Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] How do you ever expect to maximize the performance of your employees and deliver consistent results without spending deliberate and focused time with them?
[00:00:10] That's a question I should have asked myself much more often over the years. The short answer is you can't. And the solution? Well, it's simpler than you think. Welcome to the High Impact Leader Podcast, a leadership podcast for business owners and leaders who want self managing teams, stronger accountability and scalable performance without carrying everything themselves. If you're ready to focus on leadership design, not just effort, you're in the right place. G'. Day. I'm Brendan Rogers. Let's talk about the leadership conversation that can transform your team performance and why you're probably not having it. Today, I want to share with you why mastering dedicated leadership time with each team member is is the single biggest game changer for business owners and leaders.
[00:00:59] I'm going to back this up with real research data and I'll share my top three dos and don'ts at the end. So let's dive in. Here's the reality. Most business owners and leaders expect their team to perform at their best, deliver consistent results and hit targets. But they're not spending deliberate, focused time with their people.
[00:01:21] They're too busy. They're chasing the next sale and they're buried in admin and they wonder why performance isn't where they want it to be. And the truth is, you can't expect to maximize employee performance without investing in the relationship. That's the problem most leaders face.
[00:01:39] But here's what most leaders don't realize.
[00:01:42] They often believe they have an accountability problem, when in reality, they usually have a conversation problem.
[00:01:49] Every system in your business gets reviewed. Every financial result gets reviewed. Yet the people responsible for those results often don't get the regular intentional development conversations that they need to grow and perform at their best.
[00:02:05] Accountability doesn't happen because you ask for happens because you consistently create the conversations that make ownership possible.
[00:02:15] Trust is built intentionally.
[00:02:18] Clarity comes through conversation.
[00:02:22] When you skip the dedicated leadership time, you're not just missing a meeting, you're missing a design element that makes high performance possible.
[00:02:31] Now let me share a personal story that highlights just how important these focused conversations can be.
[00:02:37] Back in the year 2000, after the Y2K bug had been squashed, I was seconded to the largest project undertaken in the company I was working for.
[00:02:47] The goal was to centralise all customer service and back office functions from around Australia into a single location.
[00:02:54] My role was to run a series of workshops with senior staff to learn and document the various processes across the organisation.
[00:03:02] On one hand I was super excited to get the opportunity. On the other hand, I was crapping myself. I felt way out of my depth. I'd never run workshops before, let alone with senior people in the organization.
[00:03:16] There was also the extra pressure that some of these people would likely be out of a job at some point in the future, so I wasn't sure what mindset they'd be in.
[00:03:24] What got me through these three months of personal growth on steroids?
[00:03:28] It was the weekly one on one meetings I had with the project manager.
[00:03:33] Through those one on one meetings he coached me, he listened to me, provided support, helped me develop, challenged me and built my confidence to the point where I knew I could do a great job.
[00:03:44] He made it clear that he knew I would do a great job, which is why he wanted me on the project team.
[00:03:51] All this combined created the level of trust that ensured I felt comfortable going to him for help and advice at any time.
[00:03:59] So how did I go? Well, I delivered within the time frames, got everything documented and the information was used as a basis for the training moving forward and I continued to get offered fantastic opportunities within the company.
[00:04:13] This experience taught me so much about the power of spending deliberate and focused time with people and it gave me the fundamental belief that I use regularly with my clients and when I speak and run workshops, the best outcome is always on the other side of a genuine conversation.
[00:04:31] My own experience convinced me years ago, but I never want you to take my word for it. Let's look at what millions of employees have actually told researchers.
[00:04:40] Gallup, which is a global analytics and advisory firm, found in their research across millions of employees that employees who have regular dedicated conversations with their managers are three times more likely to be engaged at work.
[00:04:54] Three times more likely. Highly engaged employees don't just work harder, they take greater ownership, make better decisions and consistently contribute more more to team performance.
[00:05:07] The same research found that doing regular focused conversations increased productivity and profitability by 20%. It lowered turnover, reduced surprise days off, and there were half as many safety issues.
[00:05:22] There was another study done by the Microsoft Workplace analytics team and reported in the Harvard Business Review.
[00:05:28] It found that employees who got little to no dedicated time with their manager were more likely to be disengaged.
[00:05:35] On the flip side, those who got twice the number of these conversations with their manager relative to their peers are 67% less likely to be disengaged.
[00:05:45] In the same study, they identified what happens when a manager doesn't meet with employees at all. They found employees in this situation are four times as likely to be disengaged as individual contributors as a whole, and two times as likely to view leadership more unfavourably than compared to those who meet with their managers regularly.
[00:06:08] So in very, very simple terms, the study revealed, not only does a lack of dedicated leadership time cause disengagement, it also makes employees think all the company's leaders are poor. Now let me share what some big companies have achieved.
[00:06:24] Adobe and GE both implemented having their managers do fortnightly one on one meetings. Adobe saw a 30% reduction in voluntary turnover.
[00:06:34] GE was able to drive a five fold productivity increase within 12 weeks.
[00:06:39] I don't know a business owner on this earth who wouldn't be happy with that sort of improvement in their own business.
[00:06:46] So what's the best way to spend deliberate and focused time with your employees each week? Well, the answer is one on one meetings done well, one on one meetings become far more than just another meeting.
[00:06:59] They become dedicated leadership conversations where accountability, trust and performance are intentionally built.
[00:07:07] One on one meetings are the most effective leadership tool for maximizing the performance of your employees and delivering consistent results.
[00:07:16] It doesn't matter if you have your employees in the office working from home or you've got a hybrid working environment.
[00:07:22] One on one meetings are the most powerful tool you have as a leader to maximise the performance of your employees and your business.
[00:07:32] And in my own experience and the experiences of my clients, one on one meetings are even more important in work from home and hybrid office environments.
[00:07:42] Now, I know what some of you might be thinking. I don't have the time for this. Well, here's the reality. If you don't invest 30 minutes now, you'll spend hours later fixing misunderstandings, disengagement and poor performance.
[00:07:56] The time you think you're saving by skipping these conversations, it's being consumed by reactive management, firefighting and the fallout from people who feel unconnected to your vision.
[00:08:08] And what about this?
[00:08:10] My team should already know what to do.
[00:08:13] Well, let me be clear. These conversations aren't about checking work. They're not about reporting. They're about developing capability, judgment, confidence and ownership. Your team members can know exactly what to do and still underperform if they don't feel seen, challenged and developed. The quality of your team will rarely exceed the quality of the conversations you consistently create.
[00:08:40] That's why one on one meetings aren't another task on your calendar. They're one of the ways great leadership is designed.
[00:08:49] Now, before I wrap up, let me share my top three do's and don'ts. For getting the most out of one on one meetings.
[00:08:57] The number one do Be consistent.
[00:09:01] Have your one on one meetings at the same time each week.
[00:09:04] Build them into your calendar and protect that time.
[00:09:08] Do number two come prepared. Have a clear intent for each meeting. What do you want to achieve? What does your team member want to achieve?
[00:09:19] And do number three, listen more than you talk. These meetings are about your team member, not you.
[00:09:26] Create the space for them to share, challenge and grow.
[00:09:31] And here's my three Don'ts. Don't Number one don't make it a status update. This isn't a reporting meeting, it's a development conversation.
[00:09:40] Don't number two don't skip them when you're busy. That's when you need them most.
[00:09:46] And don't number three don't dominate the conversation. Remember this is their time.
[00:09:53] It's time for some reflection. If you're not having regular one on one meetings with your team, ask yourself which team member needs my attention most right now?
[00:10:05] What leadership conversation have I been avoiding?
[00:10:08] If I invested 30 deliberate minutes every week, what could change over the next six months?
[00:10:15] And what results could we achieve if I made this a non negotiable part of my leadership rhythm? And remember, the best outcome is always on the other side of a genuine conversation.
[00:10:28] The High Impact Leader Club is where we go deeper. It's the place for leaders who want to design their leadership intentionally. Inside the club, I work with business owners and leaders to redesign their leadership approach so they can reduce leadership loads, improve decision making and build self managing teams with real accountability.
[00:10:48] If you want to be notified when we open the doors to our next member cohort, you can go to LeaderByDesign AUClub. And if this podcast is helping you, I'd love it if you could follow or subscribe. It helps more leaders like you find us.
[00:11:03] That's it for today. Thanks for listening to the High Impact Leader podcast. I'm Brendan Rogers and until next time, design your leadership. Build your team. Lead with impact.
