Welcome to this edition of Mentoring Moments. Over the years the mentoring discussions with my mentees have revealed such brilliant insights and methods which continue to hone our coaching skills to deliver a higher quality of coaching excellence for our clients. Mentoring emerging or experienced coaches towards their credential or for ongoing development is my absolute favourite component of my coaching practice. So, I’d love to share with you some of those little gems of gold in upcoming editions.

ACC Minimum Skills:

Building Clarity, Trust and Strong Foundations

The ICF ACC Minimum Skills Requirements give you a practical and very specific way to assess your coaching. They make clear what assessors are listening for in real conversations: what effective coaching sounds like, and what begins to weaken it. In this edition, the focus is on Competencies 1–4, where the foundations of every session are set. The quality of your agreement and the level of trust you build will shape everything that follows.

Competency 1: Demonstrates Ethical Practice

At ACC level, this shows up in your ability to consistently stay in the coaching role. When you resist the pull to advise or fix, even when it feels helpful, you are demonstrating ethical alignment and trust in your client’s thinking.

Competency 2: Embodies a Coaching Mindset

This is reflected in your curiosity and openness. When you let go of assumptions and stay genuinely interested in the client’s way of thinking, you create space for deeper exploration rather than directing the conversation.

Competency 3: Establishes and Maintains Agreements

This competency is where focus is either created or lost.

Key Skills in Practice

“The coach co-creates an agreement for the session.”
This means the session is intentionally shaped in collaboration with the client, creating shared clarity from the beginning.

“The coach partners with the client to define the components of the agreement.”
You are not just agreeing on a topic, but also on what success looks like, and why it matters. This gives the session direction and purpose.

“The coach continues in the direction of the client’s desired outcome, unless the client indicates otherwise.”
Once the agreement is set, your role is to hold that focus while staying flexible if the client chooses to shift it.

Behaviours Consistent with ACC Standard
You take time to explore and confirm the outcome. In your coaching, this might look like a client starting with: “I’m overwhelmed at work.” Rather than moving straight into questions, you slow it down and ask: “What would be useful to walk away with today?” When the client says: “Clarity on my priorities,” you now have a clear anchor. Later, when the conversation drifts, you bring it back by asking how the current discussion connects to that outcome.

Behaviours Inconsistent with ACC Standard
You may notice sessions where the topic stays broad, the outcome is never clearly defined, or the conversation drifts without being acknowledged. For example, staying with ‘work stress’ and moving across multiple issues can result in a conversation that feels busy but lacks depth. A simple check is whether the client could clearly state what they achieved.

Competency 4: Cultivates Trust and Safety

This is built by how you respond, not by what you intend.

Key Skills in Practice

“The coach partners with the client to create a safe, supportive environment that encourages the client to share freely.”
Your presence and responses invite openness rather than shutting anything down.

“The coach demonstrates trust in and respect for the client’s unique ways of processing and creating.”
You allow the client to think in their own way and at their own pace.

“The coach is open and transparent to foster mutual trust.”
You show up authentically without needing to position yourself as the expert.

“The coach acknowledges the client’s unique contributions in the coaching process.”
You notice and reflect what the client is bringing, reinforcing their value.

Behaviours Consistent with ACC Standard
You acknowledge and support the client’s experience. For example, when a client says: “I feel like I should be further ahead,” you respond with, “You’re holding a strong expectation of yourself. What is that like?” rather than moving straight to action. You might also acknowledge their effort by noticing how much thought they’ve given something.

Behaviours Inconsistent with ACC Standard
Trust is weakened when you move past what the client says too quickly, prioritise your own thinking, or miss opportunities to acknowledge them. For example, jumping straight to solutions after an emotional share can feel dismissive. A useful reflection is whether the client felt fully heard before the conversation moved on.

Coming up in June… 

The ACC Minimum Skills Requirements highlight that strong coaching is built on consistent, observable behaviours. As you continue developing these first four competencies, notice how clarity and trust are created (or lost) in small moments. Next month, the focus will move to Competencies 5–8, where your presence, listening, and questioning will directly influence the depth of the client’s thinking and the quality of their insights.

In your next few coaching sessions, choose one area to focus on—either strengthening your session agreement or deepening trust. At the end of each session, take two minutes to reflect: What did I do that supported this, and where did I drift? This level of awareness will accelerate your development.

Sharing these mentoring moments with you,

Gaye