As a team coach, a lot of your work—arguably the most challenging part—is the preparation before you even step into the room. You’re not just coaching individuals; you’re coaching a collective, each person bringing their own experiences, motivations, and expectations to the table. And before you can harness the power of the team, you need clarity. That means working closely with the team sponsor to get crystal clear on objectives, expectations, and potential roadblocks. Without this upfront investment in preparation, you risk jumping into the process without the structure necessary to guide the team effectively. The foundation you lay before the first session will determine how smoothly the process unfolds, ensuring that every team member can fully engage and contribute to the shared goal.
High-performing teams don’t emerge from rushed agendas or surface-level conversations. They’re built on a foundation of alignment—on purpose, goals, and ways of working together. Without that upfront investment in clarity, even the most talented teams risk splintering under pressure.
As a coach, your role is to guide the team through this critical alignment process. It’s not glamorous, and it’s often slow. But it’s essential. When you sharpen the axe before swinging it, the team’s collective impact becomes powerful, precise, and sustainable.
Alignment is the foundation of team performance. Without it, teams may:
Research by Katzenbach and Smith in The Wisdom of Teams shows that teams with clear alignment around purpose, goals, and roles perform better, collaborate more effectively, and experience greater job satisfaction. Alignment isn’t just about agreeing on tasks—it’s about forging a shared understanding of why the team exists and how they will work together to achieve their goals.
Before diving into tools or strategies, every team needs to answer one fundamental question:
What are we here to accomplish?
This might seem obvious, but it’s often where teams get stuck. People come to the table with different assumptions, priorities, or unspoken expectations. Without bringing those to light, misalignment can fester beneath the surface.
Every high-performing team begins with a clear and compelling why. Purpose isn’t just a mission statement; it’s the north star that guides decisions, inspires effort, and connects the team’s work to a larger impact.
Coaching Tip: Ask reflective questions like:
Purpose sets the direction, but goals create the milestones. Effective goals are specific, actionable, and aligned with the team’s purpose.
Coaching Tip: Encourage the team to prioritize a few high-impact goals rather than scattering their focus across too many objectives.
Ask:
Ambiguity around roles is one of the biggest sources of tension in teams. People need to know not only what’s expected of them but how their role fits into the bigger picture.
Coaching Tip: Instead of job titles, focus on contributions.
Ask:
Teams thrive on trust and respect, but these don’t happen by accident. Ground rules create the psychological safety needed for open communication, productive conflict, and shared accountability.
Coaching Tip: Ground rules aren’t about control, they’re about freedom to do great work.
Ask:
It’s tempting to skip these conversations and jump straight into action—especially when deadlines loom. But skipping alignment is like chopping at a tree with a dull axe: you’ll work harder, accomplish less, and wear out the team in the process.
Investing upfront in alignment saves time and energy in the long run. A well-aligned team:
As the saying goes, “Measure twice, cut once.” The upfront work of alignment is the measuring phase—it ensures every swing of the axe is purposeful and effective.
Create a living document that outlines the team’s purpose, goals, roles, and ground rules. This becomes the team’s operating manual.
Use visualization to help the team imagine their ideal state.
Ask:
Establish regular check-ins to revisit alignment and course-correct as needed.
Ask:
High-performing teams don’t just work harder—they work smarter. And the smartest thing any team can do is pause, sharpen their axe, and align around a shared purpose before diving into action.
As a coach, your greatest contribution might not be in solving their problems but in helping them sharpen their focus, their goals, and their ways of working.
Because once a team is aligned, they’re unstoppable.