AI Is Clever. Leadership Is Human.

I love efficiency and I also love a good shortcut. AI coaching tools can be brilliant for reflection, prompts and thinking things through when time is tight, and I use them myself. They help leaders pause, reframe and spot patterns they might otherwise miss, especially when space for reflection feels squeezed.

But there is something I keep noticing in my work. Real change rarely happens only in the words. It happens in the pause before someone answers, in the shift of energy when a topic really lands, in the laugh that deflects just a little too quickly, and in the silence that says far more than the sentence ever could.

That is where human coaching still matters.

As a coach, I am watching posture, breath, cadence and tone all at once. I notice what speeds up, what flattens and what is carefully avoided. I hear confidence rise and drain away mid sentence, and I track those subtle cues as the conversation unfolds. They guide the questions I ask, the moments I choose to stay quiet and the times when a gentle challenge will open something new.

AI can absolutely support the process. It can help leaders prepare, reflect and sense check. It can make coaching more accessible and more regular, keeping momentum alive between sessions. What it cannot yet do is sit with discomfort, name what is happening in the room or trust intuition built from years of listening to humans wrestle honestly with change.

The most powerful approach is not either or. It is both, working together with intention.

AI for insight and momentum.
Human coaching for depth and transformation.

If you are curious about how coaching can really shift how you lead, let’s talk.
www.mentecoaching.com

#LeadershipCoaching #AICoaching #HumanLeadership #LeadingWell #FutureOfWork