Unicorn Startup Reveals How Embedded Coaching Transforms Companies (Alita Watson)
Tue Dec 23 2025
Alita Watson is the founder of Alma Leadership and a pioneer in embedded coaching who has conducted over 15,000 coaching sessions in the last eight years, transforming how fast-growing companies develop their people from the inside out.
Most companies treat coaching like emergency medicine. Someone's struggling; performance is slipping; there's a leadership crisis. So you bring in an expensive external coach. They parachute in for a few sessions, maybe things improve, and then they disappear until the next fire. What if there was a different way?
In this conversation, we talk about how instead of bringing coaches in from the outside for crisis intervention, you place a coach directly inside your organization. Embedded coaching flips the entire model. They work with everyone from the C-suite to customer-facing employees. They become woven into the cultural fabric, responding to real-time challenges as they emerge.
The model works because it meets people where they actually are, when they actually need help, using frameworks simple enough that everyone can practice them daily. It scales because it's built on proven systems, not on one person being extraordinary.
For full show notes: https://podcast.scottbritton.me/p/embedded-coaching-a-startup-secret-weapon-alita-watson
🌀This podcast is sponsored by Conscious Talent - where business leaders and companies who value both inner work and professional excellence connect. Learn more and join the Conscious Talent network here: https://www.conscioustalent.com/
(00:00) How Alita Watson Built the Embedded Coaching Movement
(13:40) Unlocking Relational Intelligence Inside Organizations
(19:31) What Coaching Reveals When Growth Means Letting Go
(23:12) How Coaches Navigate the Dilemma of Trust Privacy and Truth
(27:41) Why Embedding Coach Early Is the Key to Scalable Culture
(30:02) How Internal Coaching Is Breaking the Stigma and Finally Working
(33:01) Why Startups Are the Pressure Cookers That Accelerate Leadership Growth
(36:27) Alita’s Tools for Speaking the Unspeakable and Having Real Conversations
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Alita Watson is the founder of Alma Leadership and a pioneer in embedded coaching who has conducted over 15,000 coaching sessions in the last eight years, transforming how fast-growing companies develop their people from the inside out. Most companies treat coaching like emergency medicine. Someone's struggling; performance is slipping; there's a leadership crisis. So you bring in an expensive external coach. They parachute in for a few sessions, maybe things improve, and then they disappear until the next fire. What if there was a different way? In this conversation, we talk about how instead of bringing coaches in from the outside for crisis intervention, you place a coach directly inside your organization. Embedded coaching flips the entire model. They work with everyone from the C-suite to customer-facing employees. They become woven into the cultural fabric, responding to real-time challenges as they emerge. The model works because it meets people where they actually are, when they actually need help, using frameworks simple enough that everyone can practice them daily. It scales because it's built on proven systems, not on one person being extraordinary. For full show notes: https://podcast.scottbritton.me/p/embedded-coaching-a-startup-secret-weapon-alita-watson 🌀This podcast is sponsored by Conscious Talent - where business leaders and companies who value both inner work and professional excellence connect. Learn more and join the Conscious Talent network here: https://www.conscioustalent.com/ (00:00) How Alita Watson Built the Embedded Coaching Movement (13:40) Unlocking Relational Intelligence Inside Organizations (19:31) What Coaching Reveals When Growth Means Letting Go (23:12) How Coaches Navigate the Dilemma of Trust Privacy and Truth (27:41) Why Embedding Coach Early Is the Key to Scalable Culture (30:02) How Internal Coaching Is Breaking the Stigma and Finally Working (33:01) Why Startups Are the Pressure Cookers That Accelerate Leadership Growth (36:27) Alita’s Tools for Speaking the Unspeakable and Having Real Conversations