The most dangerous phrase in coaching right now? 'AI can't do what I do.'

There's a habit that coaches have around AI that is driving me crazy.

I've seen so many posts lately with coaches saying, "Yeah, I know AI is the next big thing and all, but AI CAN'T do this (fill in the blank with some esoteric coaching skill), and I CAN. So I'm not worried. At all."

The barely hidden desperation in these posts is disheartening.

Coach friends, listen to me: we are going to HAVE to think through our business model/opportunities because AI has arrived on the scene.  There's really no arguing this point.  The game has changed.

Stop telling yourself AI can't replace you. Your clients are already choosing it

Across these conversations, coaches consistently make (at least) two fundamental errors when approaching AI in coaching.

First, human coaches want to focus on what the coach can do that AI can't.  But I'm here to tell you that doesn't matter.  The only thing that matters is whether the client is getting what they want from the interaction.  Look at how Microsoft has positioned Copilot in the Office Suite.  Trumpeting Copilot's capabilities would be easy.  But every message focuses on what the client gets from using the tool.  Coaches have to learn this.  What's the client getting from the interaction?  THAT's the point.

Clients don't care that you can read micro-expressions better than AI. They care about solving their problems—and AI is doing it.

Here's the hard news: Clients are saying they derive meaningful value from AI coaching interactions and actually don't have a strong preference for human coaches over AI coachbots.  There have been multiple studies saying this, including this one:  https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1364054/full

This is unnerving. 

If we were seeing coaching CLIENTS saying how they realized that they got so much more from human coaches, that would be a different story.  Working coaches will need to continue growing, evolving, and sharpening their skills/business model, as the people who pay our invoices are achieving success with AI tools. 

Coaches CAN'T get this wrong.  Yes, many coaches have excellent skills.  However, many clients are achieving great results by using AI coaches. 

With human nature being what it is, it's not hard to predict that whatever solution is most readily available will be the one that is chosen. As AI coaches continue to improve, it will become increasingly difficult to differentiate WHY a human should choose a human coach over an AI tool.

The coaching industry needs to hear from CLIENTS.   And coaches must double down on what the client gets from working with us.

As you're telling those client stories, fight the temptation to focus on all the things that AI can't do. The success stories clients experience stem from what AI can do.

Yes, AI coaches struggle to understand complex emotional situations or bring order to difficult, multilayered interpersonal situations. After all, humans are unpredictable.  Whatever you do, don't overlook the fact that AI can do a lot of things, and it will be better tomorrow than it is today.

Here's the thing: Human coaches only get to the more nuanced coaching situations after solving the easier ones.  In 28 years and over 13,000 coaching hours, no client has EVER started an engagement looking for transformation.  We get there, but it's not the starting point.  (I know there are exceptions to this, but my experience fits this pattern.)

What if the very skills coaches are most proud of are the ones keeping them from seeing the real threat?

Coaching begins with the easier problems and often puts out fires or brainstorms a new approach to a familiar issue.  When a client identifies an opportunity (and has the budget), we move on to the more complex challenges, but we must first address the simpler ones.  And AI is now very good at addressing these challenges.  And will only get better.

I generally agree that human coaches produce outcomes that AI can't (currently).  But what if what AI CAN do means human coaches won't have the opportunity to shine with the deeper challenges?

Ignore AI as an option for coaching clients at your own peril.

I celebrate with coaches that the time, energy, and effort put into developing coaching skills equip us to work with clients who want support as they navigate nuanced, multilayered situations and improve their professional skill sets in deep and meaningful ways.

However, if we don't focus exclusively on client outcomes and take AI seriously, opportunities for human coaching will dry up.

Most coaching engagements begin because the client has a problem. And most of these simpler challenges are solvable with the help of an AI coach.

Reexamining the business model that human coaches offer opens the door to addressing the more complex problem. The pieces have to fit together in such a way that clients come to us and have early success, so we are ready when more complex situations present themselves.