Coach Development

Within the coaching community, we often hear the term ‘lifelong learner’ as being something that we, as practitioners of coaching, are encouraged, and even expected, to embrace. From an International Coaching Federation (ICF) perspective, this idea of lifelong learning is marked and highlighted in several ways: We have the credentials of Associate Certified Coach (ACC), Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and Master Certified Coach (MCC) as a way of noting various stages on that journey. We have a credentialing system that requires us to renew our credential every three years, with Continuing Professional Development (CPD) being part of that renewal process. ...

We all know that a New Year typically means new goals, new resolutions, new habits, new… We also know that much of this ‘new’ stuff stops after about 3-5 weeks and then it’s either forgotten about or we feel bad because we failed, yet again. As an alternative approach, here are a few thoughts and ideas that you could be useful for both you and your clients in thinking about and engaging with a new year in a different way… Hoorah for the old! Do we always need to start something new? We can get so obsessed with doing and ...

In the past three years, I have written three articles which are related to beginnings, endings, celebrations and acknowledgements. New Starts — New Beginnings (December 2019) Celebrate What is Right with Your World (December 2020) Acknowledge and Celebrate (September 2022) I would encourage you to review these articles if this is a topic that intrigues you, especially with the New Year on the horizon! This year, I want to look at the importance of endings, celebrations and new beginnings. First, let’s see what ICF Core Competencies we might reference. There are several sub-competencies that speak to this: 3.11 Partners with ...

One of the things that I love about being in the profession of coaching, is generally how very kind, generous and compassionate coaches usually are. My overriding experience is that coaches are simply really good people! One of the ways some of these characteristics show up is in the many different projects and initiatives that coaches participate in on a pro bono or reduced fee basis. I can honestly say that, in my professional world,  I have never come across so much volunteering and giving back as I have within the coaching community. Here I'll be sharing and acknowledging some ...

Back in February 2020, I wrote about the ‘new’ ICF Code of Ethics and the changes that were made to the code, which were quite substantial. Over the years I have delivered many classes on ethics, and they alway include how we make ethical decisions. Here, I'll offer thinking around: Where do our ethics typically come from? What influences how we make ethical decisions? What are the ways we typically make ethical decisions? Why do we need an ethical decision-making process to support us as coaches? In discussing the above, I will offer a tool or a model that can ...

At a recent conference, the keynote speaker was discussing innovation and commented on how “additive bias” can impeded our creativity and innovation when we are constantly tempted to add something, as opposed to consider what to take away… Given that bias, awareness of bias (both our own and that of our clients) and how this informs coaching conversations is of significant relevance to coaching, this sparked my interest and I thought I’d explore this topic further, particularly as the idea of ‘additive bias’ was a new one to me. The International Coaching Federation’s Core Competencies and the Code of Ethics ...

During a recent cohort of our Business Development for Coaches Programme, a question arose about whether, as you consider your Coaching Practice, coaching is something that you are going to Integrate into what you are currently doing or are you Transitioning into doing something different from what you have been doing? Further, does it matter and is there a difference? Let's look at those different aspects of a coach’s practice and reflect on what might be useful to ensure that the integration and/or the transition is successful. First let us look at the definitions of Integration and Transition… Integration or ...

I never cease to be amazed how many lessons I can draw from my yoga practice that inform my coaching practice... Last week I was in a class and found myself in a particularly challenging pose and felt a really big stretch on some tight ligaments in my right hip. It was uncomfortable and my mind immediately started complaining and thinking about ways to avoid the discomfort. What if I wriggle a bit? What if I shift the weight across to the other side a bit? What if I lift myself up a bit? As though by magic or psychic ...