later into the night. For that reason, he\u2019s set boundaries around when he takes meetings, barring any calls before 10 a.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re CEO,\u201d Chesky told The Wall Street Journal<\/em> last year, \u201cyou can decide when the first meeting of the day is.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#Dropbox #coCEO #shared #simple #rule #turn #meeting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meetings have become a constan… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1487,4931,269,1405,4935,2676,2677,4226,633,4932,769,1388,1408,1337,2640,770,759,4936,3685,202,4933,4934,3495],"class_list":["post-2573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-airbnb","tag-brian-chesky","tag-business","tag-chief-executive-officer-ceo","tag-coceo","tag-company-culture","tag-corporate-culture","tag-dropbox","tag-executives","tag-goals","tag-jensen-huang","tag-leadership","tag-leadership-advice","tag-meeting","tag-meetings","tag-nvidia","tag-quarter","tag-rule","tag-shared","tag-simple","tag-southwest-airlines","tag-time-management","tag-turn"],"yoast_head":"\nDropbox co-CEO has just shared the simple rule he follows for when to turn down a meeting - Finance News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dropbox co-CEO has just shared the simple rule he follows for when to turn down a meeting - Finance News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Meetings have become a constan…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Finance News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-18T17:11:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ashraf-Alkarmi-co-CEO-1-copy.jpg?w=2048\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u4f5c\u8005\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 \u5206\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2573#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2573\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e\"},\"headline\":\"Dropbox co-CEO has just shared the simple rule he follows for when to turn down a meeting\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-18T17:11:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2573\"},\"wordCount\":829,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2573#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Ashraf-Alkarmi-co-CEO-1-copy.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Airbnb\",\"Brian Chesky\",\"business\",\"chief executive officer (CEO)\",\"coCEO\",\"company culture\",\"corporate culture\",\"dropbox\",\"Executives\",\"Goals\",\"Jensen Huang\",\"Leadership\",\"leadership advice\",\"meeting\",\"meetings\",\"Nvidia\",\"quarter\",\"rule\",\"shared\",\"simple\",\"Southwest Airlines\",\"time management\",\"turn\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Finance News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2573#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2573\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2573\",\"name\":\"Dropbox co-CEO has just shared the simple rule he follows for when to turn down a meeting - Finance News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2573#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2573#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Ashraf-Alkarmi-co-CEO-1-copy.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-18T17:11:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2573#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2573\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2573#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Ashraf-Alkarmi-co-CEO-1-copy.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Ashraf-Alkarmi-co-CEO-1-copy.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?p=2573#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9875\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dropbox co-CEO has just shared the simple rule he follows for when to turn down a meeting\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/\",\"name\":\"Finance News\",\"description\":\"Just another Finance News site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vaultinsider.top\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dropbox co-CEO has just shared the simple rule he follows for when to turn down a meeting - Finance News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573","og_locale":"zh_CN","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dropbox co-CEO has just shared the simple rule he follows for when to turn down a meeting - Finance News","og_description":"Meetings have become a constan…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573","og_site_name":"Finance News","article_published_time":"2026-08-18T17:11:54+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ashraf-Alkarmi-co-CEO-1-copy.jpg?w=2048","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"\u4f5c\u8005":"admin","\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4":"4 \u5206"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#\/schema\/person\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e"},"headline":"Dropbox co-CEO has just shared the simple rule he follows for when to turn down a meeting","datePublished":"2026-08-18T17:11:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573"},"wordCount":829,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ashraf-Alkarmi-co-CEO-1-copy.jpg","keywords":["Airbnb","Brian Chesky","business","chief executive officer (CEO)","coCEO","company culture","corporate culture","dropbox","Executives","Goals","Jensen Huang","Leadership","leadership advice","meeting","meetings","Nvidia","quarter","rule","shared","simple","Southwest Airlines","time management","turn"],"articleSection":["Finance News"],"inLanguage":"zh-Hans","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573","name":"Dropbox co-CEO has just shared the simple rule he follows for when to turn down a meeting - Finance News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ashraf-Alkarmi-co-CEO-1-copy.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-18T17:11:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#\/schema\/person\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"zh-Hans","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"zh-Hans","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ashraf-Alkarmi-co-CEO-1-copy.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ashraf-Alkarmi-co-CEO-1-copy.jpg","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=2573#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9875","item":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dropbox co-CEO has just shared the simple rule he follows for when to turn down a meeting"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/","name":"Finance News","description":"Just another Finance News site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"zh-Hans"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/#\/schema\/person\/ed40724a3e5d482ce66781a042c3c31e","name":"admin","url":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}