The Coaching Play

Use when a manager needs a career or growth conversation with a report: "she wants to grow," "he asked about promotion," or a path that doesn't exist here. Turns vague ambition into a real development plan.

Use when a manager wants to rehearse a hard conversation before having it. Plays the employee realistically, then debriefs the manager against Fact, Impact, Ask: what landed, what didn't, and what to say instead.

Use when a manager is doing work they should hand off, can't let go, or delegated something that came back wrong. Picks what to delegate and to whom, and scripts the handoff with a clear outcome and check-in.

Use when a manager wants different behavior but has never defined it: "more ownership," "step up," a stale job description, or a "that's not my job" dispute. Turns the vague want into a written, observable standard.

Use when a manager is on the receiving end of feedback: a tough review, 360 results, or upward feedback from their own team. Helps them process it, respond without getting defensive, and get a quiet team to give more of it.

Use when someone just became a manager or is struggling in the first months: managing former peers, a friend who now reports to them, still doing the old job, or the first team meeting. Builds the first 90 days.

Use when a manager wants help with one-on-ones: prepping the next one, fixing 1:1s that turned into status updates, or turning a messy post-meeting brain dump into a clean documented note with follow-ups.

Use when a manager wants help giving everyday feedback, positive or corrective, about something a report did recently. Turns it into Fact, Impact, Ask with the exact words to say, before a small issue becomes a big one.

Use when two or more reports aren't working well together and the manager is being pulled in or avoiding it. Decides whether to step in, preps the one-on-ones, and runs a joint conversation that ends in work agreements.