Boardroom Beat # 30 - An AI Learning Adventure (and an Imposter Experience)

Coaching deploys Socratic methods so that clients “discover answers within.” Coaching methodologies:
1.    Nudge beyond comfort.
2.    Foster curiosity,
3.    Question assumptions.

Recently I tested all three on self with a leap into the unknown. At the 11th hour of a deadline last Fall I pushed “send” on a proposal to present “The Impact of AI on Coaching” at the Globalization and Localization Conference in Valencia, Spain. Over 500 attendees from 63 countries gathered to explore “AI: Dos and Don’ts, Myths and Truth.” 

Was I concerned that my presentation proposal would not be accepted? To the contrary, I was anxious that it would be! The proposal submission was more akin to a jump off a cliff than an apprehensive step into the unknown. The imposter whisper challenged the notion of validity of my voice on an emerging tech topic as “enough.”  

Even as I learned and prepared for Valencia over the ensuing months confidence was fleeting in my decision to step up to the podium and into the spotlight to discuss emerging AI trends. I was able to fully identify with clients on the Imposter Experience through which I often coach. Situational imposter experience crescendos in the face a new and daunting challenge. On a humorous note, it may have been exacerbated when my normally supportive adult children asked incredulously “They ask you to present on AI?”

The first step beyond comfort is the hardest because fear manifests in inertia. One antidote is assuming a posture of curiosity with a dive in to new learning. When I took one step and then another, the walk got easier. I picked up the pace and lost myself in the fun of the curiosity journey. I took these steps:

*    added content about AI to my daily news feed, 
*    researched the positions of U.S. based International Coaching Federation,
*    reviewed the published AI Ethics Guidance of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council,
*    engaged an AI coaching chatbot,
*    surveyed the i3 Coaching client base,
*    leveraged ChatGPT to build out the survey,
*    interviewed the Founder and CEO of Rocky.AI, a personal development platform and Al Coaching app.
*    began using free ChatGPT on one browser and paid ChatGPT on another browser to compare the utility,
*    designed the graphic for my opening slide using the AI image generator Dall-E and the AI prompt assistant Photorealistic to help tune the prompt.

Getting out of comfort zones and proceeding with curiosity typically exposes limiting assumptions. This is where growth, learning, and creative solutions happen. New versions of self and new possibilities for life or business choices open up. For example;

Limiting assumption #1: “I am not tech-y enough to speak out on AI.”
New version of self: I am a speaker who inspires the curiosity of others about AI.

Limiting assumption #2: A presentation about AI must be data driven by an AI expert,
New truth: Case studies of coaching sessions with transformational results dependent on relational context added powerful perspective. These “real life” stories engaged the audience.

Limiting assumption #3: AI system based Coaching/Human Coaching is an either/or in which AI is a substitution for the human coach.
New possibilities for business: 
*    Repetitious  i3 Coaching content may be well positioned for AI deployment. 
*    Deployment of curated AI coaching content in combination with human 1:1 checkpoints may help corporate clients democratize and scale coaching to new users.

Walking in the shoes of my clients though an imposter experience drew on three critical elements of the coaching partnership (discomfort, curiosity, assumption.) In addition to an exhilarating boost of confidence and sense of achievement there were three positive business outcomes.

1.    i3 Coaching brand aligns with a client base of thought leaders and innovators.
2.    Immediate task automations and client session ideations.
3.    Future possibilities for expansion of business model.

Empowerment flowed from realizing I did not have to be the ultimate AI expert to provide a meaningful experience for the audience at GALA. Presentation feedback was immensely validating. Conference closing remarks by respected industry leader Véronique Özkaya spoke to my heart. She urged attending leaders to adopt a stance of vulnerable confidence. “In times of fast change and uncertainty a leader must be confident with vulnerability. It requires strength to be vulnerable”

With vulnerable confidence I presented “The Impact of AI on Executive Coaching.” What might vulnerable confidence lead you to try?

Author’s Note

Some ask, why all the noise about AI? These startling facts from a Reuters technology report are an indicator that curiosity about AI implications is warranted.

*    A then unknown company OpenAI silently released ChatGPT on November 30, 2022.
*    The application had one million subscribers within two months.
*    This set the record for the fastest growing consumer app in the history of the internet.
*    For context, it took Netflix 3.5 years and Twitter 24 months to achieve this benchmark.