원온원(1:1 미팅)이 리더에게 가르쳐 준 3가지

Many leaders I coach often bring up the exact same topic: 1-on-1 meetings. At first, most leaders are skeptical. They think, "Do I really need to meet them separately?" or "Isn't a team meeting enough?" However, once they actually start doing 1-on-1s, they almost always say the same thing: "I learned so much more than I expected." Today, I want to share the three major realizations that leaders experience after implementing 1-on-1 meetings.

1. "Everyone is different."

We often live under the unconscious assumption that others think like we do. We think, "They probably see it the way I do," "They should understand this by now," or "Isn't this just common sense?" But the moment you start 1-on-1s, you realize how wrong that assumption is. People view the exact same project from entirely different perspectives. They process the same feedback in completely different ways. What motivates them at work varies wildly. While one person is driven by growth and learning, another gains energy from recognition and relationships. Someone else might perform best only when they have a sense of stability and clear direction.

Ultimately, 1-on-1s teach leaders a crucial lesson: "My standards are not the universal standard." As this realization sinks in, leaders stop seeing team members merely by their "roles" and start seeing them as "individuals."

2. "Everyone expresses themselves differently."

Being quiet doesn't mean they aren't performing. In any team, there are usually two types of people: those who loudly showcase their work, and those who quietly hold down the fort. People who speak up in meetings and clearly pitch their achievements naturally stand out. On the other hand, those who are quiet and uncomfortable with self-PR can easily become invisible, even when they are working incredibly hard. 1-on-1 meetings bridge this gap. When you speak with someone privately, you naturally discover how much work they are actually handling, how deeply they think through problems, and what results they are quietly delivering.

What a leader gains from a 1-on-1 is not a simple status report. It is the ability to understand each team member's unique language and communication style. Once you grasp this, your evaluations change, and your communication evolves. You learn how to praise and offer feedback in a way that resonates with each specific person.

3. "Everyone struggles with different things."

A leader's role is not to fix everything, but to walk alongside. Every team member carries their own set of challenges, and those struggles are far more diverse than you might think. One person might be overwhelmed by an excessive workload. Another might be struggling because their direction is unclear. Someone else might feel uncomfortable due to interpersonal friction with a colleague, while another feels drained by a sense of stagnation. The problem is that these struggles rarely surface in team meetings or casual daily conversations. People do not easily open up about their difficulties—especially to their boss.

However, as regular 1-on-1s stack up and psychological safety is established, team members slowly begin to share their real stories. This allows the leader to stop being someone who just cleans up after a crisis, and instead become someone who helps guide the way before the struggles pile up. The key here is that leaders don't need to solve every single problem. More often than not, what team members want is not a perfect solution, but simply a leader who listens and thinks through the problem with them.

1-on-1s Ultimately Grow the Leader

1-on-1 meetings are not just for the team members. In fact, they are a time where the leader learns and grows the most. Knowing intellectually that everyone is different, expresses things differently, and struggles with different things is one thing. Experiencing and internalizing it through 1-on-1s is a completely different story. Leadership begins with understanding people. And a 1-on-1 meeting is the simplest, most powerful tool to make that understanding happen.

If you haven't started yet, try sitting down with just one person for 30 minutes this week. That 30-minute conversation could be the start of a total transformation in your leadership. 🙂