We all have experiences in our life where we feel more or less trust with another person. The more trust we feel with someone, the more safety there is for us to further express our deeper thoughts and feelings. Our behavior and actions change too. Our path through life can be dramatically affected by feelings of trust and safety, or lack thereof.
The more we feel safety to freely express ourselves, the more likely we are to contribute in positive ways to our communities and environments. And more positive contributions in every context of life experience supports us as interconnected people, in an interconnected world, whether we are fully aware of all of those interconnections, or not.
A key concept that increases or decreases trust and safety for others, is our Presence
As Professional Coaches, we are in the human development business, and our presence is what supports clients to gain the most from their coaching experience, or not.
If we are personal development oriented, then exploring and further developing our presence, is naturally an ongoing process.
ICF core competency #5: “Maintains Presence” is defined as, “Is fully conscious and present with the client, employing a style that is open, flexible, grounded and confident.”
ICF core competency #4: Cultivates Trust and Safety is defined as,“Partners with the client to create a safe, supportive environment that allows the client to share freely. Maintains a relationship of mutual respect and trust.”
ICF recognizes the interconnectedness between trust, safety and presence when defining minimum skill requirements for their three credential levels which are ACC (beginner skill level), PCC (mid skill level) and MCC (master skill level). You can find statements of this interconnection on the ICF website by reading Competency 5 information for ACC and MCC minimum skill requirements.
For some reason, ICF does not currently provide PCC minimum skill requirements information. For this article, I’m referencing MCC information to explore their mastery level of trust, safety and presence for a Master Certified Coach. However, reading the ACC information is useful, as it provides a foundational level of understanding. At the same time, this article is for every coach, as the mindset and behaviors are equally relevant for coaches of any experience level.
Exploring the Interconnectedness of trust, safety and presence of a Master Certified Coach (MCC)
Below is some of the ICF published information for MCC on what will not pass for Competencies 4 and 5. You can find the information on what will and won’t pass at the same link already provided.
This article explores ICF “what not to do” statements for MCC skill level, might provide further insight about their meaning to us as Professional Coaches, Professional Mentor Coaches, and Professional Mentor Supervisors.
MCC skill level – what not to do – published by ICF
ICF notes that Cultivates Trust and Safety and Maintains Presence are quite related competencies. Therefore, a coach will not receive a passing score Competency 5: Maintains Presence with the client on the MCC performance evaluation if;
– the coach does not treat the client as a full partner, choosing not only the agenda but also participating in the creation of the coaching process itself. Such lack of full partnership is demonstrated if the coach exhibits interest in the coach’s view of the situation rather than the client’s view.
– if the coach does not invite the client to share their thinking on an equal level with the coach.
Comments by Carly
The concept of Partnering is central to the ICF philosophy of coaching. 
Indeed, ICF has as their definition of coaching, “Partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”
Turning the above ICF published information into “what to do” means (in my words) the coach respects the client has knowledge about themselves that the coach does not know. The coach trusts the client to be in partnership with the coach to decide on how a coaching relationship, and each coaching session, will be structured. The coach demonstrates flexibility and confidence in their ability to collaborate with the client.
If the client does not know what they want to achieve in a coaching session, the coach mindset is one of curiosity and offering possibilities to the client based on what they are learning about the client. And still, the coach trusts the client to decide.
One way of partnering is what I call the “Platter Approach,” where the coach might have heard 3 or 4 possible topics or directions by listening to the client. For example, “I’ve heard you mention so far some possible directions when you spoke about x. Then there was y, and also z. Which one of those seems most valuable for you to gain further clarity around next? Or perhaps that prompts another direction for you?” Another question might be, “I heard x, y and z; what might be a common theme underlying all of these?”
The opposite approach to partnering would be the coach telling the client what the topic or direction will be. Or leading the client based on coach comfort with expertise they have and want to share.
Resource: Various aspects of Partnering are explained in The Upgraded Target Approach
MCC skill level – what not to do – published by ICF
– the coach does not seek information from the client about the client’s thinking, or seek information about the client’s goals.
Comments by Carly
The opposite of the published information is to seek information from the client about the client’s thinking. Although this goes beyond thinking to include emotions and sensations (feelings). As well as Partnering with the client to seek information about the client’s goals (refer to above about Partnering mindset).
The ICF Updated Core Competency Model for Competency 4 and Competency 5, provides many sub-point statements describing the mindset of the coach; here are a few I’ve extracted:
ICF competency 4.1: “seeks to understand the client within their context which may include their identity, environment, experiences, values and beliefs”
One way to listen to the client is from the curiosity of “this client is someone who….” For example, This client is someone who believes in equality for all, yet seems conflicted in how to act that way in their team.
Initially, the coach might not say this aloud to the client and instead hear a number of possible ways they could respond to the client. Or the coach might offer to the client for example, “As you were speaking, I got a sense you are someone who believes in equality for all, yet seems conflicted in how to act that way with your team dynamics as they are. What’s your sense of that though?”
ICF competency 5.4: “Coach demonstrates confidence in working with strong client emotions”
I would expand this statement to confidence working with any level of client emotions, from subtle to more overt expression of emotions. Sometimes a client will say something that seems to indicate more is being felt than being expressed. Perhaps the coach can inquire if that is so for the client, and if they feel comfortable to share more.
Note: In June 2024, a new animated movie was released called, Inside Out 2. This is a masterclass in understanding (some) key emotions. I highly recommend for all Coaches, kids and adults of all ages.
MCC skill level – what not to do – published by ICF
– if the coach’s attention seems to be on the coach’s own performance or demonstration of knowledge.
Comments by Carly
The opposite of the published information is for coach to be more focused on understanding their client, and supporting their coaching client to connect to more of their self-knowledge.
Often, coaches believe their expertise or knowledge is the most important thing, and they want to impart their expertise or knowledge. Perhaps they even want to be a coach to meet their own need to be valued for what they know.
Too often, coaches enable helplessness in their clients because they are attached to their own performance and demonstration of knowledge, telling the client what or how to do something.
The sharing of expertise / knowledge is more the role and mindset of a consultant, teacher, or educator. The role of coach is to first and foremost support the client to realize how much self-knowledge they already have (through coach asking questions, offering observations, and other coaching skills). To support the client to connect to their self-knowledge, and to their resourcefulness.
Only then, does the question of what else does the client need to be successful become needed. And to support client to determine their best way to access resources.
Here are some sub-point statements from competencies 4 and 5 about the mindset of a Professional Coach, to keep the “spotlight” on the client:
ICF competency 5.2: “demonstrates curiosity…”
Curiosity is the fundamental mindset of a Professional Coach. We can be curious about how the client self-expresses; their thinking, their feeling/sensations, their emotions, their ways of exploring – visual, metaphorical, logical, imaginative… There is also curiosity about the client situation, dilemma, or opportunity.
ICF competency 5.5: “is comfortable working in a space of not knowing”
In tandem with curiosity, is the mindset of not knowing. This concept of not knowing is what differentiates a Professional Coach, from a teacher, educator, consultant, parent or mentor.
To “not know,” means we don’t know how this client thinks, feels, acts, reacts. We only know them for a coaching session, or 10. Yet we really don’t know everything about our client, ever. Even if we’ve experienced a situation “exactly” like our client, it is never exactly the same. Because our client is not us; they are living their life different than we are. They have past and present experiences that are different than our own.
However, in the “not knowing” space, we can have confidence in what we do know: how to use our presence, to create trust and safety for the client. We can know how to replicate high quality coaching sessions because we understand how to partner to create a client-driven coaching session agreement. We can be masterful at our use of coaching skills. And be masterful creating an environment of safety for the client to trust their coach with more self-expression than they might otherwise be willing to share.
Questions for self-reflection
As coaches, we are always practicing and preparing, so we can be the best coach possible, every time, for our clients. ICF core competency #2: Embodies a Coaching Mindset, addresses this mindset of preparation, and of personal and professional development.
Here are some questions for your consideration to explore:
- How would you describe your relationship with Trust?
- How would you describe your relationship with Safety?
- How do you answer this question for yourself; “I’m someone who….”
- What do you observe is the impact of your Presence, in a coaching session?
- What do you observe is the impact of your Presence, in various life situations?
- What are your “Presence Practices” to use from a few seconds to minutes before, and during, each coaching session?
- What’s your relationship like with silence, and spaciousness?
- How comfortable are you “in your body, in your own skin” and with the expression of a full range of emotions by another person, to you?
- How comfortable are you with your own full self-expression of emotions?
In Closing…
In this article, I’ve only explored a few of the aspects of trust, safety and presence. The ICF Core Competencies provide a rich opportunity for deep exploration. I invite you to further explore competencies 4 and 5 in particular, as these competencies are the foundations from which each credential skill level, including MCC, are derived.
Written by Carly Anderson, MCC
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