Besides normal 1:1s, there's also pathological ones... The worst 1:1s I've seen is when the IC is aligned and capable and driven, but the manager is wildly mis

Besides normal 1:1s, there's also pathological ones... The worst 1:1s I've seen is when the IC is aligned and capable and driven, but the manager is wildly misaligned/erratic in an actively counterproductive barrier way. Like a lot of crazy bits corporate dysfunction, it might not sound like too big a deal in abstract, until you see a particular real-world example of it, and how harmful it is to the IC. People go into the meeting upbeat and on the right track, and come out of the meeting with looks of dread, and nearing tears or shaking, from the inexplicable brick wall. Then keep repeating that pattern, for each routine 1:1. Incidentally, in two instances in which I was close enough to intercede, it eventually turned out that the manager with the bizarre behavior was being enabled/shielded by someone else, for complicated reasons that included personal trust/obligation relationships, and sometimes CYA. This wasn't immediately obvious, and took time-consuming digging, until the inexplicable is partly explained. In situations like those, IMHO, the most urgent priority is to protect the IC's health (and career), even if you don't know exactly what's going on. Then, understand and see what can be done to help the manager, while in parallel rescuing whatever the work that everyone was supposed to be doing. I don't have enough experience with that to suggest methodology (and hopefully never again have occasion to figure it out).