What Is Coaching Focus and Why Does It Matter?
Cloverleaf's daily coaching is most powerful when it's relevant to the people and relationships you're actively working on. Coaching Focus lets you tell Cloverleaf exactly who you want to learn about, so your coaching nudges reflect your real priorities rather than a default algorithm.
Whether you're building rapport with a new team, deepening your understanding of a cross-functional partner, or preparing for a leadership transition, Coaching Focus puts you in control of your development.
How to Find Your Coaching Focus
When logged into Cloverleaf, find Coaching Focus in the Grow section of your left-side navigation menu.
All coaching settings, including delivery preferences and focus management, live in one place on the Coaching Focus page. If you previously managed notifications through Account Settings, look for the banner that directs you to the updated location.
How to Set Up a Coaching Focus
Select + Coaching Focus to create a new focus.
You have two ways to get started:
Write your own focus.
Use natural language to describe your goal. For example: "I want to get better at developing my direct reports." Cloverleaf identifies the relevant people and builds a personalized coaching plan around them.
Choose a suggested focus.
Pre-built options are available if you'd like a structured starting point. Selecting one generates a prompt you can customize from there — for example, choosing Growing Adaptability produces a ready-made prompt you can refine.
You can run multiple Coaching Focuses at the same time, so you're not limited to a single goal or relationship set.
What to Expect After Creating a Focus
After creating a focus, Cloverleaf generates a preview so you can review exactly what's been built before it goes live.
The preview includes:
Focus title and goal — your input is reflected back so you can confirm Cloverleaf interpreted it correctly. For example: "Develop Jordan and Casey / I want to get better at developing my direct reports."
Duration and nudge count — how long the focus runs and how many coaching nudges are scheduled. For example: "3 Week Focus / 9 Coaching Nudges Scheduled."
People featured in your Coaching Focus — the specific individuals Cloverleaf identified based on your goal.
Success Looks Like — a clear, measurable description of what achieving your focus looks like in practice. For example: "You deliver specific, actionable feedback to both Jordan and Casey at least twice per week, and you initiate at least one developmental conversation with each of them." This gives you a concrete target to work toward.
Upcoming Coaching Nudge preview — a look at your first scheduled nudge, including its delivery time and full content, so you know what to expect before committing.
From the preview, you can page through all scheduled nudges to review the full coaching plan before it activates.
How to Make Changes to a Coaching Focus
Select Make Changes to refine your focus through a chat experience. Use natural language to adjust the length of the focus, add or remove teammates, or add specifics to the focus topic.
Once the focus has been updated, you'll receive a reply in the chat confirming the changes. Select X to close the chat, or continue the conversation to refine further.
When you're ready, select Save and Close to activate your focus.
How to Edit an Existing Coaching Focus
You can update your Coaching Focus at any time as your priorities shift. Navigate to the Coaching Focus page, find the focus you want to change, and select ... next to it to open the options menu.
Choose the edit option to return to the setup page and refine as needed.
How to Complete or Cancel a Coaching Focus
Your active focuses are listed on the Coaching Focus page. From there, you can review who each focus is coaching you on and confirm it's still aligned with your goals.
To complete or cancel a focus, select ... next to the focus and choose Complete or Cancel. Either action stops coaching nudges for the people in that focus. If you have no active focuses, Cloverleaf falls back to default daily coaching so your tips continue without interruption.
What Happens If My Focus Is Incomplete?
If you started creating a Coaching Focus but didn't finish, it may be saved in a pending or draft state. Focuses in this state are not active, which means you won't receive coaching nudges until setup is complete. Return to the Coaching Focus page to finish setup or clear the draft and start fresh.
Tips for Getting the Most from Coaching Focus
Coaching Focus works best when you have a specific relationship goal with a clear timeframe, like preparing for a new project kickoff, onboarding into a new team, or developing a skip-level relationship. The more specific your input, the more relevant your coaching will be.
If you receive coaching on days when your focus doesn't generate a nudge, that's expected. The default coaching toggle on the Coaching Focus page controls whether Cloverleaf fills those gaps automatically.