OM DENNE EPISODE
In this episode of the Coaching in Organizations podcast, Tracey Cammock (Senior Director of Coaching at Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits) shares how her team grew from six trained internal coaches to more than 80, and moved from isolated programs to a coaching ecosystem. She voices that a great coaching program with glowing feedback does not change a culture. You'll also hear how a shared coaching language and the HEART values anchor her work at SGWS, how pre- and post-program feedback from direct reports tracks real behavior change, why coaching is never remedial, how group coaching circles extend leadership programs, and why letting go was the hardest and most important step to scale. Tracey also shares how AI nudges could support coaching between sessions without losing the human connection.
If you're passionate about coaching cultures, internal coaching, or building capacity through group coaching in organizations, this episode is a must-listen.
🧠 5 KEY TAKEAWAYS
What if the fastest way to build a coaching culture was not a new program, but the moments that already exist in your organization?
Tracey Cammock, Senior Director of Coaching at Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits, breaks down how coaching became part of how leaders show up every day, not just something people learn in a workshop.
- Attach coaching to what already exists: new leader assimilations, leadership programs, and career conversations are natural entry points that drive faster adoption than standalone programs.
- Build a common language first: adopting one coaching model (GROW) and defining what coaching is and is not keeps everyone moving in the same direction.
- Measure observable behaviors, not satisfaction: pre- and post-program surveys of direct reports show whether leaders are asking more questions and listening more, and signal what matters.
- Protect the brand of coaching: coaching is never remedial. Intake conversations with HR business partners and leaders separate performance issues from true coaching needs.
- Let go to scale: trusting 80+ internal coaches and the business to own coaching is what gave it legs beyond the center of excellence.
“People don't always make time for something new, but they're always open to better experiences and moments.”
↪️ WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 Introduction and Tracey’s Coaching Origins: Dom introduces Tracey Cammock and the episode’s focus on building a coaching culture. Tracey shares how her HR business partner work led her to recognize coaching skills and pursue formal certification.
05:43 Scaling Coaching Across the Organization: Tracey describes Southern Glazer's growth from six trained coaches to over 80, along with programs like Leader as Coach and team coaching. She explains why broader access and a shared model were needed to scale beyond HR.
09:26 Common Language and Coach-Like Values: Tracey explains how a shared vocabulary and the GROW model anchor conversations and clarify what coaching is and is not. She also shows how the company’s HEART values turned out to be coach-like behaviors, strengthening the culture shift.
13:39 Closing the Gap Between Design and Practice: Tracey discusses how strong program design and positive feedback did not guarantee behavior change on the job. She describes embedding coaching into performance and career conversations to bridge that gap.
17:26 Measuring Leader Behavior Change: Tracey explains how pre- and post-program assessments completed by direct reports measured leadership behavior shifts. She also notes that the surveys themselves helped prime leaders to focus on coaching behaviors.
21:19 Non-Remedial Coaching and Group Circles: Tracey describes intake conversations that keep coaching from being used as a fix for underperformers. She then explains how group coaching circles after leadership programs evolved from two 90-minute sessions to three 60-minute sessions.
25:38 Letting Go and Team Support: Tracey reflects that the hardest part of her role has been trusting others to deliver coaching without her oversight. She credits executive leaders, HR partners, and the internal coach community for making the work possible.
29:15 AI, Nudges and Protecting Human Connection: Tracey argues that human connection remains central to coaching even as AI advances, since technology cannot read tone or body language. She suggests AI could handle administrative nudges between sessions while coaches focus on deep conversation.
32:00 Advice for Building a Coaching Culture: Tracey advises finding a sponsor and integrating coaching into experiences people already have. The host closes the episode with thanks and information on following and subscribing.
🗝️ KEY THEMES
- Moving from isolated programs to a coaching ecosystem
- Integrating coaching into existing talent and leadership moments
- Company values as coach-like behaviors
- Measuring observable behavior change through direct report feedback
- Leadership sponsorship as visible role modeling
- Coaching is never remedial: protecting the brand of coaching
- Group coaching circles and AI-supported nudges to sustain learning
ABOUT TRACEY CAMMOCK
Tracey Cammock is Senior Director of Coaching at Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits, a senior coaching and talent development leader, and an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC). She leads enterprise coaching strategies that strengthen leadership capability, reinforce organizational values, and connect behavior change to business outcomes. Her work includes executive, team, and group coaching; internal coach development; leader-as-coach programs; and scalable coaching tools and systems.
Tracey began her career as an HR business partner and became a certified coach in 2008-2009 to deepen that work. Under her leadership, Southern Glazer's has grown its internal coaching community to more than 80 trained coaches and was named runner-up for the International Coaching Federation's Impact Award in 2024.
🤝 CONNECT WITH TRACEY 📚 RESOURCES MENTIONED
- International Coaching Federation (ICF) Impact Award
- The GROW Model is a simple, structured coaching framework developed by Sir John Whitmore, Graham Alexander, and Alan Fine in the 1980s and popularized in Whitmore's 1992 book, Coaching for Performance.
- Patrick Lencioni's 5 Dysfunction of a Team book
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