Lunch & Learn: Existential coaching with John Gray

Coaching for the Polycrisis

The Academy of Executive Coaching (AOEC), a leading provider of accredited executive coach training, positioned existential coaching as a model explicitly designed for uncertain times in a December 2025 article by faculty member John Gray. This approach draws from existential philosophy to address core human concerns—meaning, freedom, isolation, and mortality—applied to coaching leaders and professionals facing relentless volatility.

Recent years have intensified these pressures. The lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, escalating geopolitical tensions, climate emergencies, and rapid AI advancements have converged into what commentators term a 'polycrisis.' Executives report rising anxiety over purpose and legacy, with surveys in related fields showing increased executive burnout rates and disengagement in high-stakes roles. By 2025-2026, coaching literature increasingly frames existential approaches as essential for fostering resilience and authentic decision-making when conventional tools focused on targets and metrics fall short.

The stakes are tangible. Organisations risk leadership attrition and flawed strategic choices when executives grapple unresolved with meaninglessness or inauthenticity; estimates from coaching bodies suggest poor mental well-being contributes to billions in lost productivity annually. Individuals face personal costs too—strained relationships, health declines, and mid-career crises—particularly as demographic shifts and technological change force reevaluations of identity and contribution.

Non-obvious tensions emerge here. Existential coaching prioritises embracing uncertainty and paradox over quick fixes, clashing with corporate cultures that reward certainty and optimisation. It challenges the dominant positive psychology-infused coaching paradigm by surfacing uncomfortable truths rather than reframing them positively. Critics might argue it risks over-philosophising practical problems, yet proponents counter that ignoring these deeper layers leads to superficial change that fails under sustained pressure. John Gray's work, including his role in AOEC's Climate Coaching Certificate, ties this approach to real-world applications like responding to environmental and social crises.

As 2026 unfolds, the rise of this method reflects a broader shift: coaching is evolving from performance enhancement to a tool for existential navigation in a world where old certainties have eroded.