DEFINITION: Is fully conscious and present with the client, employing a style that is open, flexible, grounded and confident.
- Remains focused, observant, empathetic and responsive to the client
- Demonstrates curiosity during the coaching process
- Manages one’s emotions to stay present with the client
- Demonstrates confidence in working with strong client emotions during the coaching process
- Is comfortable working in a space of not knowing
- Creates or allows space for silence, pause or reflection
WATCH: Pamela Richarde, MCC
READ: ICF Core Competency 5: Maintains Presence
- Season 1 Episode #4: All the Feels in Coaching + Storytelling
- Makes coaching unique, key to the profession
- More action-oriented -- all new core comps start with verbs: “Invites another human being to emerge”
- Ability to notice what is going on with the client – when they have an “aha” or a realization
- Big thing: allowing it to be okay to not know as a coach
- Be curious
- Not giving suggestions, holding space for for the client to discover a way forward
- Poor presence: too fast to reaching a solution
- Give enough space between and get comfortable with silence
- Avoiding the co-gestions -- not telling what to do in the form of a question
Questions:
- What ways do you bring care into your coaching?
- How do you invite your clients to emerge?
- What ways do you show confidence in your questions?
- How do you step into the “not knowing” space?
- What ways do you flex your curiosity muscle? (avoid the checklist or framework)
- What does silence look like in your coaching sessions?
Books
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How are you thinking about your coaching presence? Tell us about it!
Music credit: The song reCreation by airtone has been remixed under a CC-BY license.
