Do you remember a bad meeting? I suspect that you do. We have all been in them; a time waste land that dragged on for hours with no clear outcomes, started late, too many people and too many rat holes. As a result some leaders will slide out the door like quick silver at the mention of meetings and possess a pathological distaste for meetings. Other leaders have never seen a meeting invite they did not like, seeing meeting attendance as a badge of honor and a way to find purpose. Of course the real need for meetings lies in between these two extremes and will vary by location, process and people. 
However, no matter how many meetings you need to hold – they must all be well run or good meetings. To really know how many meetings you need first you must have good meetings and good meetings starts well before the meeting even starts.
As a leader you will be called on to run meetings on many occasions and of many types, routine review meetings to problem solving meeting, to planning meetings and communication meetings. You will be required to lead and attend meetings of all these types.
Before the meeting the following should be know and shared with the group on the meeting invitation:
– Is the goal or purpose of the meeting clear?
– What type of meeting is it?
– What is the agenda of the meeting? Rough time for each section of the meeting agenda which give the total time. Set less time that you think need.
– Who needs to be there? Really? OK, but honor them all by being ready for the meeting.
– Who is the chair of the meeting?
– What pre work is required by all attendees?

Start the meeting on time, start without the laggards, they will miss the decisions made and will know for next time that they will need to be on time. Follow the agenda and if the meeting is drifting away from the task at hand it is the chairs responsibility to bring it back on target. The chair should normally be the senior person but not always. It also the chairs responsibility to make sure that everyone has input in to the meeting, to make a contribution. There should be no free rides in a meeting, other than communication meetings, if it is a one way meeting.
If you cannot escape a rat hole then set that issues aside and make it clear that it needs to be addressed on its own terms. One meeting trap to avoid is the interminable action list review. If you have a growing action list that is not being addressed take it on a project, bring the team together separately and address.
A good leader knows how many meetings are enough meetings for the structure to run an organization but not so many that there is no times for those in organization to get any work done. And remember many people like bad meetings; it can be a break from real work, time to socialize and an opportunity for some to take out a hobby horse for a ride. So, stick to your meeting agenda and make sure you know the purpose and type of meeting you are having – these changes alone with make your work life more productive and bearable. These will be good meetings that get WORK done and is that not what meetings are for?