Coach Development

Have you ever paused to consider what you’re communicating to your client through your coaching presence? Initially, this might seem like a strange question; surely, coaching presence is simply about how you’re showing up and being with your client in each moment during a coaching session. However, as you deepen your understanding of presence, it takes on new significance and walks hand in hand with who you are as a coach and your coaching philosophy. What is Presence, Really? Etymologically, presence derives from the Latin word praesentia. Prae implies a sense of being in front of something, and sentia relates ...

Originally posted on writewithai.xyz "Can an algorithm inspire a breakthrough moment of self-belief?" What happens when ancient wisdom meets silicon certainty? As I witness the explosion of AI coaching tools, I'm struck not by questions of replacement, but by deeper wonderings about the nature of human connection and how wisdom emerges between people. The truth I've observed through years of coaching is both humbling and profound: wisdom doesn't flow from coach to client like water from a vessel. Instead, it emerges in the space between two human beings who meet as equals, each bringing their whole selves to the conversation. ...

At Coach Advancement, we value our alumni and have worked hard to create meaningful ongoing support to those who have trained with us. Some of the benefits our alumni can take advantage of are quarterly Coaching Clinics, participation in Coaching with Conscience projects, Coaching Circles, Book Club, discounts on programmes and more!  Today we’re going to take a closer look a the Alumni Book Club. We are currently in the midst of our ninth book and interest continues to grow around this offering. Books have long been a source ...

What do you notice? Do you remember those puzzles from childhood – spot the difference? The photos above are almost the same view on different days – apart from the obvious me swimming in one of them, what else do you notice? Things change over time. Reflecting gives us an opportunity to notice, to recognise, to explore, to think. The luxury of space to wonder… I reflect a great deal now but didn’t really when I was younger. Though reflecting on that statement, it is not quite true! I reflected but in less structured ways perhaps. As an individual, I ...

Ever Felt Stuck, Bored, or Overly Nurturing During a Coaching Session? If you’ve found yourself experiencing these unexpected feelings during a session, you’re not alone. Many coaches, even experienced ones, encounter moments when the energy in the room shifts or their role seems to change. Maybe you feel unusually nurturing toward a client or, conversely, find yourself feeling disengaged. Often, these responses aren’t random—they’re telling us something valuable about the client’s relational patterns or even the impact they unknowingly have on others. The magic lies in recognising these reactions as insights that can be used to help the client achieve ...

What do you see? Do you see what I see? How do you know? Language is often thought of as a fairly precise tool. We say what we want, and we mean what we say – or do we? Language can be like our vision – how do we know what someone else means? In terms of Transactional Analysis what we say can have two messages – a social message and a psychological message. This could be derived from the tone we use or the words we use. So, thinking about words – if I say something, how do I ...

When clients engage a coach, they experience a different type of conversation. For some, it may be the first time that they’ve felt genuinely listened to, seen, or understood, and this can have a profound and positive impact on the client’s journey of self-discovery and transformation. Clients might describe the coach as having a real ‘presence’. But what is coaching presence? And how might a coach learn to increase it? And what if we could create a formula for coaching presence? The International Coaching Federation (ICF) core competency framework is a valuable starting point for gaining insights. Specifically, Competency 5: ...

What Does it Mean to Work in the Here and Now? As coaches, we aim to be fully present with our clients, but what does this really entail? Working in the Here and Now goes beyond active listening or surface-level awareness; it’s about deeply engaging with what is happening between you and your client at this exact moment. It requires a certain level of responsiveness and attunement that invites clients to explore the underlying beliefs, emotions, and reactions that shape their interactions. When we work in the Here and Now, we’re tapping into a layer of insight that can have ...