How the AI revolution is set to change coaching forever

When we're coaching, we're often simply seeking truth and purpose in those we're working with. As AI remains at the forefront of many conversations about the future of coaching, we need to turn those skills upon ourselves.

I recently posted a screenshot of an interaction I was having with ChatGPT, in which it demonstrated key coaching skills. In many ways it was much better than I was when I started coaching, which raises the question of how we ought to define "better" with regard to coaching. That's a challenging idea to grapple with, because there isn't only one answer to the question "What is coaching?" Coaching in some ways defies definition, which has led to the plethora of definitions that exist out there.

Is a universal definition possible?

If what's happening here is that we're embarking on a journey to uncover the mysteries of coaching that make it what it is, perhaps we need a baseline to work from. I'm Chair of the Coaching Professional apprenticeship trailblazer group, which includes more than a hundred employers of coaches, several of the big professional bodies, and training providers as well. The standard is published here, and doesn't offer a concise definition of a coach, although it has some good lines in it, like this one:

Coaching is a way of treating people, a way of thinking and a way of being which is seen as vital to supporting individuals and organisations in increasingly volatile and ever-changing environments. The underlying and ever present purpose of coaching is building the self-belief of others, regardless of the context, to be curious and self-aware, better equipping them to collaborate, innovate, deal with the increasing pace of change and get the best from increasingly diverse environments.

In practice, the role of a coach is a slippery one to wrap one's arms around. It's so reactive, responding to the emergent needs of a coachee, that the personality and philosophy of any individual coach makes it what it is in any expression of it.

Diversity more than uniformity

Some executive coaches, for example, effectively function as personal trainers for their clients. Their focus is on improving the performance of their coachees, and will offer non-directive support, high levels of challenge, and content that may stray into guidance or advice at times. Is that wrong? Is it still coaching at that point?

Others delve instead into the realm of therapy. Rebadging cognitive behavioural therapy as cognitive behavioural coaching, for example, effectively means that the practices are identical, it's just the context that's changed. Again, is that wrong? Are these coaches crossing an ethical boundary, or simply expressing coaching in their own way?

The truth of coaching is that it has grown out of management consulting, occupational psychology, and therapy among other worlds. Coaching has become greater than the sum of its parts. It's a powerful force for transformation, that much is clear, but precisely what about it makes it uniquely "coaching" is less so.

And so we return to AI.

The mechanics of coaching

If you'd asked me after my foundation coach training what makes a coach, I'd have probably said it's someone who:

• Uses active listening
• Asks good open questions in a non-directive way
• Follows a coaching model
• Gets the coachee to commit to an action

AI outperforms me at those things, and probably all of us. I arrogantly still think I'm a better coach though, and that's what's making it difficult to draw a rational conclusion. What is it that makes a human coach better, apart from the glaringly obvious fact that they're a human?

A vision for a new era

I wonder if we should just sit in not knowing for now. We need to accept that AI is superior to us in certain areas, and therefore work to make those available to our coachees (bearing in mind ethical dilemmas along the way). And also, we should use the AI revolution as a catalyst to define coaching in a better and more exciting way than we've done in the past.

The answers to these reflections may guide us towards a new era of coaching. A time when we harness the power of technology to enhance our abilities and take coaching to new heights, making us Superhuman Coaches. A time when we embrace the diversity of professions that have contributed to what coaching is today, offering a holistic approach that encompasses all aspects of the coach's being to their coachees.

We shouldn't be shying away from the unknown, however tempting that feels. Instead, we should be actively grappling with it, adopting as appropriate and challenging it at other times. It's in the unknown that we find the greatest opportunities for growth and transformation. Maybe we need to properly redefine coaching, not simply as a profession, but as a calling to help individuals, organisations, and wider systems unlock their full potential to step into deeper purpose and meaning.

Let us have the courage to explore new avenues and embrace the power of technology to take us to new heights, and double down on the magic of our humanity. If we pursue greatness, we're much more likely to come out the other side with a newfound understanding of the power of coaching to change the world.