If you scroll through LinkedIn, it will look like everyone is an executive coach. That's not entirely wrong, as mass layoffs have led many leaders to hang out a shingle as a coach, even if just temporarily, until they find their next role. But let's be real: not all executive coaches are created equal. Sorting true executive coaches from self-proclaimed leadership experts can be difficult, particularly since AI has made it easier than ever for practitioners to rapidly produce polished marketing content that doesn't always reflect genuine expertise.
I see this daily in veterinary medicine, where high burnout rates cost the sector upwards of $2 billion per year. It's a challenging environment with long hours, stressful workloads and patients that can't even tell you what's wrong. But I've found that the best way to boost performance and even increase capacity with maxed-out teams is to address the underlying operational issues.
To successfully repair after a mistake, you need to acknowledge and name the mistake, validate the other person's feelings and viewpoint, and create a plan for the specific actions you will take to prevent this mistake from occurring again.
"I always wanted this job -- I worked towards it," he said. "If you want to climb the ladder, you've got to try things that are outside your comfort zone, which I certainly have. That means I've made mistakes along the way."
Effective 1:1s with a direct manager work best when treated as a recurring, IC‑owned ritual: you drive the agenda, balance business updates with development, and always walk away with clear next steps and expectations. The playbook below uses my notes to create a repeatable system anyone can use during 1:1 direct report meetings to build trust, get support, and progress career.