During a coaching call with Kara, a leader shared a “horror” story we can all relate to. In a recent team meeting, they presented a recommendation for a new process that he needed feedback on. The approach was going to shape the direction of a several-month project, so the stakes were high. He walked the group through his thinking, explained the approach, and then turned to the team and asked, “Any thoughts?” And then nothing. The room went quiet, and he paused and looked around, waiting for someone to jump in. No one did, and after a moment, he moved on. The meeting continued, but it felt flat and unproductive, and it was clear that something hadn’t quite worked.
Stephanie was coaching a product manager at Google, Marcus, who was preparing to pitch a new health tech idea to his executives. He had done the work. The research was solid. The opportunity was real. And like many strong operators, his instinct was to lead with the facts. During his discovery process, Marcus had interviewed a nurse, Sarah, who shared something surprising: She logged into her system about 100 times per shift. Marcus dug deeper. Each login took about a minute… That’s more than an hour and a half in an 8-hour shift spent just logging in. That’s a compelling data point. But it's not enough. Data alone doesn’t carry weight unless people feel what it means. So we worked on how he delivered it. We didn't change the numbers. We just changed the experience of hearing them.
Stephanie was coaching a client, Lindsay, who was frustrated with one of her employees. The employee wasn’t looping in the right people at the right time. Lindsay’s conclusion was simple. “He’s just lazy. He doesn’t care if the right stakeholders are involved in the process.” So Stephanie asked her a different question. “What have you done to make him care?” She paused. “Well… I explained how important it was.” Voila! It was clear, logical, and direct… and yet completely insufficient on its own.
Most check-ins drift into the same tired patterns and scripts: Light chatter: “What’s going on?” Project updates: “How’s project X?” A half-hearted attempt to help: “Anything you need help on?” A vague attempt to connect: “Is there anything else on your mind that we should talk about?” Rushed, pushed or cancelled meetings Check-ins fall into these predictable habits because both parties show up and wing them. Clarity is non-existent. People don’t have a clear sense of why they’re there, what they should get out of the meeting, and how best to use the time. How often do you walk into these meetings with no agenda or sense of purpose? This is a wasted opportunity.