MENTOR COACHING PROGRAMMES
A way of mastering your coaching environment
“Mentor Coaching is not just for coaches seeking a credential; it is for lifelong professional development for every coach, at every level in the profession.”
Clare Norman – MCC (ICF)

What is mentor coaching?
I think Mentor Coaching can be likened to map making.
When we do our coach training, we are often in unchartered territory, and we learn where we might be able to find some nearby markets and towns. After our training, we start creating paths to these markets and towns. At first these paths are barely visible but in time the grass becomes well-trodden. We also notice and use some paths used by others that we learn about in books and other courses.
And then we find some tarred roads developed by the local municipalities in the towns and we decide to explore these; after all, they look a lot easier to follow because they are part of the infrastructure in the area and are recognised by people like you far and wide.
All this time, you’ve been on the ground, and you can only see what you see. So, you find a mapmaker nearby who is able to give you different perspectives of the structure so that you can understand the territory more easily.
Accordingly, the ICF describes mentor coaching as a professional relationship where an experienced coach provides feedback and guidance to a less experienced coach, focusing on the development and refinement of the latter's coaching skills in accordance with ICF Core Competencies.
What benefits are there for you?
Whether you are an emerging or an experienced coach, here are some of the key advantages you could experience:
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Skill Enhancement: Mentor coaching helps refine and enhance coaching skills, aligning them more closely with ICF Core Competencies. This improvement leads to more effective and impactful coaching sessions with clients.
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Objective Feedback: As with the mapmaker, receiving constructive feedback provides insights into strengths and areas for improvement that might not be apparent to you.
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Increased Confidence: As your coaching skills improve through mentor coaching, you are likely to experience a boost in confidence in your abilities to handle various coaching situations and client needs.
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Professional Development: Mentor coaching is a form of continuous professional development, ensuring that you stay current with best practices and evolving standards in the coaching profession.
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Credentialing Requirements: If you are looking for ICF credentials, mentor coaching is a mandatory component. It helps you meet the necessary requirements for initial credentialing or renewal.
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Enhanced Self-Awareness: Through reflective practices and feedback, you gain greater self-awareness regarding your coaching style, techniques, and the impact you have on your clients.
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What are your options?
Do you prefer to learn alone or in groups? I can offer you either option:
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10-hour Mastery: If you prefer learning on your own, I have a flexible programme where you can choose your own permutation of options and hours based on your specific needs in 10 one-hour sessions:
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Impact Accelerator (2 to 10 hours, 2 of which are compulsory) – we discuss recordings / transcripts of your coaching sessions to increase your coaching effectiveness in terms of both your methodology and the core competencies.
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Core Competency Integration (4 to 8 hours) – one or two core competencies are discussed and aligned with your methodology per session
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“Doing” Core Competencies (1 to 4 hours) – if you would prefer to focus specifically on any and / or of core competencies 3, 6, 7 and 8, we can do that
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“Being” Core Competencies (1 to 4 hours) – similarly if you prefer to focus specifically on any and / or all of core competencies 1, 2, 4, and 5, we can do that too
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Core Competency Deep Dive (1 to 8 hours) – you bring real situations, challenges or issues you experience with core competencies from your coaching sessions for discussion and support
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Exam Prep (1 to 4 hours) – I have prepared questions on each competency in a similar way to that which you will experience in the ICF examination
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Ethics the non-boring way (1 hour) - similarly, ethical scenarios have been set up in a multiple choice format and, again, you answer the questions and we discuss your answers
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Building your coaching practice (1 hour) - if you are experiencing challenges in this area, we can spend this time discussing these
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ICF-registered Mentor Coaching Programme - if you prefer learning in groups cover this powerful, tried and tested programme may be for you. I generally open two groups of six to eight coaches each year. It consists of:
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8 two-hour group learning sessions in which one core competency is focused on per session; and
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three one-hour individual impact accelerator sessions in which we discuss your recordings and transcripts with a view to possible submission
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Thinking of co-creating your map of accreditation or renewal?
Whether you are considering applying for a first or new accreditation, renewal of an existing one, or improvement of your coaching effectiveness through integration of your methodology with the core competencies, let’s have a no-obligation chat so that we can explore what you would like to achieve and I can provide you with more detail and answer any questions you may have.
Let’s create that map!