The Missed Meeting

Every week, millions of managers sit across from their direct reports and waste the single most powerful tool they have for driving performance, retention, and engagement.

The problem isn't your people. It's the meeting itself.

The Missed Meeting reveals why the typical one-on-one fails, and delivers a framework rooted in Self-Determination Theory to transform these conversations from calendar clutter into career-defining moments.

Drawing on the foundational research of Deci & Ryan and insights from Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review, organizational psychologist Pete Ketchum shows you:

- Why autonomy matters more than accountability

- How to diagnose a disengaged employee in the first five minutes

- The single question that transforms surface-level check-ins into conversations that actually change behavior

Ketchum's understanding of human behavior was forged in high-pressure environments, as an Army-trained interrogator, a state corrections officer, and a state trooper, before he transitioned to build people systems at high-growth companies. He brings that rare combination of academic rigor and real-world pressure-testing to a meeting most leaders get completely wrong.

If your one-on-ones feel like status updates that could have been an email, this book will show you what you're missing.