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Forbes
a day ago
- Business
- Forbes
Will AI Replace Coaches?
Lynda Silsbee, Founder, Alliance for Leadership Acceleration and the Leadership Acceleration Program. Organizational effectiveness expert I've been hearing this question a lot, and I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering: Will AI replace executive coaches? Short answer? No. Longer answer? Not if we evolve. Artificial intelligence is already changing how we work, think and lead—and yes, it's stepping into the coaching space, too. There are AI tools that can now offer feedback on communication style, assess leadership strengths, generate reflection questions and even simulate coaching conversations. And they're improving fast. But let's not panic. Instead, let's get curious. For this article, I'm diving into the pros and cons of AI in executive coaching—and offering actionable tips to help us stay relevant, credible and deeply human in an AI-accelerated world. What AI Can Do For Coaches Let's start with the good news. AI is not the enemy or our competition. In fact, it can be our new best assistant. Here are some ways AI can help: • Scalable Support: AI can help scale the reach of coaching. Virtual platforms with embedded AI can provide micro-learning, track habit formation and prompt reflection between sessions, which is especially useful for clients in fast-moving roles or organizations rolling out coaching across tiers of leadership. • Real-Time Insights: Some tools analyze tone, sentiment and language patterns during conversations, helping clients (and coaches) identify blind spots. Imagine receiving a report that says, 'You interrupted 30% more than usual in this meeting.' Powerful. • Data-Driven Feedback: AI tools can synthesize data from 360s, engagement surveys or leadership assessments to identify themes faster and more objectively. This allows us to spend more time coaching and less time aggregating reports. I love it! • On-Demand Reflection: AI-generated journaling prompts or chat-based "AI coaches" can keep clients engaged between sessions and reinforce coaching topics, helping to close the "knowing versus doing" gap. What AI Can't Replace And now, the heart of the matter. AI can simulate aspects of coaching, but it can't be a coach. It can't do what we humans do best, including: • Deep Empathy And Intuition: An algorithm can't look a client in the eye (yet), sense the emotional weight behind their silence or pause at just the right moment to let a breakthrough surface. Empathy isn't just emotion—it's presence, nuance and attunement. • Context And Complexity: Coaching is rarely about simple answers. It's about exploring competing priorities, organizational politics, personal histories and unwritten rules. AI may offer frameworks, but it struggles with paradox. • Trust And Relationship: The power of coaching lies in trust: the safety we create, the belief we hold for someone, the way we challenge them because we care. That kind of transformative relationship can't be coded. • Ethics And Judgment: Executive coaching often involves messy, high-stakes decisions. Ethics, judgment and values are central to the conversations. AI isn't ready to navigate moral gray areas with grace and integrity. Staying Relevant In The AI Age So, how do we keep our edge as coaches when AI is getting smarter by the second? We double down on what makes us uniquely human—and learn to partner with the technology, not compete with it. Here are five tips all coaches can use: Understand the tools your clients might be using—AI writing assistants, leadership dashboards or behavior tracking apps. Experiment with AI tools that can enhance your prep or session planning. Speak the language. Information is abundant. Insight is rare. Your value comes from helping leaders make sense of their world, not just from delivering models or frameworks. Dig deeper. Ask sharper questions. Bring new lenses. The more AI performs the tasks, the more leaders need help with the intangibles—confidence, vulnerability, values, courage, meaning. Be the coach who helps them lead from the inside out. As organizations grow and become more data-driven, they'll expect coaches to demonstrate value. Define success metrics up front. Then collect a baseline measurement. Revisit goals and success metrics to see if you're moving the needle. Link coaching to business outcomes, culture shifts or leadership pipeline strength. Your clients don't need someone to simply affirm their brilliance. They need a trusted partner who'll challenge their thinking, help them see the bigger picture and nudge them toward growth even when it's uncomfortable. Final Thoughts AI is absolutely changing the landscape of coaching. But rather than fearing displacement, we should see this as a call to grow and evolve professionally. Coaches who embrace both head and heart—who blend data with wisdom, insight with empathy—will thrive. So, will AI replace coaches? Only the ones who coach like robots. Let's stay real, stay curious and keep doing the deep work that only humans can do. Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
Forbes
20-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Science Of Trust: Why It's More Gift Than Transaction
Lynda Silsbee, Founder, Alliance for Leadership Acceleration and the Leadership Acceleration Program. Organizational effectiveness expert. Let's start with a controversial truth: Trust isn't something you earn. It's something you're given. Now hold your gasp—this isn't about giving blind trust to every charming new manager who remembers your dog's name. It's about acknowledging that trust, at its core, is a gift—offered freely, often before it's 'deserved.' And as with any gift, it's delicate, powerful and far more personal than we often admit. In today's world of fast-paced teams, hybrid workforces and AI assistants who never take lunch breaks, the human currency of trust matters more than ever. Trust is the critical asset to improve teamwork, foster collaboration, drive engagement and manage constant change. That said, Gallup found that "only 21% of U.S. employees strongly agree that they trust the leadership of their organization. This marks a noteworthy decline from its 2019 peak (24%)." According to PwC's "2024 Trust Survey," 93% of business executives agree that building and maintaining trust improves the bottom line." Trust begins to build when employees feel inspired by senior leaders and see strategic actions leading to business success. Trust is complex and means different things to different people and in different contexts. It's important to talk about trust, creating shared definitions and expectations to build trust across a team or organization. So, what builds this seemingly intangible yet make-or-break element of team culture? It's not just charisma or good intentions. We use a simple and research-backed framework that demystifies the magic of trust: the three C's of trust—competence, consistency and care. This creates a shared language and understanding so people can talk about specific behaviors that affect trust (build it or break it) and creates stronger, more productive relationships. It's the most obvious—and often overemphasized—dimension of trust. Competence answers the question, 'Can I rely on you to get the job done?' Think of it like hiring a pilot: You want to know they can fly the plane, not just smile during turbulence. Leaders who demonstrate skill, make sound decisions and deliver results start the trust conversation on solid footing. But here's the twist: Competence alone doesn't inspire followership. A brilliant manager who's erratic or uncaring will lose the room faster than you can say, 'quarterly results.' Which brings us to the next C ... Predictability isn't sexy, but it's safe. And in a world where change is constant, people crave anchors. Leaders build trust when they follow through, stay grounded in their values and show up in a way that people can count on—especially in tough times. It's why we remember the manager who had our back during a layoff or the colleague who always follows through on commitments, even small ones. Inconsistency is the fastest trust killer. Miss one too many deadlines or shift directions without context, and trust starts to slip through your fingers—no matter how competent or well-meaning you are. This is the wild card—the most human and often most neglected of the three. Care is where trust stops being transactional and becomes relational. It asks: Do you see me? Do you respect me? Will you act in a way that serves not just your goals, but mine too? In leadership, this shows up as empathy, active listening, advocacy and small moments of connection. Leaders who care create psychological safety. They normalize feedback. They ask how someone's doing before diving into what they're doing. In doing so, they open the door for discretionary effort—the difference between someone working for you and someone going to bat for you. Here's where the model becomes powerful. You need all three C's—competence, consistency and care—to truly earn the trust gift from your team or colleagues. Remove any one, and trust falters: • Competent + Consistent But Not Caring? You'll be respected, but never followed with heart. • Caring + Competent But Not Consistent? You'll confuse people, eroding confidence. • Consistent + Caring But Not Competent? You'll be beloved, but not entrusted with critical decisions. Trust is holistic. When all three C's are present, something beautiful happens: People give you the benefit of the doubt, collaborate more openly and assume positive intent. Start by asking yourself and your team: • Where am I showing up strong across the three C's? • Where might I be falling short, especially under pressure? And remember, trust-building isn't a checkbox. It's a practice. Like fitness or leadership itself, it's a daily discipline, made up of a thousand small moments—done imperfectly but authentically. It's also contagious. Teams that operate in a high-trust environment mirror that trust outward—to customers, partners and stakeholders. That's not fluff; that's a performance advantage. When someone trusts you, they're giving you something rare: the benefit of their vulnerability. They're saying, 'I believe in you enough to let go of control.' So, yes, trust can be earned over time—but only if we treat it as the gift it is in the first place. Your job, as a leader? Show up. Deliver. Care deeply. And never forget: People will follow those they trust—and flee those they don't. Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
