Coaching is everywhere. It’s in the boardroom, the therapy room, the classroom, and the Zoom call. It promises breakthroughs, clarity, and momentum. And yet, it also invites scrutiny, sometimes, deservedly so.

In recent years, coaching has found itself under the microscope. A 2024 article titled “How the Life Coaching Industry Sells Pseudo-Solutions to Our Deepest Problems” questioned the very heart of the industry, accusing it of offering positivity-wrapped platitudes instead of practical solutions. The piece raised important objections:

• That anyone can call themselves a coach, regardless of training or accountability.
• That some coaching models minimise trauma, poverty, or systemic barriers, reframing them as mindset issues.
• That coaching sometimes strays into toxic positivity, where discomfort is seen as failure, and struggle is blamed on the struggler.

These critiques deserve reflection. At its worst, coaching can fall into the trap of cookie-cutter programs, generic affirmations, and superficial transformations.

But that’s not the full story, and it’s certainly not the future of coaching.

Coaching Done Well: The Quiet Revolution

At its best, coaching is a sacred, trusted relationship.

It is not about giving answers, it’s about asking better questions. It doesn’t assume, diagnose, or prescribe. It invites, listens, and gently holds up a mirror.

What makes this relationship effective is authenticity, not just on the part of the coachee but also of the coach. When a coach brings genuine presence and lived experience to the conversation (which AI cannot replicate, because it does not live, feel, or relate in the human sense) and holds a safe space, something powerful happens. The coachee feels seen, understood, and safe enough to explore deeply. Without that real-world resonance, coaching can feel hollow, leaving the client struggling to connect.

Real coaching doesn’t bypass suffering or sugar-coat struggle. It honours the complexity of being human, including the messy bits. It recognises systemic barriers, cultural differences, trauma, and context. It supports the client in seeing clearly, choosing consciously, and acting courageously.

And yes, coaching works.

From career leaps and confidence building to emotional healing and leadership development, the benefits are tangible and far-reaching. Coaching helps people reframe their inner world, expand their neurological awareness, navigate the outer world, and become more present in both.

Coaching Reimagined: The Future Needs a New Frame

This is where our book, Coaching Reimagined, with Dr. Suzanne Henwood, comes in. It is a powerful and timely book that calls for a deeper, more conscious coaching paradigm.

Instead of fitting people into rigid frameworks, this book invites flexibility, innovation, and empathy. It urges us to see the whole person, their psychology, biology, emotions, culture, and context.

Some key takeaways from Coaching Reimagined:

• Holistic Support: We are not minds floating in space; we are relational, embodied beings. Coaching must speak to all of us.
• Co-Creation, Not Correction: The best coaching relationships are partnerships, not hierarchies. Change emerges through shared exploration.
• Real Inclusion: Coaching must be as diverse and adaptable as the people it serves. One model does not always fit all.
• Tools with Soul: Techniques are helpful, but presence is transformative. The book offers both.
• Adapt or Fade: The future will not wait. Coaches who thrive will be those who evolve.

This is not coaching as a transaction. It is coaching as a living, breathing, relational art, one grounded in presence, shared humanity, and authentic connection.

The Question That Remains

Coaching, like any tool, is only as wise as the intention behind it. The hammer can build a home or destroy one. AI can assist consciousness, or distract from it. And coaching can awaken someone’s truth, or bypass it entirely.

So perhaps the question isn’t, should we coach? — but:

“Am I willing to meet another human being without needing to fix, rescue, or improve them… and instead hold space for who they truly are to emerge?”

And maybe that’s the future of coaching.
Not more answers. Just better questions.