Jonathan Passmore, Sandra J. Diller, Sam Isaacson and Maximillian Brantl (Eds.)
Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2024
375 Pages. Paperback £29.99 / USD $41.59
ISBN-13: 978-1-032-46904-1
DOI:10.4324/9781003383741
Reviewed by Petra Walker, AFBPsS, CPsychol
If you have not yet read a paper or book with Jonathan Passmore’s name somewhere on the cover, this is a good place to start. He has written, co-authored and edited over forty books on coaching, business and leadership and is one of the world’s top thought leaders in the field of coaching psychology. The Digital and AI Coaches’ Handbook follows some of his recent successful publications such as The Coaches’ Handbook (Passmore, 2020) and The Ethical Coaches Handbook (Smith et al., 2023).
With four editors and 47 named contributors, ranging from academics to practitioner coaches to entrepreneurs who have led the wave of AI coaching platforms, I have been excitedly anticipating reading this book since its launch at the British Psychological Society Division of Coaching Psychology Conference in London in June this year. Not because I am keen to embrace AI in my practice but because I know I cannot stick my head in the sand when it comes to AI and technology in coaching.
As with any book published by Routledge, this book is solidly grounded in evidence, with each chapter including several pages of references. After an initial introduction to coaching, technology and AI, the book is divided into seven parts, each subdivided into two to six chapters. Designed to be dipped into rather than read cover to cover, it offers a wide-ranging overview of digital coaching and the use of AI for the coach, with the occasional deep dive.
Part I: Coaching Practice
Part one contains five chapters. These start by focusing on your coaching practice and how digital coaching has transformed the landscape. They ask questions about whether your mindset is flexible in the face of changing technology and whether you know how to keep up to date with the skills you need to foster to survive. In chapter three, one question stood out: do we have an ethical imperative to stay informed on the latest advancements? It led me to wonder whether I should be doing more in this direction for my clients’ benefit or whether I was getting it just right, knowing that any tools, digital or otherwise, need to be held lightly and that my way of being is an essential component of the coaching relationship.
Chapter four covers marketing. Two sections are now marked in my copy of this book, one on the key questions I should be asking myself when looking at my marketing strategy and the other being a very helpful digital marketing checklist. The last chapter in this book section looks at the impact and side effects of digital coaching. Considering that digital coaching is now a major part of the coaching industry, this is a much-needed reminder that although the research is that digital coaching is just as good as face-to-face, there are drawbacks – some for the client and others for the coach.
Part II: Technologies
As someone who started coaching before Facebook became popular, I felt nervous that I could be technologically left behind, so I approached this section with curiosity. The first chapter looks at the topic of video coaching, a modality that gained enormous traction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Covering many of the advantages (no long commutes between clients) and challenges we may face when using video coaching, it explains the additional fatigue we may feel when coaching online. It suggests practical areas for which to contract. So far, so comforting. Chapter seven was a fascinating look at AI coaching chatbots, with suggestions of how they could be harnessed to streamline our coaching processes. Key areas such as ethics are covered, and whether we should be worried the bots will take over our industry.
The remaining chapters in this section look at creative tools, constellation work, virtual reality and reflection. All of these areas require the coach and the client to be comfortable in the use of the tools. Although I have a few notes of tools to explore and play with before I decide whether to add them to my toolkit, I do feel that the author of the virtual reality chapter has missed the very obvious challenges of perceived cost and lack of familiarity with the technology when it comes to its more widespread use.
Part III: Critical Factors
When it comes to critical factors in digital coaching, I was particularly interested in reading about cybersecurity and ethics, as these are the areas that I feel least secure in my knowledge of. Needless to say, my list of actions around reviewing my cybersecurity is long, and my need for reflection on the multifaceted aspects of ethics in the digital coaching space is high.
Part IV: Digitisation and Diversity
One of the aspects of digital coaching that I love is that it can remove potential barriers to coaching for people with disabilities or are remotely based. This section of the book explores how AI can address diversity and discrimination in time. The first chapter highlights how AI can exhibit bias due to how the systems learn and the populations programmers often use to teach them. Many examples are given, and while these are fascinating (and worrying), the focus is more general than coaching-focused. This comes into sharp focus in the second chapter, where we experience some conversations with AI tools and explore how AI could potentially help those speaking minority languages access coaching in the future. This section’s third and final chapter looks at how AI can support neurodivergent people. With the awareness that neurodivergence is currently very topical, I was highly interested in reading this chapter, as I am seeing more neurodivergent clients in my own practice. This was a very practical chapter, with a comprehensive list of things I should be doing or offering as a coach and those that coaches should avoid. Once again, this has prompted a reflection on my own coaching practice, not least on what assumptions I currently make around my client’s needs.
Part V: The Coaching Industry
This section of the book looks at where AI can be used within the coaching industry—how we can harness it for efficiency and what potentially lies ahead in our profession. AI can be used alongside our human interactions and relationships with clients, adding value. It explores how we already have digital platforms in the business-to-business category and how pricing is already affected. It leaves us questioning how we can differentiate ourselves, standing out as both relevant and competitive to our future clients.
Part VI: Coaching Practice
With two chapters covering one-to-one coaching and team coaching over digital platforms, these two chapters should be on everyone’s reading list.
Part VI: Case Studies
The final section of this book contains eleven case studies. It is the only section that does not include references. Instead, it showcases platforms such as EZRA, CoachHub, and Ovida AI. Each chapter focuses on a different platform, examining its development, impact on the coaching world, and vision for the future.
While this might be seen as a sales pitch for the organizations featured, it came across as truly informative. I found myself fascinated at how each of the platform developers had found a way to harness technology and AI to better the quality of life for their clients.
Conclusion
This book has prompted me to reflect on how much my coaching practice now relies on technology, from digitally communicating with prospective clients, booking sessions on my digital calendar, working across geographical boundaries, and tools I use in online coaching sessions. While I read the book cover to cover, it is designed to be dipped into, referred to when needed, or when you have a spare hour to read. I came away with a long list of areas to reflect on, some concrete actions to take, and a belief that all coaches should read at least one chapter from this book if they practice on a digital platform.
Book Reviewer
Petra Walker is the founder of Petra Walker Coaching & Supervision, which offers positive psychology coaching, leadership coaching and coach supervision. She is an author, a Chartered Coaching Psychologist, an EMCC Senior Practitioner and is accredited as PCC by the ICF.