In this new occasional series, Sam Isaacson explores technology and coaching.
This issue: Ascending to the summit – technology and the future of coaching
Picture the readers of this magazine walking together in a large group across the countryside. Just ahead sits a towering mountain range, its majestic peaks stretching to the heavens.
The landscape represents the realm of technology, a vast, awe-inspiring terrain that can’t be ignored. And yet you overhear murmuring. Some seem to be choosing to avert their gaze from the impending challenge, dismissing it as an irrelevance that should be ignored. From your vantage point, however, you can see that the path they’re choosing leads to a dangerous quagmire of stagnation.
Technology, like a mighty mountain being forced upwards by tectonics, rises around us with unrelenting force. It influences the world we inhabit, reshaping the way we connect with and understand the world and our place in it. Some of our clients already seem to be climbers on this digital mountain, equipped with the tools of the modern age. If we’re to truly reach them, as every good coach should, do we need to ascend alongside them, embracing the technology?
That’s not a betrayal of our coaching practice, despite our profession’s foundations in the purely human activities of presence, connection and conversation. Rather, when used well, technology offers us an opportunity to enhance our impact. Coaches harness the power of video conferencing platforms to connect with clients across vast distances, breaking free from physical boundaries. Coaching buyers finally realise their dreams of delivering coaching at scale and across time zones through digital aggregators. Coaching sponsors gain insights into organisational culture and quality assurance.
By adopting appropriate technologies in an appropriate way, we remain relevant and gain the ability to shape the future of the profession. Just as skilled mountaineers blaze trails to conquer unexplored summits, there are pioneers in our realm too. These people navigate uncharted territories, testing new methodologies and forging innovative paths for others to follow. Technology is their climbing rope, securing their foothold and pulling others up with them as they ascend to new heights. The question to ask now is: Who are those pioneers? Are they even coaches? Could you be one of them?
Let’s not shy away from the challenges that lie ahead and around us. Instead, let’s view the impact of technology with curiosity – more than that, with excitement. As mountaineers conquer treacherous slopes to revel in breathtaking vistas, we can do the same. As we take ownership of the technology it offers us panoramic views of opportunities we never before dreamed possible.
As the world around us insists on continually evolving, our survival depends on our ability to adapt, as it always has done. The future belongs to those who embrace the adventure, those who dare to explore and harness the power of technology. We must equip ourselves with knowledge, skill, and perhaps most of all determination.
This moment is a time for us to lift our eyes and become intrigued, even exhilarated by the impact of technology on coaching. As we take whatever our next hesitant steps might feel like, we’ll continue to make a lasting impact on the lives of our clients and the systems they play a part in. Together, we can safeguard and shape the future of the coaching profession, ensuring its relevance and vitality for generations to come.
- Next topic: Getting practical: five technology tools to improve coaching practice
- Sam Isaacson is a coaching supervisor and coachtech thought leader. He writes a popular LinkedIn newsletter and has written books on coaching with technology. He’s also the founder of the Coachtech Collective, an open, online community dedicated to coaches grappling with technology, and works closely with the ICF and EMCC Global. With a background in professional services and a disruptive coachtech startup, he’s chair of the UK Government’s coaching apprenticeship.