What Happens Between Us: The Power of Group Coaching in an AI World

INTRO

When we think of coaching, we often imagine a one-to-one conversation, private, focused, intimate. But there is something quietly transformative that happens when we open up in the company of others, especially when the space is held with care, intention and presence.

This is the promise of group coaching. And perhaps, in a world that moves fast and often leaves us disconnected it is exactly what we need.

WHY GROUP COACHING

Group coaching is a space where people come together around a shared purpose or inquiry, such as living through transitions, growing our leadership, or creating a more aligned life. Within that shared purpose, each participant brings their own personal goal or question, something they want to explore or shift that is connected to the overarching theme.

Each voice is valued and insight emerges through listening, reflection and dialogue. The coach is there to guide gently. Great group coaching happens when the group becomes the coach. And so the coach supports with presence and attunement, intervening rarely and wisely.

One of the most powerful dynamics in group coaching is what systems thinkers call the relational field -what emerges 'in the space between' people:

• The quiet validation when someone names an emotion we recognise but have never voiced

• The insights we may get from seeing someone going about their life in a completely different way and still chasing the same goals

• The surprise aha moment when someone else’s story unlocks a stuck part of our own

• The mirror held up to us, kindly, clearly, by the presence of others walking their own paths

Group coaching offers new perspectives on the old questions we carry and reminds us we are not alone in our exploration.

IN THE AGE OF AI, HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS MATTER EVEN MORE

As AI begins to take on more of our tasks -writing content, solving problems, even coaching in some ways- we are invited to ask:

What can only happen between humans?

It is the unpredictable, deeply human experience of connection. It is what happens when people come together, bringing their stories, questions and presence and create something that cannot be replicated.

Group coaching invites us to stay with the unfolding, in a world that increasingly offers instant, pristine answers.

Recently, I was part of a group coaching experience that stayed with me. The feeling of being witnessed. The power of shared intention. The quiet moment when someone said something I had been afraid to name and made me feel seen.

The discomfort that arose, and the courage of not rushing to fix it, just holding space until something shifted.

That is the magic of group coaching.

Not always comfortable.

But often exactly what we need.

It reminded me why I want to keep creating spaces like this, where people can show up as they are, be met with presence and discover what becomes possible—together.