One-to-one coaching meetings text
As your leader takes action toward their development goals most leaders find it helpful to have regular one-to-one meetings with you. You wanna support, encourage, be a good thought partner, and help him stand accountable. But what specifically should you cover in these meetings? Given their demanding work schedules, generally, I find leaders prefer some predictability about the agenda for your one-to-one meetings. But we, coaches, also need to adapt to what our leaders need most and what works best for them on that day. We need to be both flexible and predictable. So here's a flexible, predictable template. You can adapt to your leader's needs. It has four parts. Start up, check up, follow up, end up. First, start up. Start from the very beginning. Up, bring an upbeat, uplifting presence. Start up. Make a strong, positive first impression every time. Be a great part of your leader's day. Who know what they've been dealing with since the last time you spoke? Look and sound like someone who looks forward to seeing them. Say it and show it. Second, check up. Something important might have changed in their world since you met last time. Changes at work, changes in life. So learn what's on their mind and adapt to what matters most for them. Ask questions like these. How are you doing this week? Anything new since last time? What's the best use of our time today for you? Third, follow up. It would usually make sense to discuss how things went on their development priorities since the last time you met. You'll typically end meetings with specific actions they can try before next time. So follow up on those. Were you able to try and of those actions? How did it go? What went well, what didn't, and why? Then help them prioritize steps they should take between now and your next meeting. Discuss what should your leader keep doing. What's something new they can try to do? Or do differently? Help your leader lead the meeting with concrete steps to build on that progress they've made so far. Fourth and last, end up. At the end of the meeting, be intentional about your emotional presence. Leave your leader feeling up about themselves and you. Not neutral, not down. You made a strong, positive first impression. Reinforce it with a strong, positive last impression. End up. Look and sound like someone who's enthused to work with your leader and energized about next steps with them. You want them to feel enthused and energized about next steps with you. Also, finish your meeting at an up note to help them head into their next meeting on an up note. In fact, try to finish at least a couple minutes early so they can transition comfortably to whatever's next on their calendar. Confirm your next one-to-one with your leader and say you really enjoyed meeting with them and you look forward to next time. In your one-to-one coaching meetings, this flexible, predictable approach is designed to help your leaders, but also to remind us coaches. You love your job, you love working with your leaders, and you show it. Add value on their terms every time from start to finish.
