151: The #1 Team Building Skill You're Missing to Lead Effectively | Brendan Rogers

The secret to making your team more engaged, more productive and far less likely to leave? Intentional and focused 1 on 1 meetings. Today’s guest learned this lesson the hard way.  

Brendan Rogers is a leadership coach who used to believe that great teams were built through occasional team meetings and annual performance reviews. But when the world went remote during the pandemic? He was surprised to realize that without consistent, structured one-on-one conversations, leaders lose control, performance drops, and teams fall apart. 

If you’re a leader who wants to elevate your team’s performance without micromanaging, this episode is packed with actionable insights.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why one-on-one meetings are the foundation of high-performing teams
• The three essential questions every leader should ask in weekly check-ins
• How canceling one-on-ones destroys trust and morale
• The right way to give and receive feedback to foster growth
• How to run effective team meetings that drive action instead of wasting time

Timestamps:

00:01 – Introduction to Brendan Rogers

00:25 – Why leaders must invest deliberate time in their employees

02:40 – The moment Brendan realized one-on-one meetings change everything

05:48 – How COVID forced leaders to rethink employee engagement

06:22 – The myth that structure kills creativity (it actually fuels it)

09:06 – Brendan’s three-step framework for effective one-on-ones

12:30 – Should feedback happen in one-on-one meetings or separately?

16:13 – The damaging effect of constantly canceling one-on-one meetings

19:21 – How leaders can get better at giving and receiving feedback

22:14 – Why modeling how you receive feedback matters as a leader

26:44 – The simple act of following up on feedback to build trust

31:33 – A small but powerful piece of feedback that changed Brendan’s career

34:05 – The number one roadblock stopping leaders from scaling their teams

36:39 – How to get better at saying no as a leader

39:51 – How to increase performance in a team setting beyond one-on-ones

43:45 – Why great leaders aren’t born—they’re designed

46:57 – Final advice: There’s always a better way to lead

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• Brendan Rogers’ website: LeaderByDesign.au
• Leader by Design Podcast: https://podcast.leaderbydesign.au/ 
• Follow Brendan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bjrogers01/ 
• Cultural Leadership Podcast: https://podcast.thecultureofleadership.com/ 
• Gallup Study on One-on-One Meetings: https://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/174197/managers-focus-performance-engagement.aspx
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni: https://a.co/d/5a5Q8UG 

Podcast Contact Information:

• Uplevel yourself and your team with our trainings: www.learnit.com    
• Email us: podcast@learnit.com   
• Follow Damon on LinkedIn and Instagram for more updates!