Dave Montez: 1:1s, Trust, Compassionate Engagement | Work 20XX #04

Do you know the biggest challenge your team faces outside work right now? Be sure to ask and listen. And watch PayPal’s Dave Montez on the power of the one-on-one. Welcome to Work 20XX. A show focused on work as we continue to navigate these transformational times. I am your host, Jeff Frick. Whether you’ve been on our Work 20XX journey from the first step or just joining us now, you can quickly grasp a consistent theme—transitioning more work activities to asynchronous and reducing the number of face-to-face meetings. We’ve been advocating the investment in automation of routine tasks and powering self-service as the default way to find information. The reason for this ruthless prioritization is simple—to put people at the top of the list! Not human resources, but the people, with all their subtle and not-so-subtle nuances, interests, imperfections, and unique perspectives.

Invest your most precious resources, your time and attention, into the people who will have a significant impact on the success of your endeavor. An engaged team will deliver better results.

How do you create and nurture an engaged team? How do you measure their outcome when not working in person together?

In Episode 4, we dive into the art of the one-on-one, with a master of the art, PayPal’s Chief Audit Executive Dave Montez. Full disclosure, I’ve known Dave for decades, and a year ago he shared his measurement technique of over-indexing on one-on-ones, in a way I’d never heard before.

Again, pulling from lessons shared by Darren Murph, Meg Bear, and Ryan Anderson, the best way to engage people is to ask them questions and listen. And listen to the question behind the question, and then do something about it. And the best way to really understand your people is to get to know them.

And Dave doesn’t just talk the talk—he spends a minimum of two and a half hours per day with individual members from their globally distributed team of over 80 people.

Without a doubt, Dave sets the standard for anyone looking to invest time in developing their people. In this segment, he shares some of his processes, and more importantly, the results of what he calls the ‘compassionate engagement.’ You won’t be disappointed.

So, without further delay, my conversation with Dave Montez.

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