Coach Development

This month we have a guest blogger which is all about how to create and build motivation. He uses the analogy of building a fire, something he was taught by his father as a child.  As coaches, we can often come across clients who want to achieve big goals and sometimes struggle with ‘just’ getting started, ‘just’ doing it, and often it can come down to beliefs, confidence, and of course motivation. As you read Luke’s blog, the question to ask yourself might be, how do we as coaches support our clients to be able to build and light their ...

It’s International Coaching Week! This week we will be sharing inspiring stories around the power and impact of professional coaching and we hope you’ll follow along.  This year’s theme from the International Coaching Federation is “Reimagine the Future” and we have found that quite fitting given the events of the past few years. No one has gone untouched by the events of the pandemic and the rapid changes happening around the globe. Never before has there been a better time to be coached or to become a coach.  At Coach Advancement by Tracy Sinclair, we are excited to share with ...

What is the ultimate purpose of Coaching? The International Coaching Federation’s (ICF) definition of coaching describes the purpose as maximising the client’s personal and professional potential. Maximising our potential implies growth, and to leverage our growth we need to effectively apply our awareness, insight, and learning. Therefore, a key part of a coach’s role is to partner with clients in support of them becoming more aware, to have insights that lead them to learn new things, which, when applied through appropriate action, results in growth and development…and them fulfilling their potential!   The ICF Core Competencies are defined and described ...

A Key Strength and Skill for Any Coach Recently, a mentee shared a poem that really resonated with me. It came from Chris Guillebeau’s blog which included the author’s thinking on the meaning of the poem. The poem is from a 14th Century Sufi Poet called Hafiz and, as Chris states, it really illustrates the concept of empowerment. The Small Man Builds Cages For Everyone  The small man Builds cages for everyone He Knows. While the sage, Who has to duck his head When the moon is low, Keeps dropping keys all night long For the Beautiful Rowdy Prisoners In ...

The term “trust the process” is one that is often heard within the sphere of coaching, in fact I have used it myself when teaching coaching skills, along with other related terms such as “trust yourself, trust your client…trust the process”. In all honesty, when it was first said to me as a student of coaching, I didn’t quite understand it as I was still so fixed on trying to learn and of course, ‘master’, the skills of coaching. Over the years, I have gradually developed a greater understanding of what I think this means and one of the most ...

The art of reflective practice – for our work and for ourselves. When a new year begins, we often reflect on our last year and ponder on our future and coming year. At the start of 2020, my article New Starts-New Beginnings was on intentions for the coming year that also had the element of reflection in it. Interestingly, when you look at the definition of ‘to reflect’ or ‘reflection’ it has a number of different definitions based on how you are using the term. Which made me think about the notion that reflection isn’t just looking at what we ...

Coaching is a dialogue that is intended to facilitate forward movement in service of the client maximising their potential. Whilst taking next steps and actions after coaching sessions is important, so often a coaching conversation can become limited to a single focus on eliciting actions, which significantly limits the potential of coaching and I think also somewhat misses the point. As a Mentor Coach, when listening to coach recordings, I often notice a hurried, and sometimes even leading energy from the coach towards the end of the session, that seems singularly aimed at capturing a list of actions. When exploring ...

An often less used tool in a coach’s toolbox is the use of Silence. Let's take a moment to review the purpose and power of silence in coaching and indicate where it is embedded within the ICF Core Competencies. Maintains Presence (CC5) - one of the sub-competencies states: “Creates or allows space for silence, pause or reflection”. This is a more general ability, demonstrated across a coaching conversation as part of the coach’s approach, and indicates the extent to which the coach is being comfortable in allowing space and pauses to enable the client to think and reflect. Listens Actively ...