Pre-Call Planning Isn’t Just for Salespeople

When people hear the phrase “pre-call planning,” they almost always think of sales. It brings to mind a salesperson preparing for a client meeting: reviewing notes, thinking through questions, maybe even anticipating objections.

That makes sense. Salespeople are trained to prepare because the outcome of the conversation matters.

But over the years, I’ve noticed something that shows up across almost every organization I work with. Leaders – very capable, well-intentioned leaders – walk into important conversations with little to no real-time preparation. Not because they’re careless, but because no one ever framed those conversations as something that required it.

Leadership conversations are often treated as routine. A quick one-on-one. A performance check-in. A meeting to “touch base.” Something you can step into between other priorities.

And yet, those conversations are where leadership actually plays out.

I was thinking about this recently after a conversation with a client who was frustrated with one of his team members. He told me, “I’ve had this conversation with him three times, and nothing’s changing.” When I asked how he was preparing for those conversations, he paused. There wasn’t much of an answer. Each time, he was going in with a general sense of what needed to be said, but no real clarity on how to guide the conversation or what outcome he was aiming for.

That’s not unusual. Most leaders rely on experience and instinct, and to be fair, those can carry you a long way. But they don’t always lead to clarity. And they rarely lead to consistency.

When there isn’t intention behind a conversation, it tends to drift. You cover some ground, you address part of the issue, and then the moment passes without anything really changing. Both people walk away with slightly different interpretations of what just happened, and the same topic resurfaces later.

What’s interesting is that in a sales context, that kind of approach would feel unacceptable. There’s an understanding that preparation directly impacts results. In leadership, we often don’t apply that same level of discipline, even though the stakes are just as high, if not higher.

Fellow leader – in some respects, at its core, leadership is a series of conversations. Not the big, polished presentations, but the everyday interactions that shape how people think, how they perform, and how they experience being led. Those moments carry weight, whether we prepare for them or not.

Preparation doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, the most effective version of it is usually simple. It starts with taking a few minutes to get clear on why the conversation matters and what needs to come out of it. Without that clarity, it’s easy to leave things unsaid or to circle around the issue without ever really addressing it.

It also helps to pause and consider what the other person is bringing into the conversation. Leaders often enter discussions focused on what they need to communicate, but the other person is walking in with their own priorities, pressures, and assumptions. When you take a moment to think about that ahead of time, it changes how you listen and how you respond.

I’ve also found that the quality of a conversation often comes down to the quality of the questions being asked. When leaders take a minute to think through a couple of questions in advance – questions that genuinely seek to understand rather than simply confirm what they already believe – the tone of the conversation shifts. It becomes less about delivering a message and more about uncovering what’s really going on.

And finally, there’s value in thinking about what success looks like before the conversation even begins. Not in a rigid or scripted way, but in a practical sense. What needs to be different when this conversation ends? What does the other person need to understand, and what needs to happen next? When that’s clear in your mind, it naturally shapes how you lead the conversation.

None of this is about overthinking or trying to control every detail. It’s about walking into conversations with a sense of purpose. When leaders do that consistently, people feel it. Conversations become more focused, expectations become clearer, and follow-through improves.

To that end, I’ve attached a link to this blog to a 1-page Leader’s CLEAR 1-on-1 Meeting Planner. Five simple questions; it should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. And – it may make all the difference.

Over time, something else happens as well when we are better prepared. Trust begins to build, not because of one perfect conversation, but because of a pattern. People start to experience their leader as someone who is thoughtful, prepared, and genuinely invested in helping them succeed.

One of the simplest ways to elevate your leadership isn’t by adding something new to your plate. It’s by approaching the conversations you’re already having with a little more intention.

Because those conversations aren’t just part of the job.

They are the job.

Reflection Questions

1. Where might you be relying on instinct in conversations that would benefit from a few minutes of preparation?
2. Think about an upcoming conversation this week—what would it look like to approach it more intentionally?
3. How might your team respond if your conversations consistently felt more focused and thoughtful?
4. What would change if you treated leadership conversations with the same level of preparation as high-stakes client meetings?