Establishing Credibility, Connection, and Coaching Momentum from Day One
Great coaches know relationships, routines, and results don’t just happen, they are intentionally built. While many coaches ease into the role slowly, great coaches take strategic, human-centered action from the very beginning. Here’s what the best do differently to set the tone, build trust, and accelerate growth.
Anchor in Purpose
Great coaches enter with clarity. They’ve done the internal work to articulate:
- Why they coach
- What they believe about teaching and learning
- How they support teachers with dignity and high expectations.
Action Step:
Craft and share a Coaching Welcome Message with staff. Include what teachers can expect from your partnership, and how to get in touch. Create transparency and invite collaboration.
Lead by Listening
Trust is earned. Great coaches spend time understanding the unique culture, pressures, and strengths of each campus and individual teacher.
Action Step:
Schedule 1:1 Getting to Know You conversations with each teacher or team. Use open-ended questions like:
- “What’s working well for you right now?”
- “What’s one area you’d love support with this year?”
- “What do students need most from us this year?”
Coaching is not about having all the answers, it’s about asking the right questions and co-creating solutions.
Observe to Understand, Not Evaluate
The first 30 days are not about evaluation, they’re about observation with curiosity. Great coaches take the time to understand instructional routines, student dynamics, and curriculum pacing without jumping to conclusions.
Action Step:
Visit classrooms. Collect video or script the lesson and use that data to inform your conversations with teachers and coaching priorities.
Prioritize Quick Wins
Early wins build momentum. Great coaches identify small, high-leverage strategies to immediately improve student learning and teacher confidence.
Action Step:
Offer bite-sized supports, like co-planning one lesson, modeling a questioning strategy, or reorganizing a formative assessment. Celebrate the wins out loud and credit the teacher. Don’t wait to make an impact. Aim to help teachers feel more successful now, not later.
Build a Coaching Rhythm, Not just a Calendar
Great coaches don’t just schedule meetings, they build systems of support. They clarify what coaching looks like, how often it happens, how they collect evidence, and progress is tracked.
Action Step:
Create a visual Coaching Menu that outlines the types of support you offer (e.g., co-teaching, data dives, planning sessions, feedback cycles). Then, co-create goals with teachers and schedule consistent touchpoints. Be flexible, but not vague. Structure builds safety and clarity for teachers.
Humanize the Work
Above all, great coaches lead with empathy and presence. They show up as real people, joyful, curious, and invested in others’ growth.
Action Step:
Celebrate birthdays. Leave handwritten notes. Bring curiosity about them as people. Start team meetings with wins. These small gestures build the relational glue that makes deep coaching work possible.
Final Thoughts:
The first 30 days are your coaching launchpad. They’re about creating the conditions for trust, collaboration, and growth. The best coaches listen deeply, act thoughtfully, and build relationships that fuel lasting change. You don’t need to have all the answers, just the courage to start with people, purpose, and presence.
Compass Teaching & Learning 