What are the competencies of a professional coach - coaching business

The International Coaching Federation [ICF], founded in 1995, is the world's leading coaching organization, with nearly 40,000 members in 146 countries, and defines eight competencies that every professional coach must demonstrate.

The Spanish Coaching Association [ASESCO], with more than 800 professional coaches, has been working since 2000 to promote professional, ethical, responsible and quality coaching, and to disseminate its benefits in the personal, professional, business and organizational spheres.

The coaching competencies arise with the purpose of:

• Evaluate coaches who wish to become professionally certified and renew their credentials.

• Evaluate quality-assured coaching training programs.

• And to spread understanding of the skills needed to be a good professional.

All are key, and all coaching training must ensure that they are learned and put into practice by its students:

• Demonstrates ethical practice: understands and consistently applies coaching ethics and standards.

• Embodies a coaching mindset: Develops and maintains an open, curious, flexible and client-centered mindset.

• Establishes and maintains agreements: Collaborates with each 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.

• Cultivates trust and confidence: Collaborates with each client to create an environment that is supportive and safe and allows them to share freely. Maintains a relationship of mutual respect and trust.

• Maintains presence: Is fully aware and present with each client, employing an open, flexible, grounded and confident style.

• Listens actively: Focuses on what each client is and is not saying to fully understand what is being communicated in the context of each client's systems and to support their self-expression.

• Elicits awareness: Facilitates each client's understanding and learning through the use of tools and techniques such as powerful questions, silence, metaphors or analogies.

• Facilitates each client's growth: Collaborates with each client to transform learning and understanding into action. Promotes client autonomy in the coaching process.