At its essence, coaching exists to serve a client to clarify and move toward the greater success they desire to attain, and to help them clear any obstacles in the way. The role of the coach is to expertly apply...
Blog
Clients Don’t Need Advice
As coaches, we are hired to support our client to achieve their desired outcomes. Coaching is a partnership where the client brings knowledge about themselves, their circumstances, their strengths, hopes, fears, beliefs, mindset, and their life in general. The client...
What Managing Progress and Accountability Really Means
ICF core competency #11 – Managing Progress and Accountability – is an often misunderstood competency. There are two parts to this competency: 1. Managing Progress The first part of the ICF definition of this competency relates more to Managing Progress;...
Being Present Isn’t Easy
Without a doubt, one of the key coaching competencies is Coaching Presence. It is the center of the target in The Target Approach methodology I’ve created of how the ICF core competencies work in real life. There are two parts...
Are you crossing an ethical line without knowing?
I’m honored to listen to a lot of coaching session recordings in my role as a Mentor Coach and an active ICF Assessor for MCC, PCC and ACC credential applications. Sometimes a coach will cross an ethical line without realizing...
What’s the focus for this coaching session?
A coaching session is different from a conversation with a friend or colleague because it has a specific purpose. Not every conversation has a purpose. It is the responsibility of the coach to help the client to get the most...
The coaching skill of requests
A skill that coaches often use with clients is making a Request, which is based on the coach hearing or perceiving something that would be of use for the client to consider doing. The ICF core competencies of Direct Communication...
Why direct communication is an essential coaching competency
Once upon a time when coaching was still very new as a profession, there was the belief that asking curious questions was the only real coaching skill. While asking questions that are potentiallly powerful for the client is still...
Coaching Presence – dance with your coaching client
Great coaching is a flow of energy between coach and client, where you can't tell who is leading and who is following. This can be a difficult concept to grasp if you are identified with being in control, like running...
Coaching and performance anxiety
I'm guessing this has happened to you, as it has to me. When you are being assessed or evaluated in an exam process, do you move from your natural flow and knowing, into letting your mind take over and being...