How to Support, Empower and Connect in 1:1s

In my work with leaders, teams, and high performers, one truth keeps coming up:

The conversation is the change.

Not the follow-up actions. Not the plan. Not the strategy doc.

It’s how someone feels in the moment they bring something real to you and how you meet it.

This week, I ran a workshop called The Human Side of Leadership: How to Support, Empower and Connect in 1:1s. And what we explored together was this:

That leadership - the kind that builds trust and resilience - lives in everyday conversations.
And that conversations, like any skill, can be learned.

We looked at how to:

• Ask better questions that build safety and clarity

• Stay present when things get emotional, awkward, or unclear

• Create moments of trust, not just task updates

• Use conversation to switch on the problem-solving part of someone else’s brain

Because here’s the mistake I see so often, especially in caring, high-capacity leaders:
They move too quickly to the fix.

But if the person you’re leading doesn’t feel heard, seen, or safe?
They won’t be ready for the solution, no matter how good it is.
They won’t trust the plan if they don’t trust that you get them.

The real skill is learning how to support someone to get there themselves.
To believe in themselves again.
To reconnect with what they care about.
To choose the next step because it makes sense to them, not just to you.