Once one of my peers and I were commiserating about how our calendars were overflowing with meetings. I mentioned I was cutting down on meetings that didn’t have agendas and specific objectives because I wanted to make sure I had time to meet with my staff one on one. He looked at me oddly and very condescendingly replied, “I don’t have time to meet with my staff one on one. They should know what they are doing.”

His reply shocked me to say the least. Why? Because I don’t meet with my staff to tell them what to do or how to do their jobs. I meet with them to listen to them. To find out how things are going for them and what challenges they are having right now in their jobs.

Listening to people.

In our meetings, I make it clear that I am only there to listen. If they want me to do something or help them or give them feedback, they need to ask for that. I view these one on one meetings as an opportunity to provide support and mentoring to my employees. To meet them where they are.

When I meet with one of my managers, I hear about the morale of their team, the challenges their team is facing, the wins they’ve experienced. They talk through employee problems using me as a sounding board. When appropriate, I give suggestions or refer them to someone I think can give them better feedback or support than I can.

For me, these one on one meetings are the best investment I can make in their future – and my own. When you tell folks what to do instead of supporting them in figuring it out themselves, you are not supporting the value they bring to the table. And you are actually making your own job harder.  The conversations we have in our one on ones build bench strength and grow my staff members into their next role. And the best part? When my employees are successful, they make me shine.