Being a manager often feels like being the "Chief Problem Solver." It often feels easier to just fix the mistakes, but the most effective leaders focus on coaching their team so the mistakes don’t repeat. 

Coaching builds a culture of high performers who own their roles. This shift might feel like it takes too much time, but it actually gives you more time to focus on high-level strategy and ensures your team has the confidence to execute in the long run.

Three Ways to Coach Better in Align

We’ve specifically designed Align to help you facilitate these growth conversations without adding more "work" to your plate:

• Build Ownership through Entry: It is often tempting to enter a Priority or KPI for a team member to ensure a "perfect" setup. However, the simple act of typing in their own goals creates immediate ownership. Let your team enter their own information. They might surprise you with the results when they feel truly responsible for the data.

• Update Your 1:1 Questions: Standard status updates often miss the mark. Use your 1:1 section to add coaching-specific questions. Instead of asking "What is the status of project X?", try asking "What is the biggest obstacle slowing you down this week?" or "What’s one thing you learned from that client interaction?"

• Utilize "Persons of Interest": Managing a team means keeping track of who influences which goals. The Persons of Interest feature allows you to see exactly who is connected to specific priorities. This visibility helps you provide targeted coaching to the right people at the right time.

Level Up Your Leadership

Coaching is a skill that requires practice. To help you refine your approach, our team recommends reviewing these Align Specific resources:

• Align Academy: Explore our Leadership Section for more on building high-performing teams. Also, check out the book club list for more general business learning and advice!

• Deep Dive: Check out this guide on Leveling Up Your Coaching for practical frameworks you can use in your next meeting.

The goal is simple: make smart moves today so you can celebrate big wins tomorrow.