How coaches show up in the room
The International Coach Federation is the only professional coaching body that assesses coaches’ actual coaching skills in depth – how you show up in the room.
How we show up in the room is way more important than how much we know about the theory of coaching.
The International Coach Federation is the only professional coaching body that requires coaches to have 10 hours of Mentor Coaching before they go for a credential.
How we show up in the room is way more important than how much we know about the theory of coaching.
The International Coach Federation is the only professional coaching body that requires coaches to submit one or two recordings of their coaching to be assessed.
How we show up in the room is way more important than how much we know about the theory of coaching.
This is quite remarkable that the ICF is the only professional coaching body that takes the practice of coaching so seriously.
Why Mentor Coaching?
But it shouldn’t stop there. Mentor Coaching is invaluable, no matter what stage of development you are at, and whether you are going for a credential or not.
Mentor Coaching keeps us razor sharp, enabling us to see our blind spots in practice.
“The International Coach Federation believes that, in order to be effective, continuing professional education should include opportunities for individual practice, reflection and learning with the support of a skilled observer providing feedback. This is the role of the Mentor Coach.”
So it’s not just for a credential, it’s for life!
If we declare that we want to be the best coach we can be for our clients, the only way we can be sure that we are staying sharp is to be observed and given structured feedback related to our competence.
It’s about regularly bringing ourselves back to conscious competence. Never forgetting that there is always more to learn about the practice of coaching. Never getting so arrogant that we believe we have nothing left to learn. Never getting stuck in unconscious competence or indeed slipping into unconscious incompetence.
Sure, we can get feedback from our coachees, but they don’t know what great coaching looks like or feels like. They know they’ve had a good experience, and they have almost certainly been listened to more exquisitely than by anyone else in their lives, but that doesn’t mean that it was at the coach’s edge, at their absolute best.
What is Mentor Coaching?
The ICF describes it as follows: “Mentor Coaching for an ICF Credential consists of coaching and feedback in a collaborative, appreciative and dialogued process based on an observed or recorded coaching session to increase the coach’s capability in coaching, in alignment with the ICF Core Competencies”.
It can be in a group or 1-1. For credentialing purposes, group mentor coaching can account for no more than 7 of the 10 hours you need.
Group Mentor Coaching allows you the benefit of seeing others coach, so that you can learn from different approaches. You get the chance to see from the outside what moves the coachee’s thinking further on – and what keeps their thinking in the past.
1-1 Mentor Coaching allows you to listen to a recording together with your mentor coach, and to stop and start it to reflect upon what you are doing that is moving your coachee’s thinking forward – and what keeps their thinking in the past.
All of the feedback – whether your own to yourself, or your peers’ towards you, or your Mentor Coach’s towards you – will be tied to the competencies. This structure makes it easier to assimilate, as you figure out which competencies you need to work on and which you are strongest at.
Mentor Coaching can be face-to-face or virtual, whatever works for you. I run a face-to-face group lock-in, a virtual group lock-in and an advanced coach development day for those on the lifelong learning path; and virtual 1-1s over zoom.
Who should I choose as my Mentor Coach?
It’s important to be observed by another coach who understands in detail what they are looking for – and who puts all the learning into practice in their own coaching too. This is far from the old adage “if you can’t do, then teach”. This is a both/and equation – they should be a coach AND Mentor Coach. A Mentor Coach must have been through the Mentor Coaching process themselves and keep putting themselves through the rigour of that to stay sharp themselves. They are your role model for continuous professional development on its best day.
For credentialing purposes. the ICF requires you to have a Mentor Coach who is at the level you are aspiring to be credentialed for, or higher. If you are going for ACC, they must have been an ACC themselves for more than 3 years. Whether you are going for a credential or not, I suggest you choose a Mentor Coach who will:
- observe your coaching, per the ICF brief
- give you constructive feedback in a supportive AND challenging way, tied to the competencies
- understand the ICF competencies and markers inside out and back-to-front – practically as well as on paper
- receive mentor coaching themselves on a regular basis
- share their own learning from their own practice in service of your practice
How frequently should I invest in Mentor Coaching?
If you are going for a credential, you will need Mentor Coaching. Thereafter, ACC renewal requires you to receive more Mentor Coaching every 3 years.
But Mentor Coaching is for life, not just a credential. So how frequently might you decide to invest in revisiting your competency as a coach?
I work with a Mentor Coach at least four times a year, because I gain so much value from it – and so do my coaching clients in terms of the coaching we do together.
What’s realistic for you? It’s likely (I hope) that you invest in supervision as well, so you may be thinking about choosing between them as a way to keep the monetary and time investment down. But I think they are both important for different reasons. Supervision keeps us safe and resourced; Mentor Coaching keeps us at our sharpest.
I suggest you follow the ICF recredentialing timing and invest in ten hours of Mentor Coaching at least every three years – spaced out or over a period of three months. That three-month window allows you to put new habits into place within your coaching and assimilate what you are learning over time.
Where can I find a mentor coach?
Look no further. I am a Mentor Coach with 18 years of coaching experience, and six years of Mentor Coaching under my belt. And, I should add, a 100% success rate for coaches who submit their application after working with me. I can’t guarantee that you will be successful, but past results are a predictor of future results.
I should mention that other Mentor Coaches are available, and you can search for them in the Mentor Coaching Registry on the ICF website. But I’d be happy to have a conversation with you if you are looking to sharpen your edge – whether that’s for a credential or for lifelong learning. I don’t bite, and I won’t force you into investing in anything that you are not ready for.
What are you waiting for? Let’s have a conversation. I’m on a mission to keep our profession at its best, by changing the way coaches think about Mentor Coaching. It’s not just for a credential, it’s for life!
