Coach Development

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 ...

The Secret to Lasting Success for Coach Practitioners Coaching is an incredibly rewarding but demanding profession. While, we as coaches, devote ourselves to guiding others toward growth and success, this work can sometimes come at the expense of our own well-being. To be effective and resilient, coaches need to invest in our own wellness – not just as a “one-off” exercise, but to develop and maintain a life that cultivates a sustainable wellness journey. Globally, a recent ICF research report1 showed that 85% of coach practitioners reported that they have clients who request help with their mental well-being, with business ...

Many years ago, I studied Transcendental Meditation, and the teacher shared a story which I have always remembered, and which really helped me to understand the concept of accessing a greater level of depth in my meditation practice. Years later, this story has also served well many times as a way to describe working at a deeper level with our coaching clients. The story goes… If you imagine your mind to be like a house, when you first begin to meditate, it’s like a process of spring cleaning your house – you can quite quickly notice and are aware of ...

Grief can look many different ways. In our culture we tend to reserve grief for when someone dies, but it goes far beyond that. Grief is nuanced and, if we allow it, we can touch on it in the endings that are present every day. We grieve when we lose or change jobs, when a beloved pet dies, a relationship ends, family estrangement or difficulties, your children growing and going to school or leaving home. Sometimes even allowing something good can bring grief with it, you may move home, leaving behind your old home, change jobs, leaving behind people, teams, ...

The current ICF Core Competency model was produced as a result of a two year long job analysis exploring the knowledge, skills, tasks and activities needed for any practitioner to operate skilfully as a professional coach. Amongst many other things, this extensive research gave rise to the identification of five key themes which were considered of significant importance for inclusion in the final body of work. One of those key themes was the ‘expansion of the coaching agreement’ described and defined as having three distinct levels: Agreement for Coaching Relationship. Agreement for Overall Coaching Plan and Goals. Agreement for Session ...