The LeaderCues Blog
Notes on attention, memory, and managing people well.
Honest essays for engineering managers and team leads. No frameworks sold here — just things I wish someone had told me earlier.
- 7 min read
Why one on ones get awkward (and what context has to do with it)
Most awkward 1-1s are not a personality problem. They are a context problem. How forgetting creates the silence, and how to fix it before the meeting starts.
Read → - 8 min read
One on one meeting notes: what to write down (and what not to)
A practical guide to useful 1-1 notes: what belongs in private and shared records, what to leave out, and a filled-in example.
Read → - 8 min read
A skip level meeting template that gets past the polite version
The exact skip level meeting template I use: what to send before, the six sections in order, a real filled-in example, and what to write down after.
Read → - 8 min read
Eleven one on one mistakes I made as an engineering manager
The 1-1 mistakes that quietly wreck trust: status theatre, cancelled meetings, feedback saved for reviews, and the fix for each one.
Read → - 7 min read
A one on one meeting agenda you can actually keep to
A 30 minute 1-1 agenda broken into five parts, with timings, what to prepare before, and how to adapt it for new hires, seniors and hard weeks.
Read → - 8 min read
Skip level meeting questions that are worth the awkwardness
38 skip level meeting questions grouped by what you are trying to learn, plus how to open the meeting so people actually answer honestly.
Read → - 9 min read
How to run one on one meetings
A practical guide for managers. Cadence, preparation, listening, commitments, and the mistakes that quietly kill 1-1s.
Read → - 8 min read
One on one meeting questions that get people talking
45 questions for 1-1s with employees, grouped by what you are trying to learn, with notes on when each group works and when it backfires.
Read → - 7 min read
Your first one on one with a new employee
What the first 1-1 is for, ten questions that work in week one, what not to do, and how the first month of conversations should unfold.
Read → - 7 min read
The 1-1 template I actually use every week
A simple 1-1 template for engineering managers. Four sections, two minutes of prep, and the reasons behind each part.
Read → - 5 min read
Forgetting what your reports tell you has a cost
Your team notices when you forget important context, and small misses slowly reduce trust.
Read → - 6 min read
Attention is the real currency of management
Managers do not run out of hours first. They run out of attention, and this changes how you plan your week.
Read → - 4 min read
I stopped trusting my memory for 1-1s. Here is what changed.
A small habit changed how my team felt about our 1-1s and how I felt before them.
Read → - 5 min read
The follow-up problem managers underestimate
Small dropped promises reduce trust because people remember what you said you would do.
Read → - 6 min read
Context decay: why your team feels unheard by month six
A new manager often starts strong. The decline begins when context grows faster than memory.
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