What does your team need most from you right now? π€
Take a few minutes to think about that. Not what your manager needs from you. Not what the next deadline demands. What does your team need β from you β right now?
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There's no shortage of advice
When I was reading the latest Harvard Business Review Management Tip of the Day, I thought: I've read some version of this before. Maybe more than once. They can recycle content because people can't remember all these tips. π€―
There's no shortage of advice for being a better manager. A quick search will surface steps and strategies for nearly every management challenge you can name. The problem isn't the information. It's knowing which piece of information applies to your team, right now, in this moment. βοΈ
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What Macklin Celebrini does after every game π
I came across an interview recently with Macklin Celebrini, one of the top young professional hockey players right now. The interviewer asked him how often he does introspection.
His answer: Every game.
Not after a tough loss. Not at the end of a season. Every single game β win or lose.
What stood out to me was that he had to think about the answer. This wasn't a task for him. He has learned and has made this a natural part of how he works, on his own and as part of a team.
π‘ Reflection isn't what high performers do when things go wrong. It's what they do as a matter of course.
So what do the vast number of management tips and a hockey player's reflection habit have to do with managing a team? π€¨
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What a coach does
Sports coaching and professional coaching are very different in a lot of ways. But they share something important.
A good coach β in either context β frees the player (or the client) to focus on their work. Instead of spending energy sifting through every possible option, trying to figure out what fits, the player or client can trust that their coach is tracking the bigger picture and will bring them what's most relevant for where they are right now.
That's a real gift. π
After every session I have with a client, I reflect on what came up during that session and also on what patterns are forming across our work together. I look for things my clients may not easily see on their own β because they're inside the situation, and I have the view from outside.
Then I bring those observations back at the right moment. A specific insight, a reframe, a resource β offered when the client is ready to receive it, not just when the topic is relevant.
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What only you can do
But there's something a coach cannot do: be in the room when the moment arrives. A coach can help you prepare. A coach can help you process. What requires you β specifically, in real time β is taking action when it counts. πͺ
The manager who is ready to respond in those moments is the one who has been asking themselves the right questions all along.
π― Take this into your week: Before your next team meeting β or at the end of today β ask yourself: What does my team need most from me right now?
This is a question worth putting somewhere you'll see it regularly.
Write it on the first page of your notebook. π
Make it your screensaver. π»
Set a calendar reminder. ποΈ
Ask it regularly, answer it honestly, and it will keep you pointed in the right direction.
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π Know a new manager who might benefit from asking this question? Forward this newsletter their way β it might be exactly the nudge they need today.
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TGA Coaching update π
I'm so excited to share this: TGA Coaching has been awarded a mini grant from San Mateo County to offer a free webinar for our community during Mental Health Awareness Month.
Stress Less, Live More
ποΈ Monday, May 11th
π‘ 6:30 PM
Registration details will be shared on the TGA Coaching website and across social media. If you're not already following us, now is a great time to start β you won't want to miss the announcement when it goes live.
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P.S. If you're a new manager wondering whether coaching might help β that's worth a conversation. Start with a free people management assessment π Schedule your free assessment here
This is our April 23, 2026 newsletter. Sign up below to get this directly in your inbox.
We are focused on helping managers become the kind of manager people trust, respect, and want to work with.
Patricia Cheng
Founder
