How does your organization help your employees to find their “True North” and become authentic leaders? Often, coaches and mentors serve as guiding forces to help employees to help them navigate the best paths forward.
Hollywood perpetuates the stereotype of a taciturn, grizzled veteran who imparts their wisdom and shares their experience via stories and occasionally enigmatic advice (think Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid, Professor Dumbledore from Harry Potter, Mickey Goldmill in Rocky). But these days, coaches and mentors are likely to utilize some form of artificial intelligence (AI) to personalize coaching—and could even be an AI coachbot.
“Managers used to have to listen to an entire sales call to gather insights and points for coaching,” writes Teri Long, vice president of Global Enablement at Mindtickle in “How to Become a Transformational Sales Coach.”With artificial intelligence (AI) embedded into a conversation intelligence tool, the AI will analyze everything in a call recording for managers and, on top of that, share timestamps for the points of note in the conversation for deeper analysis.”
To take it one step further, she adds, “a generative AI tool trained on historical data also can tell managers what the rep could have done better and what the top risks coming from the conversation are for the next call. Within seconds, managers can create action items for the rep and build a training plan for the future.”
In “How to Elevate Sales Coaching with AI Support,” ValueSelling Associates CEO Julie Thomas points to company research, conducted in collaboration with Aberdeen Strategy & Research, that shows companies integrating AI into their sales coaching activities experience a 3.3x year-over-year growth in sales team quota attainment compared to those that use AI alone. “Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach, AI personalizes training by analyzing performance data and adjusting learning paths accordingly,” Thomas writes. Her article features a five-step approach to implementing AI-based sales coaching.
Coaching Still Needs the Human Connection
Diane Newell, managing director at professional coaching company The OCM, agrees that AI is beginning to play an important role in leadership development and coaching but also cautions that AI cannot replace the human connection that underpins effective coaching. “AI tools can provide virtual coaching environments, where leaders can practice scenarios in a risk-free space. Such tools offer personalized feedback and create simulations that mirror real-world challenges,” she writes in “The Transformative Power of Leadership Coaching.” “However, the trust-based relationships between coaches and individuals are essential for addressing deeper, and long-lasting behavioral challenges.”
Author, executive coach, speaker, and Olympic finalist Rev. Dr. Susan Goldsworthy details the foundation of Secure Base Coaching: caring, daring, and sharing. “Secure Base Coaching invites us to reimagine leadership as a partnership—a journey of mutual growth where we empower ourselves and others to thrive,” she writes in “The Essentials of Secure Base Coaching: What It Is and Why It Matters.” “It empowers individuals and teams to embrace their aspirations and operate in a state of high performance, which releases productive energy where courage, curiosity, playfulness, and innovation flourish.”
Coaching Case Studies
This issue features several coaching case studies. Michele F. DeVeau, Psy.D., director of the Leadership Institute at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, details the three elements that made her organization’s transformation to a sustainable coaching culture possible.
We also provide coaching-related case studies from two of our Training Hall of Famers: Dollar General Corporation (Creating a Coaching Culture) and Rosendin (Performance Coaching Series).
Meaningful Mentoring
As noted in “How Mentorship Transforms Corporate Training and Development,” more than half of young professionals across the globe say they would leave a workplace without strong mentoring programs (PMI Workplace Engagement Survey), yet only about half of companies actively invest in mentorship, according to the Project Management Institute’s 2024 Pulse of the Profession report. The report shows organizations that offer resources such as mentoring are 8 percent more likely to achieve above-average project performance, reveals author Menaka Gopinath, PMI’s chief marketing officer. She offers six steps for building a successful mentorship program.
Like coaching, mentorship also can play a crucial role in building trust across an organization’s workforce, believes Garrett Richardson. “Team members who trust their colleagues and leaders are more likely to be loyal, share ideas, and perform their best—which not only makes for a more pleasant work environment, but ultimately enhances productivity and business outcomes,” he writes. “A thoughtfully designed and executed mentor program has the power to create long-term, meaningful connections among employees, whether they are young professionals or more experienced staff.” In “How Mentorship Can Strengthen the Workplace Through Trust,” he offers five steps organizations can take to build a new (or refine an existing) mentor program to enhance trust across their employee base.
One critical aspect is the cultural lens of both the mentor and mentee, notes intercultural management and career coach, mentor, trainer, and consultant Liu Liu. “A cultural lens refers to the way an individual perceives and interprets the world based on their cultural background and experiences,” he explains. “It shapes communication styles, decision-making processes, conflict resolution strategies, knowledge sharing, providing feedback, and approaches to leadership and learning.” He provides some key do’s and don’ts to guide mentors in culturally diverse mentoring engagements in “The Cultural Lens in Mentoring.”
Nominate a 2025 Emerging Training Leader
I’ve been lucky enough in my life to have had several mentors who have inspired me, challenged me, and helped me fulfill my career dreams and aspirations. I am a firm believer in “paying it forward.” I hope you are, too.
As such, I invite you to consider nominating one of your colleagues/peers, managers, or direct reports—at your organization or at a customer or vendor’s organization—for this year’s Emerging Training Leaders Awards.
This program aims to recognize training professionals who have been in the training/learning and development industry between two and 10 years and who have demonstrated exceptional leadership skills, business savvy, and training instincts. No self-nominations, please; nominations must come from managers, co-workers, peers/colleagues—each company can nominate up to 2 candidates. There is no fee to nominate someone.
The 25 winners will be featured in the March 2026 print issue of Training magazine, and an awards ceremony will be held during the Training 2026 Conference & Expo February 23-25, 2026, in Orlando, FL. The winners earning the 5 highest scores will receive a free registration to the Training 2026 Conference.
Please visit https://etl.trainingmag.com and take a few minutes to tell us about the amazing Emerging Training Leaders you know.
Apply for the Training MVP Awards
Coaching and mentoring also feature prominently in our Training MVP Awards program, which recognizes excellence in employer-sponsored training and development and honors those companies that are the Most Valuable Players (MVPs) in the Training/L&D industry.
The winners of the 2026 Training MVP Awards will be feted at a black-tie Gala February 23, 2026, in Orlando and featured in the March 2026 issue of Training magazine. Leverage your organization’s stellar training to boost brand recognition and employee recruitment, retention, and engagement, plus showcase to your senior leaders how critical training is to your organization’s success.
ALL applicants will receive a comprehensive feedback report and benchmark stats to help identify training gaps. The application deadline is September 2, 2025. Please e-mail me with any questions at: lorri@trainingmag.com
To download the application and scoring guidelines, please visit: https://MVPawards.trainingmag.com/
