Mentor Coaching – The ICF Coach Mentor Competencies

“A great mentor helps you to achieve what seem impossible.”  – Mariela Dabbah

“A mentor is someone who shares their knowledge, skills and/or experience, to help another to develop and grow.” A Coach is a person who empowers an individual to and maximise his/her potential.

So, in a nutshell we all look up to a Coach as one who can help us reach our final destination with the required skills and enable us to reach our fullest potential.

This blog helps in understanding Coach mentoring as defined by the ICF, how do they help coaches in unleashing their potential.

“The International Coaching 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 implies being coached on coaching skills and not building coaching practice. Broadly, it means observing a coaching conversation and providing feedback on the skill and alignment with core competencies as laid down under the ICF-framework.

The coach mentors provide professional help to the following kinds of clients:

• Help individuals who are in the process of building their coaching competencies and are probably on the path to becoming professional coaches.
• Coaches who need assistance in establishing their Coaching business.
• Coach mentors help individuals in arriving at a decision if Coaching is the right profession for them.
• Coach mentors help experienced coaches who are probably experiencing difficulty in their practice and help them overcome the hurdles.

• In some cases, coach mentors also help individuals who would probably wish to embed coaching practices into their domains. For example: counsellors, mental health professionals, Management consultants etc.

• The ICF Coach mentor is one who listens at all levels —– the emotional, the physical, the intuitive and the intellectual levels. He/she is one who can align the skills with the core competencies as laid down by the ICF.
• The ICF coach mentor has a thorough knowledge of the evaluation tools that ICF employs in assessing coaching conversations which are important for  credentialing.
• An ICF coach mentor can identify the competency that aspiring coachees/mentee must work on, to better their coaching practice.
• A coach mentor can recognise the gaps in the skills demonstrated by the mentees and help them plug them and gain mastery.
• Create a safe space for sharing feedback.
• A coach mentor is one who is empathetic, non-judgemental and is truly invested in his/her mentees to realize their potential
• Has good communication skills to articulate what is being observed and putting it across sensitively and help the aspiring coach/mentee to recognise the shortcomings and provide avenues for development.
•  A coach mentor recognises the strengths and areas for possible improvement.
• A coach mentor stays focussed on skill assessments aligned to core coaching competencies.

• The ICF mentor coaches ensure that the client (here the coachee/mentee) and the mentor clearly understand the objective of mentoring.
• Inform the client everything about the ICF Code of Ethics.
• Establish what is the measure of success in the partnership between the mentor coach and the mentee.
• Inform about the existence of the Ethical Conduct Review Board.
•  Mentor coaches encourage the coachee/mentee to have conversations with other mentor coaches so as to find the best possible match.
• A mentor coach must make it very clear that mentoring does not necessarily guarantee credentialing.
• A mentor coach focuses primarily on developing core competencies in his/her mentee by providing periodic feedback (both oral and written) on the mentee’s coaching sessions.
• A mentor coach provides feedback drawing examples from the sessions, so that the mentee clearly understands the areas of improvement in order to gain mastery over his/her coaching practice.
• Demonstrate that he/she is completely present with the mentee and help him/her in gaining mastery in the coaching practise.

• The ICF mentor coach is one who maintains a high degree of confidentiality and is able to connect with the mentee as regards, chemistry and compatibility.
• A mentor coach must be able to demonstrate equal partnership.
• A mentor coach is one who can encourage the mentee to realize the maximum potential and help in broadening the creative process of coaching.
• Is able to celebrate the growth and achievements of the mentee throughout the process.

• Exhibits a high degree of respect and appreciation for the mentee’s unique style.
• A mentor coach holds himself/herself as well as the mentee accountable as far as performance is concerned and is truly unbiased and non judgemental whilst  giving feedback.

We at Regal Unlimited offer mentor coaching support to coaches on their ICF journey. The coach mentors at Regal Unlimited bring a well of knowledge, rigour of practice and a coachee-centric approach.

At Regal Unlimited, we have a group of 30 mentor coaches with a rich experience and from diverse backgrounds and each one trained to mentor as per the guidelines outlined in the ICF framework. The mentor coaches at Regal Unlimited are always ready to extend support to all aspiring coaches in their ICF journey and beyond. Moreover we have mentor coaches supporting aspiring coaches ( for ICF credentialing) spread across different geographies both within India and overseas. Our community of coach mentors help not only aspiring coaches but also ICF coaches whose credentials need to be renewed. 

Click here to know more about our mentor coaching

In a nutshell, a mentor coach is an individual who can mentor the mentee on core coaching competencies and help aspiring/seasoned coaches in getting the process right. A mentor coach helps his/her mentees interpret the core competencies in a manner which can sharpen his coaching skills. A mentor coach partners with the client and sees that the core competencies and coaching practice go hand in hand. A coach mentor helps the mentee understand theory and put it in perspective while practicing.

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