Do you have what it takes to become a coach mentor? If yes, great! Because believe it or not, coaches do need mentors to help them be the best that they can be for their clients. As you become a mentor to other coaches, your leadership skills grow as well as your confidence and knowledge in your chosen profession.

What is Coach Mentoring as defined by the ICF?

The International Coach Federation (ICF) defines Mentor Coaching as providing professional assistance in achieving and demonstrating the levels of coaching competency demanded by the desired credential level sought by a coach?applicant (mentee).

Coach mentoring includes the observation of coaching skill development and feedback on competency. It means observing a coaching exchange and giving feedback on the structure and essence of the actual coaching that is occurring. It is merely a balance between mentoring and coaching.

Who Are The Mentors to Coaches & What do They do?

1. Coach Mentors are energetic and confident professionals with a positive and optimistic attitude.
2. They are skilled at inspiring and motivating others and are easy to get along with.
3. They are achievement-oriented and will help you with the things you need help with.
4. They focus on accomplishing the task at hand and encouraging success.
5. They provide feedback in the form of observations.
6. They promote the development of the individual’s own coaching style.

What Type of Clients do They Help?

The Coach Mentor provides professional assistance to the following types of clients:

• Coaches who need help in developing the business side of their coaching practice. He or she sits down with the individual(mentee) to figure out what is working for the business and what is not.
• Individuals who are still undecided about if coaching is the right profession for them.
• Individuals who are considering incorporating coaching into their current practice. These types of individuals are at present professionals in their field, e.g., Mental Health Therapists, Nurses, Physical Therapists, Business/Management Consultants, etc.
• Seasoned Veteran Coaches – These individuals have been coaching for a while and are currently facing some rough patches in their practice. They are looking at options and how they can push through the challenges and move forward with cost-effective strategies.

Let’s look at the International Coach Federation’s Competencies of a Mentor Coach.

The ICF Coach Mentor

1. Listens beyond content to discern application of the skills related to the core competencies
2. Listen on all levels: physical, intellectual, emotional and intuitive
3. Listen equally for strengths and areas for growth.
4. Is aware of and allows for differences in style, culture, and language.
5. Has practical knowledge of the assessment tools used by the ICF in the evaluation of recorded coaching sessions used in the credentialing exam process.
6. Listens both for the presence of individual competencies and for the overall totality of skill level.
7. Has the ability to distinguish which critical underlying competency (s) may be giving rise to ineffective or limited coaching impact.
8. Can discern and articulate the gap between levels of skill demonstrated and the next skill level to attain.
9. Discerns and articulates areas of growth, competency use, and skill level using competency-based language and specific behavioral examples from the coaching.
10. Create a secure and trusting space for the delivery of feedback, using a respectful, transparent, judgment-free tone.
11. Articulates with specific detail and examples, what is being observed and the development needed to move to the next skill level, delivered with sensitivity to the impact of the feedback.
12. Offers input that is relevant to each specific coaching core competency, recognizing strengths as well as potential growth areas.
13. Demonstrate the ability to self?manage relative to any coaching model preferences and stay focused on the skill assessment related to the core coaching competencies.

Would you like an endless stream of new coaching clients? Simply click the image to the right and email and I’ll send you free videos with step-by-step blueprints for generating a massive income from high paying coaching clients.

Peggy Adegoke
Life Coach
Writer, Coaches Training Blog community