AI as Your Coaching Supervisor? Unveiling ChatGPT's Surprising Supervisory Skills!

Can ChatGPT act as a Solution Focused Coaching supervisor? I wanted to find out. In this blogpost, you can find a conversation between myself and ChatGPT and my reflections on its performance.

In my (limited) experience, giving ChatGPT a description of the project, the role it should play, some context and output specifications really helps it to do what I need from it. So here is my prompt and the ensuing conversation:

User

Project description: I am a coach and need a coaching supervisor to reflect on my practice and grow professionally. Please assume the role of a Solution Focused coaching supervisor. I would like to have a conversation with you where you act as a Solution Focused coaching supervisor.

ChatGPT

I'm glad you're seeking to reflect on and grow in your practice as a coach. As your Solution Focused coaching supervisor, my aim is to help you harness your strengths, identify opportunities for growth, and develop strategies to enhance your coaching effectiveness. Let's start by focusing on what you're already doing well.

To begin our conversation, could you share a recent coaching session or scenario where you felt particularly effective or satisfied with the outcome? What specific actions or approaches did you take in that session that you believe contributed to its success?

User

I had a coaching process with a client who I initially felt reluctant to take on as our personalities are very different. He is very perfectionistic and insecure and I am more easy going. I felt that the gap was pretty big and was not sure whether I would be able to relate to him. I ended up deciding to enter into the process. During our coaching process he opened up more and more, the conversations became lighter and lighter, there was laughter and he was able to reflect on his perfectionism, let go and also relate to his team in a more understanding and less rigid way, even though this had not been a topic in our conversations.

ChatGPT

It sounds like you navigated a potentially challenging coaching relationship with great sensitivity and skill, leading to a positive outcome for your client. Your ability to connect with someone whose personality significantly differs from yours speaks volumes about your adaptability and empathy as a coach. The fact that your client was able to open up, reflect on his perfectionism, and make tangible changes in how he relates to his team, even without directly addressing this topic, suggests that the environment you created was one of trust and safety.

Building Rapport with Diverse Clients: You successfully built a strong rapport with a client whose initial disposition seemed at odds with your own. What strategies or techniques did you use to bridge the gap in personalities and create a conducive atmosphere for your client to open up?

Facilitating Self-Reflection and Change: Your sessions facilitated significant self-reflection and behavioral change in your client. Can you identify the moments or interventions that were pivotal in guiding your client to these insights and changes? How did you encourage him to explore and reflect on his perfectionism?

Maintaining an Effective Coaching Stance: Dealing with a client who is perfectionistic and insecure, while maintaining an easy-going approach, can be challenging. How did you manage your own reactions and maintain a coaching stance that supported your client's growth, especially when dealing with differences in personalities?

Leveraging Humor and Lightness: The introduction of laughter and lightness into your sessions is noteworthy. How did you find the balance between keeping the conversations light, yet meaningful and impactful? What role do you think this atmosphere played in your client's ability to let go of some of his rigidity?

Observing Unspoken Changes: You noted that your client became more understanding and less rigid with his team, even though this was not a direct topic of conversation. What does this tell you about your approach to coaching, and how might you intentionally incorporate this observation into your future practice?

Reflecting on these questions can deepen your understanding of your strengths and the effective strategies you've employed. It also helps identify areas for further development or new techniques you might incorporate into your coaching repertoire.

Reflection

If ChatGPT was my supervision client who asked for feedback on their Solution Focused supervision session, I would ask the following questions:

- How did it become clear for you what your client wanted from the session and which function the supervision session should have: restorative, educational, quality assurance...?

- You mentioned “your aim” for the supervision session, what was your intention when you did that?

- How did you explore the context of the supervision session, who would notice that it was worth spending the time in supervision and what they would be noticing?

- How did you invite the coaching client to explore the difference the supervision session would make in their coaching practice?

- You used many abstract terms that did not come from your client: “sensitivity, skill, empathy, adaptability, trust, safety”. Is that something that is typical to your practice? How do you think about using abstractions and words that do not come from the client?

- In your reflection questions, you mention “strategies and techniques” of the your client. What is your understanding of coaching and the relationship between coach and client in general?

- You also mention “guiding your client” – would it be interesting for you to explore your thinking around the role of a coach?

- Your questions around the coaching stance and leveraging humor and lightness is really interesting. Would you be interested in exploring your supervisory stance around these topics?

Through my questions, it probably becomes clear what my reservations are: no supervisory agreement, assumptions on the part of the supervisor, use of abstractions rather than delving into descriptions of observable behavior and not much partnering with the client. When I included these reservations into my prompt, ChatGPT got a bit better but still used many abstractions and, in addition, also started asking many questions about “the problem” rather than a desired future – I will continue working on the prompts, just for fun. When I want real supervision, I’ll go to one of my friends at SolutionsAcademy 😊.

If you would like to explore coaching supervision, AI and any other coaching related topics or learn about our classes, why not come and join us at one of our free meetups and exchanges.

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