Put Me In, Coach

Companies have several options for using artificial-intelligence coaching—for example, new-manager onboarding, managing up, goal setting, real-time feedback preparation, and embedding leadership values. That's according to Lindsay Bernhagen and Al Dea in "Amplify Leadership Development With AI Coaching."

While some people may think of an AI coach as a robotic voice sim-ilar to the ones they often hear via a customer service call, AI coaching is far different.

As leadership becomes increasingly stretched with more and more demands, talent development professionals can select an AI coaching tool that provides in-the-flow-of-work assistance that is scalable and personalized. Keep the following tips in mind.

Identify a real-life leadership challenge and use the tool with a test group of individuals. Do the AI coach's responses feel thoughtful? Are they appropriate for the situation? Do they help foster growth in the coachee?

Determine its adaptability. Does it reference previous conversations it had with the coachee? Test the tool with a thread to see whether it refers to prior discussions.

Look for cultural alignment. Prompt the tool with an internal acronym to learn whether the technology recognizes it. If not, but the tool is otherwise useful, upload internal resources and frameworks so it can access the information in the future.

Explore whether coachees can get assistance via both text and voice. Do both modalities work smoothly?

As the authors write, "AI coaching isn't here to replace the coach. It's here to support the leader." Before exploring AI coaching, understand your why issue of TD at Work. Learn more at td.org/TDatWork.