DEFINITION: Partners with the client and relevant stakeholders to create clear agreements about the coaching relationship, process, plans and goals. Establishes agreements for the overall coaching engagement as well as those for each coaching session.

1. Explains what coaching is and is not and describes the process to the client and relevant stakeholders
2. Reaches agreement about what is and is not appropriate in the relationship, what is and is not being offered, and the responsibilities of the client and relevant stakeholders
3. Reaches agreement about the guidelines and specific parameters of the coaching relationship such as logistics, fees, scheduling, duration, termination, confidentiality and inclusion of others
4. Partners with the client and relevant stakeholders to establish an overall coaching plan and goals
5. Partners with the client to determine client-coach compatibility
6. Partners with the client to identify or reconfirm what they want to accomplish in the session
7. Partners with the client to define what the client believes they need to address or resolve to achieve what they want to accomplish in the session
8. Partners with the client to define or reconfirm measures of success for what the client wants to accomplish in the coaching engagement or individual session
9. Partners with the client to manage the time and focus of the session
10. Continues coaching in the direction of the client’s desired outcome unless the client indicates otherwise
11. Partners with the client to end the coaching relationship in a way that honors the experience

WATCH: Julius Ordonez, MCC (Founder of ICF Philippines Chapter)
READ:  ICF Core Competency 3: Establishes and Maintains Agreements

• Divided between setting up the coaching relationship, and during the coaching session.
• Differences: 
  • New competency mentions the stakeholders with respect to sponsored coaching relationship
  • About setting up the engagement
  • Mentions compatibility – are you the best person for the job? 
  • What are the measures of success? Agreed upon at the start of the relationship
• Really about ability to facilitate a process – can you keep the process going so that client and stakeholder get the results they are looking for
• ASK your clients: What brings you into coaching? What do you know about coaching? What do you want to know about my coaching practice & background? 
• Ability to break down coaching in everyday terms – not technical or a checklist
• Coaching contract and definition of coaching in their own ways -- this should before you sign an agreement with the client (no jargon, explain fully)

Questions

• What ways do you set up your coaching relationship?
• How do you explain coaching to clients? (before, during, and after)
• What are your best practices for contracting with clients?
• What experiences have you had with sponsored coaching?
• What is critical to “educate” the coachee on?
• How do you provide awareness of the coaching practice or process? (e.g. introduce a tool, offer observations, etc.)
• What ways do you probe further to the PCC and MCC level?
• What have you learned about alignment with clients?
• What do you want to be referred to (as a coach)?

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How are you setting up your clients for success? What ways do you maintain the coaching agreement? Let us know!

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• Email us at: [email protected] 
• Connect to the hosts: @laurapasquini & @julieclarsen

Music credit: The song reCreation by airtone has been remixed under a CC-BY license.