Coaching: The Client-Centered Partnership | By Fran Fisher, MCC

At the beginning of launching our coaching schools, my coach training colleagues and I agreed on these two core principles:

1. Coaching is a partnership — no hierarchy.
2. Coaching is client-centered — the client leads, the coach supports.

I developed a model to capture this philosophy:
Coaching is a Partnership of Two Experts — the coach is the expert of the context, and the client is the expert of the content.

The Coaching Gap: From PCC to MCC

As I mentored coaches preparing for their Master Certified Coach (MCC) credential, I noticed a recurring challenge — a gap between how partnership is interpreted at the ACC/PCC levels versus the MCC level.

At the ACC/PCC competency levels coaches tend to reflect their interpretations of what the client says, feels, or behaves in the spirit of partnership. A coach then practices those behaviors for another 2,000 coaching hours before they prepare to apply for their MCC accreditation - thus establishing those practices as habits and behavioral comfort zones.

But when a coach comes to the table to learn the MCC level of client-centered partnership they often feel stretched and challenged to unlearn those habits and replace them with a being-based approach for demonstrating client-centered partnership.

The MCC Shift: Mindset Before Skill Set

As Clare Norman, MCC, says: “Mindset before skill set.”
And I agree.

Coaches often ask:

“What is the difference between PCC and MCC?”

The answer lies in presence. At the MCC level, the coach needs to be a sacred space for the client’s learning, growth, and transformation. This emphasis on who the coach is being is key to the true meaning of client-centered partnership. When a MCC coach focuses on evoking the client’s awareness, wisdom, and greatness, without intervening with their own ego attached behaviors, the client can do their own work to gain new thinking and learning.

Identifying Ego Attachments in Coaching

Ego-driven coaching behaviors can block a true client-centered coaching partnership. These usually stem from subconscious beliefs like:

• “I have to earn my value,”
• “I need to share my thoughts/ideas/suggestions.”
• “I need to help the client get to their destination.”
• “I need to help them solve their problems.”

As John Whittington, systemic coach, differentiates helpful and useful:

“Helpful is rescuing. Useful is resourcing.”

Ego attachments will typically show up as:

• Approval words.
• Interpreting or guessing what the client means versus asking them for their own interpretation, meaning, or learning.
• Leading the client with their assumption or agenda.
• Wordiness clutters the space and
• Setting the context for a question versus simply asking the question.

These are all behaviors that can distract the client and interfere with the flow of the conversation.

Shifting from Doing to Being: A New Coaching Presence

What does it take to shift from needing to do all that work for the client to learning to be the space where the client can do their own work?

The coach needs to embrace the principle of client-centered partnership by understanding the profound benefits for the coach and the client:

Benefits for the Coach:

• Feeling more relaxed and present
• Experiencing greater flow in the conversation
• Doing less of the client's work
• Feeling less stress

Benefits for the Client:

• Feeling seen and heard, and empowered
• Learning more about themselves
• Gaining greater access to their inner wisdom
• Generating new capacities
• Achieving greater self-esteem and self-confidence.

In short, they are empowered.

What does it take to successfully make the shift to being a sacred space for the client?

Start by embracing the ICF Core Competency #2: Embodies a Coaching Mindset:

“Develops and maintains a mindset that is open, curious, flexible, and client-centered.”

Key Skills for MCC-Level Partnership:

• Maintain being consistently and deeply curious, being willing not to know, and making no assumptions.
• Slow down. Provide spaciousness for the client’s thinking and speaking, and leverage silence for the client’s thinking.
• Let go of those ego attachments, such “I have to earn my value,” “I need to share my thoughts/ideas/suggestions.” “I need to help the client get to their destination.” “I need to help them solve their problem.”
• Ask the client evocative questions instead of responding to what they offered with your own interpretations or guessing the client’s meaning.
• Notice nuances of energy shifts in the client and invite their self-awareness or further exploration.
• Invite the client to lead the direction of the session and their explorations.

Wrap Up: Holding Space for Client Greatness

The essence of masterful coaching is holding space for the client’s greatness and a connection to the whole of who the client is being.

Yes, coaches practice these competency skills at the ACC and PCC level. However, at the MCC level, they will have learned to demonstrate them with the embodied presence of a sacred space, more consistently, artfully, and at a greater depth.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also like:

• 13 Quick Tips to Go Deeper With Your Coaching! by Fran Fisher MCC
• What is Coaching Supervision? A Space for Coaches to Reflect, Learn & Grow by Jennifer Britton
• 3 Insights from Neuroscience to Enhance Your Coaching Relationships by Dr. Sarah Evans MCC

Contributing Author:

Fran Fisher, Master Certified Coach, MCC. is a champion for the power of coaching and its transformational impact in the world. She is one of the pioneers of the coaching profession and a founding executive board member of the ICF. She specializes in coaching and mentoring coaches for their MCC. Connect with Fran on LinkedIn, Facebook and learn more about her free resources for coaches at www.franfishercoach.com.

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