A quick test to figure out if you need a coach, or if ChatGPT is good enough
People ask me all the time if I’m worried about ChatGPT or other AI tools making my job as a coach obsolete.
And I always tell them two things.
First, my #1 priority is that my clients feel less stressed, get unstuck, and build the lives and careers that they want.
If they do that with me, that’s great.
If they can do that faster and better with AI, that’s even better.
If I find an AI tool that can give you the same results you get from working with me, I’ll gladly shout about it from the rooftops and go find another career :)
Second, I use AI in my own self-coaching all the time…and there’s no way I’m letting go of my own coach.
If my coach told me, “I see you’re talking to ChatGPT a lot, so I’ll just go ahead and cancel our sessions,” I would be horrified.
(And I’d probably run after her, throwing cash at her feet, and saying “Plz keep working with me!! 😭”)
Why is ChatGPT helpful in some instances of coaching me, and my human coach is more helpful in other instances?
I think it comes down the “value chain” of coaching and where the gap in the value chain is, for your particular situation.
There are three steps to the value chain of using a coach or an AI to help you solve your problems.
Step 1: You tell the coach or AI what you’re struggling with
Step 2: The coach or AI gives you their response to your situation
You might repeat Steps 1 and 2 for a while and have a back-and-forth conversation with your coach or with the AI.
And then at some point, you go to the last step.
Step 3: You go implement what the coach or the AI suggested in your life
When you talk to an AI, you are solely responsible for Steps 1 and 3.
AI absolutely crushes it at Step 2.
No matter what you tell it…
Short or long
Structured or unstructured
Voice or text
Focused on one topic or jumping all over the place
…It will give you a thoughtful, tailored response within a few seconds.
But…
It can’t make you come and tell it what you’re struggling with.
If you don’t give it a prompt, it won’t give you a response.
It can only work with what you give it.
If your prompt is framed incorrectly, or missing crucial details, or biased based on your perspective, that will affect its response. (And AI sycophancy is a real problem.)
And it can’t make you go implement what it tells you to do.
(It can’t even make you read its whole response. I’ve definitely gotten a looong ChatGPT response before and just kind of half-skimmed it before closing the tab.)
A coach handles all 3 steps.
Because you have a set time every week that you talk to them…
A coach kind of DOES make you come tell them what you’re struggling with.
And after you’ve given the coach your brain dump…
A coach can look with a critical eye at what you’re telling them.
They can ask follow-up questions, dig around for more details, and question some of your assumptions, before giving you their response.
They avoid the AI problem of “garbage in, garbage out” by auditing and improving the inputs before they give you their suggestion.
And a coach keeps their eye on implementation.
As you meet week after week, it’s not just about feeling good for an hour and then going about your day.
I am always asking myself: Are my clients getting the results they came for?
Are they feeling less stressed throughout the day?
Are they performing better and delivering better results?
Are they taking the actions they want to take, and cutting down on the unhelpful coping mechanisms they want to cut back on?
Are they hitting the milestones they set and getting the outcomes they want?
And if not, that’s what we troubleshoot and work on.
So here’s your quick to test to figure out if ChatGPT is good enough, or if you need a coach.
Take the current thing you’re struggling with at work.
Whatever it is that’s keeping you stressed or stuck these days.
Test Question 1: Can you put that into ChatGPT right now?
If yes, great! Proceed to the next question.
If you opened ChatGPT, stared at the blank text box, and were like “ugh, I don’t even know how to articulate the problem…”
You might find it more helpful to work with a coach.
Test Question 2: Read ChatGPT’s response. Is it helpful?
If yes, great! Proceed to the next question.
If you’re reading the response and you’re not finding it that useful…
You might find it more helpful to work with a coach.
Test Question 3: Did you implement what ChatGPT said to do, and did it get you the outcome you wanted?
If yes, great! You don’t need a coach. ChatGPT is good enough for your situation.
(And that is a great thing! My #1 priority is that your problem gets solved. So if this worked, I am cheering for you :)
If the response makes total sense, but you’re not really sure how or when you’re going to implement it, and the thought of figuring that out is making you feel overwhelmed…
You might find it more helpful to work with a coach.
Many of my clients talk to ChatGPT about their coaching topics between our sessions.
In fact, I even give every client a custom AI bot, trained on our conversations, so they have even more specialized support between sessions.
So don’t stop asking AI for life advice and career coaching :)
Just recognize that the value of coaching doesn’t just come from the answers.
The value of coaching also comes from the questions that come before the answer, and the execution that comes afterward.
So if you answered “no” to any of the 3 test questions above…
Come talk to me.
You can drop by anytime for a no-strings-attached coffee chat ☕️
It’s not a sales pitch.
It’s just an opportunity for us to talk about whatever’s on your mind…
And I’ll give you some one-off coaching and brainstorming about your situation.
Or you can book a consult call, and we can map out a full coaching engagement.
Come tell me where in the coaching value chain ChatGPT stopped working for you.
And I’ll pick up where it left off, and we can make a plan to get you the rest of the way there :)
What my clients have to say…
“Some weeks, I have a very specific thing that is troubling me, and I'm excited to talk about it.
And there are other times where I came in and I didn't quite know what I wanted to talk about, and those were the sessions where Pooja was able to help me unpack something that I didn't even know was there.
It surprised me that I didn't have to do all the work in advance to come in with the agenda of what I needed to talk about, and that there are nuggets and insights to get, no matter how clearly I even see the problem coming in.”
—Client | Early-Stage Tech Startup Director turned Design Consultant
I help high achievers build their careers around flow.
This requires…
Internally, learning how to access your flow no matter what’s going on around you
Externally, designing a career strategy that angles your flow at a high-priority problem that someone will pay you good money to solve
Tactically, navigating the transition from the role you’re in to the role you want
For more writing on all 3 of these, check out my table of contents.
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I agree with this entirely - AI can only use what we give it, so a coach is so helpful in making sure you give it the right inputs. I'll also add that only a coach can hear if you have a limiting belief or perhaps hesitation in your voice or body language that's going to unlock the true, deeper answer.