How to have incredibly productive 1:1s with your manager

Those “boring” weekly 1:1s with your manager? They matter a lot more for your career than you think.

Because what you choose to focus on shows how “ready” you are for the next level.

If you’re like many Chinese professionals I coach, you walk in with a checklist:

“I finished X, I’m working on Y, I’ll start Z next week.”

Showing your progress line by line feels like you’re showing your value.

But in fact, all you’re showing is that you’re obsessively focused on tasks, not outcomes.

When I led a team of 20, I constantly had to remind my junior direct reports: stop using 1:1s for status reports.

Our time together is valuable, and status reports are the equivalent of flushing it down the toilet. They’re the feeling of “this could have been an email”, personified.

When you focus on tasks, the real goal of a 1:1 gets completely ignored. That goal is alignment. And without alignment, trust quietly erodes.

What you’re missing is alignment in four areas: Expectations, Priorities, Resources, and Development.

In this episode, we'll cover how to align on each area.

—Links—

Career Coaching: https://www.mrjonathanoffice.com/career-coaching 

Job Search Coaching: https://www.mrjonathanoffice.com/job-search-coaching 

Read my letters: https://mrjonathanoffice.substack.com/ 

—Socials—

Xiaohongshu: https://www.xiaohongshu.com/user/profile/5fc40fdf000000000100a66b

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanrhyzli/ 

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