You Need to Learn the ICF Competencies

Do coaches need to learn the ICF Competencies?

Yes! I am routinely astonished at the number of coaches who submit credential recordings or write the Coach Knowledge Exam without ever having studied the competencies they are pledging to abide by.

They show up for the exam but don’t take the class (metaphorically speaking, of course).

Listen up, coaches.

When you prepare to acquire an ICF credential, assessors will evaluate your recordings based on how closely they align with the ICF competencies and the related behaviours for your credential level.

Ergo. It would help if you learned the competencies.

As the need for coaching has grown, so have the options for learning the trade. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of coaching gurus, programs, and coaching schools continue to pop up around the globe. Many excellent coaches and their clients have garnered exceptional results and success using various coaching models and approaches.

They don’t have credentials and don’t seem to need them to do good work.

But, if you apply for an ICF credential, you plan to represent yourself as a coach practicing in alignment with a specific set of competencies and a clear code of ethics.

If your organization requires an ICF credential, it expects you will reflect this alignment in your work with its clients.

If your clients require an ICF credential, they expect this commitment too.

Even if these organizations or individual clients have yet to learn what the credentials mean or what the competencies and ethics are, you have made a promise if you have a credential.

That represents an ethical obligation to educate yourself on the ICF competencies, code of ethics, and performance standards. At least, I think it does! Am I alone in this?

My years of experience in corporate training taught me that competency alignment is achieved by practicing learned skills against a set of measurable standards. It involves working under established benchmarks and evaluating progress for continued growth.

Using competencies in coaching provides an objective way of assessing performance beyond feedback from coaching clients.

Developing a High Level of Competency – Step 1

The first step in developing a high level of competency is to learn and fully understand the competency model.

You need to know the model’s components, their meaning, and the behaviours associated with each element. Then, you need to understand the various levels within each competency fully.

It would be best to learn what it looks like when operating at a beginner, intermediate and advanced level within the competency; how to advance from one level to the next. In the case of the ICF competencies, it is crucial to understand what differentiates ACC from PCC and MCC behaviour.

There are various ways to learn about the ICF Coach Core Competencies. The best starting place is the ICF Global website, where you will find the official wording for each Core Competency and the criteria for moving through the competency levels and earning the various credentials. You can also keep your learning going by taking advantage of the events provided by your local ICF Chapter. My chapter is ICF Toronto.

If you haven’t already tried the Quizlet app, check out the ICF Competencies flashcards I posted there. It’s fun and free!

Developing a High Level of Competency – Step 2

Just as knowing how to do something and doing it are two very different things, learning and demonstrating the competencies are different. You need to practice competency behaviours and receive feedback.

A qualified mentor coach can listen in on your coaching conversations and provide targeted feedback on the competencies you are demonstrating or not demonstrating. Look for a mentor with mentor coaching training, which is vital. I have been a mentor coach and ICF assessor for years, only pursuing that work after participating in mentor coach training at Royal Roads University and several assessor training programs through the International Coaching Federation.

You can also team up with your coaching colleagues to provide feedback to each other or develop your reflective practice by continually reviewing your recorded coaching sessions.

As anyone who has worked with me will tell you, I am a massive supporter of the ICF competencies and firmly believe that if we commit to a competency model as coaches, we owe it to ourselves and our clients to know it and use it.

Developing a high level of competency takes knowledge, practice, and feedback. Learning the competencies, practicing them in real coaching situations and receiving feedback on your work is integral to this process.

When you represent yourself as an ICF credentialed coach, you promise to abide by a set of standards and ethics developed by the coaching profession over two decades.

That means something. It does to me, anyway. How about you?

If you need to learn the competencies, sign up for one of my mentor coaching groups, and earn CCE units.

I’ve got MCC Prep and ACC/PCC Group Mentor Coaching programs starting soon.

Download the 2023 Group Mentor Coaching schedule here.