Trust the Client
As we wrap up this month’s series on the ICF Core Competencies, today’s post will give you an overview of the competencies that ICF credentialed coaches like myself adhere to in all of our coaching sessions and a glimpse of some of the many benefits a client will gain from coaching. The latest ICF Core Competency Model published in October 2019 comprises of the following components:
Demonstrates Ethical Practice: The coach understands and consistently applies coaching ethics and standards of coaching.
Embodies a Coaching Mindset: The coach develops and maintains a mindset that is open, curious, flexible and client-centred.
Establishes and Maintains Agreements: The coach partners with the client and relevant stakeholders to create clear agreements about the coaching relationship, process, plans and goals. The coach also establishes agreements for the overall coaching engagement as well as those for each coaching session.
Cultivates Trust and Safety Definition: The coach partners with the client to create a safe, supportive environment that allows the client to share freely. The coach maintains a relationship of mutual respect and trust.
Maintains Presence: The coach is fully conscious and present with the client, employing a style that is open, flexible, grounded and confident.
Listens Actively: The coach focuses on what the client is and is not saying to fully understand what is being communicated in the context of the client systems and to support client self-expression.
Evokes Awareness: The coach facilitates client insight and learning by using tools and techniques such as powerful questioning, silence, metaphor or analogy.
Facilitates Client Growth: The coach partners with the client to transform learning and insight into action. The coach promotes client autonomy in the coaching process.
These components need not be exhibited in a systematic order during a coaching session although naturally, any ethical concerns as well as the formulation and understanding of the coaching agreement between the coach and the client will occur at the beginning of the session. However, the other components such as being present, active listening, evoking awareness for the client and facilitating the client’s growth embody the whole coaching experience. The coach ensures that an environment which fosters trust, respect and openness is evident throughout the entire session. The coaching session is all about the client. The coach is the client’s partner, who helps and supports the client, within this framework of a coaching session, to seek and discover what he/she is looking for. In a transformational coaching session, the client often gains insight and in-depth understanding of who he/she really is. Most of the time, it is not about the goals. It is about “who” the client is - the client’s identity, core values, strengths, perceptions, stories and limiting beliefs.
We have the ability to set goals, strategize and implement plans to achieve them. Why is it then that we do not reach our goals? What is holding us back? It is our mindset, our limiting beliefs and the stories that we tell ourselves that prevent us from living our lives to its fullest potential.
The coach empowers you to move forward towards your goals and aspirations, to face your fears and to dig deep within for your own wealth of resources, determination and courage. The coach shines the torchlight on the areas in your life that you do not want to address but by doing so, there will be breakthrough freeing you from the stories that keep you from making your dreams a reality.
“A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be.”
Why hire a coach? The infographics below produced by Emma-Louise Elsey, professional life coach and founder of The Coaching Tools Company.com will give you an idea of some of the benefits you will gain from coaching. The common denominator of each coaching session is that at the end of it, you will walk away knowing yourself better with the inspiration and confidence to make a difference in your life and the lives of those around you.
Reprinted with permission from "The Launchpad" newsletter and blog - for people who love coaching. Get more helpful articles for coaches, coaching tips, free resources and more. Visit The Coaching Tools Company https://www.thecoachingtoolscompany.com to learn more.
I received advice from an experienced MCC (Master Certified Coach) in one of the ICF Singapore Chapter’s Communities of Practice meetings several months ago where she shared that in order for a coach to be effective and impactful in a coaching session is to trust the client and trust the process. The ICF Core Competency Model provides the framework for the coaching process. Every coach who adheres to this framework knows that it works. Nothing is more powerful for an individual’s growth and development than when a safe and non-judgmental space is created for one to authentically meet the man or woman in the mirror and to fully understand, cherish and marvel at the uniqueness of this person.
“At the centre of your being you know you have the answer, you know who you are and you know what you want.”
