The ICF Performance Evaluation – How Not To Fail

The ICF performance evaluation component of the credential application fills even the most seasoned coaches with dread. Understanding the evaluation criteria and preparing well can increase the probability of your success and quell your nerves.

As a mentor coach and ICF trained assessor, I have worked with many coaches who are getting ready to record their coaching sessions for an ACC, PCC, or MCC credential performance evaluation.  There’s much more to getting it right than just hitting the record button.

In my last post, I provided some tips on Transcribing Your Coaching for ICF Credentials. In this post, I’ll share some tips on recording your coaching sessions.

Recording your coaching knowing that it will be evaluated by your peers can be a daunting task.

I’ve often likened the process to changing a tire on a moving vehicle. You have to be fully present to your client as the conversation moves forward, but still attentive (without being attentive) to your own performance. It can be a flop-sweat inducing ordeal indeed. I get it. I’ve done it. And I have done plenty of hand-holding as a mentor coach too.

When you have set your sights on an ICF credential, it’s important to make sure that you are in-the-know about the ICF recording submission requirements and on how your recording will be evaluated.

Here are some best practices that will help you get your recording prepared for the performance evaluation

Shift Your Focus to Skill Development

The process of preparing for an ICF credential is not actually about getting a recording that is ‘good enough’ to submit. It’s about developing your coaching skills to a level that is appropriate for the credential you are seeking.

I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve heard coaches say “I just have to ‘coach by the rules’  for the recording. Once I get the credential I can coach however I want.”

What??? I did not just hear you say that!

Hey coaches, getting the recording is not what this is all about. Apply that thinking to any other profession and you’ll see how illogical it sounds.

From the surgeon: “I’ll take these tonsils out by the book now while I’m being observed from the gallery. Next time, I’ll do it my way.”

Crazy, right?

If you really want to earn that credential, focus on the skills that are needed, and then practice. Get feedback from a professional mentor coach, and practice, practice, practice again.

When you and your mentor coach have solid evidence that you are coaching in alignment with the competencies for the credential you are seeking, you are ready for the performance evaluation.

Pay Attention to the Length of your Session

The ICF requires that your recorded coaching session be between twenty and sixty minutes. Anything over sixty minutes will not be evaluated. Coaching sessions with my clients are always fifty minutes long even though I schedule sixty minutes with my client. I encourage my clients to use the remaining ten minutes after we complete the call for reflection and taking notes on their intended actions.

When considering the length of the recording you plan to use for your ICF performance evaluation, be sure that you set a time that is familiar and routine for you and your coaching client. That way you can avoid the awkward pre-amble, “I know our sessions are usually an hour Fran, but I’m sending this recording in for evaluation, so today’s session will be thirty minutes.” Talk fast, Fran.

Keep it Real

Let’s face it, it’s easy to coach other coaches! They get it. They come to the conversation ready to work. Sometimes, they’ve even done the work before they get there! The ICF requires that the coach recording you submit must be a paid, or pro bono client. And, the coaching is not allowed to have taken place as a part of a training program. The client may be a coach, but only if he or she is a regular client.

I don’t recommend using other coaches for recordings. Mostly because coaches are so darn nice! I’ve noticed that other coaches unconsciously help their coaches when they are clients. It can lead to a strange-sounding role play-ish session. It can be hard to show up as your best coaching self under those circumstances.

Don’t script your session, edit out the yucky bits, or otherwise fake your coaching conversation. As any assessor who listens to hundreds of hours of coaching will tell you, it’s obvious when you do. Oh, and it’s unethical.

Get the Techie Bits Right

The ICF requirements for the audio file that you upload are very clear and specific. This is an important thing to get right. If you find the technology confusing (and who doesn’t from time to time), enlist the help of someone who does. Your uploaded file must be:

1. A single file containing one full coaching session
2. Formatted as an MP3, WMA, MP4 only
3. 95 megabytes or less
4. Have a file name that includes your first and last name and a number only. Mine would look like this: CathyShaughnessy1.mp3. A second recording would be labeled like this: CathyShaughnessy2.mp3

Keep it Confidential

This is a key part of the ICF Code of Ethics and is integral to all of the work that we do. Use only first names during your session and do not include any identifying information that would divulge the identity of your client on the recording or in how you label the file in your system. Be sure that you make a statement of confidentiality early on in the recording and that your assessor can hear you confirm that you have your client’s permission to record.

Listen to Yourself Coach (a lot)

When I mentor coaches, a big part of the process is reviewing coaching sessions for alignment with the ICF Coach Competencies. I encourage coaches to listen to,  and evaluate their own coaching sessions frequently as they are working on growing their skills. That’s how you’ll know if you are hitting the mark for the credential you are seeking. Having a deep understanding of the ICF Coach Competencies as well as the missteps that will lead to a non-passing score on performance evaluation is essential to your growth. A professionally ICF trained mentor coach can help you with that.

Review the Missteps for ICF Performance Evaluations

I have created a tool that coaches can use when they are reviewing their coaching sessions. It’s a self-check document that lists each of the original ICF Coach Core Competencies along with the missteps that will lead to a non-passing score on the ICF Coach performance evaluation for the ACC, PCC and MCC levels. It’s based on a document that is available through the ICF called the ICF Core Competencies Rating Levels.

Many coaches are finding it very helpful and using it as a concrete way to evaluate their coaching sessions against the ICF Coach Competencies.

You are welcome to download it. It’s free. Be sure to circle back and let me know how it’s working for you.

In the meantime, take a look at the dates for my next Group Mentor Coaching sessions. Earn 10 ICF Mentor Coaching Hours and 10 ICF CCE units.

Request the Missteps for ICF Performance Evaluations here.