From Disconnected to Dialed In

You can feel it when a team is in sync. Ideas move faster. Friction drops. People show up for each other—not because they have to, but because they want to. That kind of cohesion doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of intention, trust and often, coaching.

The Missing Link in Team Performance

Plenty of teams have the right people. What they’re missing is the connection. Not surface—level rapport, but the kind that makes people feel seen, heard and aligned.

Disconnection shows up in subtle ways—misinterpreted emails, awkward silences in meetings, teammates pulling in different directions. Over time, those patterns chip away at momentum.

Coaching interrupts that.

It brings teams back to center. It gives people space to speak honestly, listen with purpose and rebuild trust. It doesn’t solve every problem—but it helps people solve them together.

We saw this firsthand with a CASE 50 executive team preparing for a period of major institutional change. The team had strong individual performers but struggled to fully trust one another and engage in healthy conflict. Through coaching, they began building the foundation needed for deep alignment—trust, accountability and shared commitment. The results were tangible. Their initial team assessment showed low accountability and uneven trust. However, after just two months of work, they had made measurable progress, and after another seven months of intentional focus, there was a significant shift from guarded interactions to high-performing collaboration. (See image below for full comparison.)

Coaching Isn’t Just for Individuals

When most people think of coaching, they picture one-on-one work. And yes, individual growth matters. But team coaching is where we often see the biggest shift.

Coaching isn’t about icebreakers or personality charts. It’s about getting real. What’s not working? What’s being avoided? Where’s the disconnect?

Once that’s on the table, real progress can begin.

Through coaching, teams start to:

• Understand where communication breaks down

• Name unspoken tension and deal with it directly

• Build a way of working that actually works for everyone

• Respond with intention instead of reacting on autopilot

• Focus on what matters most—together

Take, for example, a dean at a large R1 public university who reached out when her team hit a wall. The group was stuck in fear-based behavior—defensiveness, finger-pointing and hesitation. There was no trust, and without it, the school’s broader success was at risk. Coaching gave that team the space to address what had gone unsaid for too long. They began having real conversations—acknowledging pain points, and building stronger relationships. 

As Sally Bryant, our CEO, puts it: “The best teams aren’t always in agreement—but they’re aligned. Coaching helps people challenge ideas without attacking each other. It creates space to disagree well, which is a critical part of doing good work together.”

Real Change Feels Different

I recently coached another team that looked strong on paper. Great résumés. Solid track records. But in the room? Something was off. People were guarded. Feedback was watered down. Decisions dragged.

We started small—just asking the group what was getting in the way. Then we listened.
That one conversation shifted the tone. Not overnight, but enough to spark a different kind of energy. Over time, they built positive habits that stuck. More direct conversations. More shared ownership. More momentum.

One team member told me, “We stopped working around each other and started working with each other.”

That’s the kind of result that sticks.

It Starts with the Right Questions

• What do we need to say that we’re not saying?

• What assumptions are we making about each other?

• What kind of team do we want to be?

These are the questions that coaching brings into the room. Not to diagnose, but to discover. And from there, to build.

Collaboration Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

When trust is strong and communication is clear, collaboration doesn’t feel like work. It feels like flow. That’s the goal.

Not perfection. Not harmony all the time.

What teams need isn’t constant agreement—it’s rhythm. A way of working that feels natural, where momentum builds instead of stalls.

If the talent is there but things still feel stuck, the missing piece might be connection, an understanding of the other that builds caring. Coaching helps people show up differently—for themselves and for each other. And when that happens, the whole team moves forward with purpose.