Coaching practices for Talking About Career in One on Ones

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Talking About Career in One on Ones, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• Every single one-on-one we only ever talk about this week’s deliverables, and we never once zoom out to where they’re headed
• My one-on-ones sprawl and end with nothing decided
• When I talk to people in the field they give me the polished official version, and I walk away no clearer on what the day-to-day actually feels like
• Someone asks "so what are you looking for?" and I ramble out something vague and apologetic
• The one-on-ones I do across a desk feel stiff, and the honest stuff and the good ideas never quite come out face to face

Practices that may help

1. Spend real time on growth, not just tasks
   Regularly leave the weeds and talk about career, skills, and where they’re headed.
   Effective One-on-Ones, Made Practical
2. Effective One-on-Ones, Made Practical
   An effective one-on-one is a recurring, protected meeting that belongs to your report: they own the agenda, and your job is to listen, unblock, and support their growth — not to run a status update. The relational mechanisms (regular contact, voice, support) are well grounded; the specific cadence and format are practitioner craft built on top of them.
3. Set the Goal — establish what the conversation is for
   Begin every coaching conversation by clarifying what the person wants to achieve in this session.
   The GROW Model: Coaching Conversations That Actually Move People
4. Listen for what isn’t in the job description
   Focus on the texture of day-to-day work, not the official narrative.
   Informational Interviews: Career Research That Builds Your Network
5. Practise your story before you need it
   Have a clear, genuine two-minute narrative about who you are and where you’re headed.
   Informational Interviews: Career Research That Builds Your Network
6. Walking meetings and conversations
   Move one-on-ones and brainstorms onto a walk instead of a table.
   Walking for Creativity
7. Make one-on-ones genuinely theirs, not yours
   One-on-ones that serve the manager’s agenda demonstrate the opposite of caring personally.
   Caring Personally: The Foundation of Radical Candor
8. Make feedback flow in both directions
   Give timely, specific feedback — and ask for it on your own management.
   Effective One-on-Ones, Made Practical
9. Let the report own the agenda
   It’s their meeting — they bring what matters to them, and you adapt to it.
   Effective One-on-Ones, Made Practical
10. Listen far more than you talk
    Aim to talk a fraction of the time; your silence is what makes space for the real issues.
    Effective One-on-Ones, Made Practical

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