" There are two major types that you need to identify: players and pawns. The simple distinction between the two types is that players want something out of the meeting. This is their incentive to participate. They’ll be leaning forward, actively nodding, barely able to hold themselves back from spilling their agenda all over the table. Pawns are either silent or instruments of running the meeting. In either case, they’re adding very little to the meeting and can be removed from strategic consideration. The term pawns is not intended to be derogatory, of course. Pawns very well might be running your company, but in meetings, they don’t contribute . . . it’s just not their key skill. "

― Michael Lopp , Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager