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Why is coaching a dangerous illusion?

Personal development as practiced by coaches consists of applying conditioning methods, originally developed to improve athletes' performance, with a view to enhancing their social success.

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

If these methods work well in terms of social success—and are therefore widely used in the workplace—it is because they lead individuals to practice the game of alliances without restraint. The practical aspect leads to abandoning sincerity in favor of merely adopting an attitude that conforms to the social expectations of the target environment. In this sense, the use of coaching in the workplace can be seen as a sort of Faustian pact.

Thus, turning to personal development through coaching amounts to abandoning the goal of achieving a fulfilling life in favor of simply succeeding in life.

Furthermore, personal development propagates the myth of an omnipotent individual, who merely needs to liberate themselves from the shackles they impose on themselves and choose what to do with their life. It is often taught by individuals privileged by providence, who do not even realize that their personal experience is not generalizable.
In this sense, coaching and personal development represent an abandonment of political struggle, within a neo-patriarchal vision of the world in which protest for just reasons has no place, and the rhetoric of obedience has merely been replaced by that of adaptation.

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

Deepen

Start with the question 'If they want to succeed, people just need to work. We are in a democracy!', which clarifies the limits of our capacity for action.
Refer to the question 'How can one achieve a fulfilling life?'.
Watch the report 'The Business of Happiness' by Claire Alet and Jean-Christophe Ribot, broadcast by Arte and probably available on YouTube.
Add the question 'Putting an end to the abusive use of psychotropic drugs and psychotherapies'.
Finally, conclude with the question 'Why is politics important?'.