Managers, try saying these 2 things more often during 1-on-1s:

• “I will think some more about this & get back to you”
(& then follow through)

• “Let me think a bit more about this right now so I can formulate a better response”

I started this ~1 yr ago & it has worked well

At the core, you should be ok with not having the perfect answer or guidance for your direct report on the spur of the moment. They will appreciate that you're being deliberate & not just going through the motions. Be ok with brief silence in 1-on-1s & with saying you don't know.

In my case, I've found that taking a couple of minutes to think through their question helps me come up with a 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 for how I might solve the problem they've presented to me. That's often better than just giving them an off-the-cuff 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 to the problem.

h/t @jinen from whom I first heard about this approach