Leadership doesn’t change overnight. But it does change, one habit at a time.
You don’t have to wait for the next programme or the next day to start. You can start with one small shift, practised consistently, in the moments that matter most. Like your next 1:1.
Regulate yourself first
Before you sit down for a 1:1, stop. Go for a walk. Clear your head. Check in with yourself.
If you walk in stressed, distracted, or running on fumes, that energy shows up in the room, whether you mean it to or not. People pick up on it. And it sets the tone before you’ve even said a word.
Regulated leaders create safer conversations. So before you open that door, ask yourself: am I actually ready to be present for this person right now?
Start with development, not actions
Most 1:1s start the same way: “So, where are we on X?” Straight into tasks, updates and to-do lists.
Try flipping it. Open with their development instead. Ask what they’re learning, what they’re finding hard, where they want to grow. Actions can wait five minutes.
This one switch changes everything. It tells someone: I see you as a person, not just a set of outputs. And that sets a completely different tone for the rest of the conversation.
Ask what’s getting in their way
Two simple questions, asked genuinely: What’s getting in your way right now? How can I support you?
Not “how’s it going”, people default to “fine.” Ask something with a bit more depth, and actually wait for the answer. This is where the real conversation starts.
Let them see you’re human too
Talk about your own mistakes. Not as a lecture, just as a fact. You’ve got things wrong before. You’ll get things wrong again.
When leaders hide behind perfection, people hide too – their struggles, their questions, their honest thoughts. When you show you’re human, it gives everyone else permission to be human as well.
The habit, not the hack
None of this is complicated. It won’t show up on a leadership competency framework. But small habits, practised consistently, are what actually shape culture.
So today, before your next 1:1, take the walk. Start with them, not the task list. Ask what’s in their way. And be honest about the fact that you don’t always have it all figured out either.
Small habits, big culture shifts, it’s what we do. Explore our leadership programmes to build more of them into your team.
