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Why is coaching a dangerous illusion?

Personal development as practiced by coaches consists of applying conditioning methods, developed to improve the performance of athletes, with a view to improving social success.

In the world of sport, coaching aims to optimize motivation during training through conditioning and limit the effect of stress on the day of the competition. This form of conditioning is productive in the world of sport, because a sport is a game, with simple rules and a structured and predictable course. Conversely, in the real world, conditioning has a huge counterpart which is the inability to effectively take into account new facts. Put more simply, conditioning is a form of robotization of the individual.

If these methods work well in terms of social success, and therefore are widely used in the world of work, it is because they lead the individual to practice the game of alliances without restraint. The practical aspect leads to renouncing sincerity, in favor of a simple attitude consistent with the social expectations of the target environment. In this sense, the use of coaching in the world of work can be seen as a sort of Faustian pact.

The use of personal development through coaching therefore corresponds to abandoning the objective of succeeding in life in favor of simply succeeding in life.

D'autre part, le développement personnel véhicule le mythe d'un individu tout puissant, qui n'aurait qu'à se libérer des carcans qu'il s'impose à lui même, et choisir ce qu'il veut faire de sa vie. Il est souvent enseigné par des individus privilégiés par la providence, qui ne se rendent même pas compte que leur expérience personnelle n'est pas généralisable.
En ce sens, le coaching, et le développement personnel, sont un renoncement à la lutte politique, dans une vision néo-patriarcale du monde dans laquelle la contestation pour de justes motifs ne trouve pas sa place, et la rhétorique de l'obéissance a juste été remplacée par celle de l'adaptation.

Finally, it ignores the primordial effect of the infernal triangle of cognitive dissonance presented in the question 'What is cognitive dissonance?'.

Go deeper

Start with the question 'If they want to succeed, people just have to work. We are in a democracy!' which specifies the limits of our capacity for action.
Refer to question 'How to succeed in life?'
Watch the report The business of happiness by Claire Alet and Jean-Christophe Ribot, broadcast by Arte, and probably available on YouTube.
Complete with the question 'Put an end to the abusive use of psychotropic drugs and psychotherapies'.
Finally, end with the question 'Why is politics important?'.