The Roots of Leadership
We’re not looking for a coach.
That’s what my CEO told me before I was let go from a remote role back in 2020.
“Ardi, we need someone who can optimize our CRM and drive more results.”
The explanation wasn’t exactly comforting. Moments like this rarely are.
I was left scratching my head, both literally and figuratively. A sales manager who doesn’t coach? What kind of alternate reality was I in?
I kept my poker face, voiced some confusion, and left the conversation without saying what I really wanted to say.
Was coaching actually the problem?
The job was to get results, and I had delivered. So was the issue how I was getting those results? Was coaching simply viewed as the wrong vehicle?
Apparently, optimizing the CRM was the answer.
And then it hit me.
My coaching wasn’t just affecting individual reps. The environment I was creating for the team was shaping the culture of the company.
For better or worse, that wasn’t really my call to make.
If the CEO didn’t want the culture heading in that direction, my approach to coaching wasn’t going to be celebrated.
And honestly, that realization was a relief.
It gave me more confidence in what I was doing.
Since then, I’ve become even more obsessed with building great teams.
Because that moment taught me something I didn’t fully understand at the time:
Coaching is how leaders influence a company at the micro level, one person and one interaction at a time.
Over time, those interactions become habits.
Habits become behaviors.
Behaviors become culture.
And culture eventually becomes the company.
That’s why I don’t think coaching is just another function of leadership.
It’s the foundation underneath almost everything else.
When things are going well, coaching makes the team better.
When things get hard, coaching keeps the team together.
And when you look back at your biggest successes as a leader, there’s a good chance coaching played a bigger role than you realized.
After a decade of leading sales teams, these are the principles I keep coming back to:
Influence before you instruct
The easiest way to shape behavior is to model it yourself. Show up prepared. Give credit. Ask thoughtful questions. Make the behavior you want to see visible.
Take care of the team
Performance rarely exists in a vacuum. Pay attention to morale, stress, relationships, and the things that are getting in your people’s way.
Build trust through transparency
Tell people why decisions are being made. Admit when you’re wrong. Make expectations clear. People can handle difficult news. What they struggle with is uncertainty.
Make one on ones matter
A one on one shouldn’t be a status meeting. Start with what matters most to them. Listen. Coach. Give feedback. Leave with something actionable.
Address the hard stuff
Avoiding a difficult conversation doesn’t make the problem disappear. Good coaches are willing to say what needs to be said, while making it clear that the goal is to help the person improve.
Learn from failure
The best teams don’t avoid mistakes. They get better at learning from them. Debrief what happened, understand why, and figure out what changes next time.
Lead by example
Your team is always watching. How you respond under pressure. How you handle mistakes. How seriously you take the standards you set. You can’t coach your team into behaviors you refuse to demonstrate yourself.
You don’t need to overhaul your entire leadership style tomorrow.
Pick one.
Work on it for a week.
Pay attention to what changes.
Then build from there.
That’s how coaching compounds.
And that’s probably the biggest lesson I took from getting fired in 2020.
Sometimes the thing you’re being told is the problem is actually the thing that’s quietly shaping everything around you.
Have a coaching story or principle that’s shaped your leadership? I’d love to hear it.
