The Four Approaches
Routine development, skill building, recurring performance patterns, ordinary growth conversations. AI preps. You lead.
Emotionally sensitive or complex situations where a script would make things worse. You are fully present, with no AI intermediary.
Performance crises, formal disciplinary processes, legal risk, and any situation where policy or documentation requirements apply.
Leadership transitions, trust repair, conflict between a manager and report, and transformational development that exceeds the manager's scope.
The Uncomfortable Scenario
Sam's story
A report Sam promoted two weeks ago to lead a team including her former peers comes to Sam upset: one former peer is openly undermining her in meetings. This is not a prep-with-AI situation. It involves trust repair, the report's confidence at a career inflection point, team political dynamics AI knows nothing about, and real-time emotional reading. Sam can use AI to think through questions beforehand, but the conversation itself demands full human presence. If the undermining continues, the right move is to involve HR, not to ask AI for a script. AI can help Sam prepare. AI cannot have this conversation.
Knowledge Check
For each situation, select the right approach. You will get instant feedback.
A strong individual contributor is preparing to take on their first team lead role next month. They are excited but have never managed before.
What is the right coaching approach?
Two senior engineers on your team have been in ongoing, openly hostile conflict for six weeks. Both are top performers. Neither has escalated it formally.
What is the right coaching approach?
A report has been with the team two years and is ready to discuss career growth. They have expressed interest in moving toward a more senior technical role.
What is the right coaching approach?
An employee discovers they were passed over for a promotion they strongly expected. They feel blindsided, are visibly angry, and have gone quiet with the team.
What is the right coaching approach?
Knowledge Check
1. According to the ICF (2024) and the Frontiers in Psychology study (2024), what is the part of coaching that AI is least able to replace?
2. The core rule for AI-assisted one-on-ones in this module is:
3. The SBI feedback model reduces defensiveness because it:
4. Which of these situations should be escalated to HR rather than handled with AI-assisted prep alone?
5. In career conversations, "skill adjacency" refers to:
Apply It Today
Look at your current coaching situations and sort each into one of the four buckets. Flag any that you have been trying to handle alone that actually need HR or an external coach.
Reflect