01Demonstrates Ethical Practice
Ethics
You know where coaching ends.
Confidentiality, boundaries, integrity and clear distinctions between coaching, mentoring, consulting and other forms of professional support.
ICF & HOW I WORK
Professional coaching is much more than asking good questions.
For me, the ICF standard is first and foremost a way of being in conversation: ethics, partnership, presence, curiosity and genuine trust in the client’s capacity to create their own answers.
THE ICF STANDARD
Eight competencies. One relationship.
ICF defines eight core competencies of professional coaching. I do not see them as a checklist to run through during a session. Together, they create a framework for coaching that is ethical, collaborative and client-centred.
You can find the complete current competency model on the official International Coaching Federation website.
FOUNDATION
02Embodies a Coaching Mindset
Coaching mindset
I do not need to know better.
I arrive with curiosity rather than a ready-made diagnosis, while continuing to develop my own reflective practice and awareness of what I bring into the relationship.
CO-CREATING THE RELATIONSHIP
03Establishes and Maintains Agreements
Agreements
We know what we are working on and why.
We clarify what you need from the conversation, our respective responsibilities and how you will recognise that the session was valuable.
04Cultivates Trust and Safety
Trust and safety
You can say what you do not normally say.
We create room to explore uncertainty, contradictions and thoughts that may not yet be fully formed.
COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
05Maintains Presence
Presence
I am not simply waiting for my turn to ask a question.
I stay with you and with what emerges in the conversation — including silence, uncertainty and unexpected directions.
06Listens Actively
Active listening
I listen to what appears between the words too.
I pay attention to language, emotion, energy, repetition, metaphor and the relationship between what you say and what may matter underneath it.
07Evokes Awareness
Awareness
A question is not there to impress. It is there to open something.
Questions, observations and perspective shifts support you in creating your own meaning rather than moving toward an answer chosen by me.
CULTIVATING LEARNING AND GROWTH
08Facilitates Client Growth
Client growth
The insight belongs to you. So does the next step.
You decide what you want to do with what you discover. Action may be the next step — but it is not an obligation imposed by the coach.
RESPONSIBILITY
With great questions comes great responsibility.
The more I learn about coaching, the more respect I have for the responsibility that comes with working with another person: ethics, boundaries, presence and genuinely trusting the client and their own process.
For years, I was professionally rewarded for finding solutions. Coaching has taught me that sometimes the greatest value comes from resisting the urge to jump in with one.
MY JOURNEY
Completing coaching school was a milestone. Not a finish line.
I completed my coaching education with Meritum and now work with coaching clients while continuing to develop through practice, learning, mentoring and reflection on my own coaching craft.
I am currently working towards the ICF ACC credential.
WHAT DOES THIS FEEL LIKE IN PRACTICE?
The best way to find out is through a conversation.
Standards matter. But coaching happens between two people — in how we listen, ask, pause and make space.
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