[lwb]

This articulated for me one of my biggest frustrations with traditional 1:1s with managers I've had throughout my career: by these people I want to be coached, not mentored.

Most 1:1s have been driven by me, at the explicit behest of the manager. "I'm here for you" and "this is your time" are/were common phrases. I found this particularly annoying as a new grad when I really didn't know what I didn't know and just wasn't getting a lot of mileage out of those conversations.

[animesh]

Against the common sense, I started talking a little bit more when the 1-1 mentee is at a unknown unknown situation. I tell them they should look fwd to a,b and c if they are to look for a direction and I invite them to setup a further specific 1-1 to discuss this, if that catches their eye. If not, again will let them explore and then comeback with other options and so on.