Template
1:1 Structure
A repeatable structure for one-to-ones people actually look forward to — built on curiosity, listening, and resisting the urge to answer.
The 1:1 is where most of your leadership actually happens: it's the room where the hats get worn, feedback gets exchanged and development gets coached. The mindset matters more than the agenda — it's just curiosity, it's just listening, it's just pushing back that urge to jump in with the answer.
A structure that works
Their agenda first
Open with "What's on your mind?" and let them set the direction. Your topics come second.
Check the person, not just the work
On a regular cadence, run the Happiness Check — happiness score, three-year question, favourite and least favourite things.
Coach before you advise
Questions first; recommendations only once they've done their own thinking. If the coaching hat isn't right for this moment, name the hat you're switching to.
Close with commitments
Both sides leave with something measurable and time-bound — and they open the next 1:1.
If every 1:1 becomes a status update, cancel the format and start again: status lives in the operating rhythm. The 1:1 is for the person.
Source / credit
Outstride original
Related capabilities
Related tools
Work with Ben
Want help installing this?
Outstride OS is the system behind Ben's founder coaching — pre-seed to Series C. If this page names something you are living right now, start a conversation.