Deep Dive into Trust and Safety

As a client, what is a risk-free environment?

Feeling psychologically safe!
Why is this important?
So that the client is able to express him/herself freely without any judgment!

How does a coach demonstrate that?

By understanding the client within their own context and environment..

By respecting who the client is…

By recognizing the client’s unique talents… does the client have certain attributes…?

Does the coach acknowledge the client’s expression, feelings, concerns, and perceptions?

Is he/her able to emphasize with the client and the client’s concerns?

It takes real courage to enter into a coaching partnership. Our clients may experience nervous anticipation, discomfort, or even fear. What we do as coaches to foster trust, safety, and intimacy strengthens our clients’ resolve to face the challenges ahead.

It is totally upon you that is going to decide the client’s success because at the end of it all, when a coach is able to provide a safe space then only will a coachee open up and share their concern. So make sure that you are able to create that setup for your clients.

Competency 4: Cultivates Trust and Safety

The International Coach Federation (ICF) updated the ICF Coaching Competencies from eleven to eight coaching competencies in October 2019, marking the first update since the competencies were created in 1998. In November 2019, the revised Core Competencies were announced publicly and made available on the ICF website. This new model will be in effect beginning in January 2021. Lets see what the fourth competency entails.

ICF Updated Core Competencies- Cultivates Trust and Safety

Definition: Partners with the client to create a safe, supportive environment that allows the client to share freely. Maintains a relationship of mutual respect and trust.

1. Seeks to understand the client within their context which may include their identity, environment, experiences, values and beliefs
2. Demonstrates respect for the client’s identity, perceptions, style and language and adapts one’s coaching to the client
3. Acknowledges and respects the client’s unique talents, insights and work in the coaching process
4. Shows support, empathy and concern for the client
5. Acknowledges and supports the client’s expression of feelings, perceptions, concerns, beliefs and suggestions
6. Demonstrates openness and transparency as a way to display vulnerability and build trust with the client

The Hard Case of “Perception”

Perception is hard…. How does “the world” get from the outside into the inside of our heads, finds its way inside, and stays there? Have you wondered?

The sensory experience of the world is perception. It entails both sensing environmental cues and taking actions in response to them.

We obtain knowledge about the features and aspects of the environment that are crucial to our existence through the perceptual process. Perception not only shapes our perception of the world around us but also permits us to behave in it. Touch, sight, sound, smell, and taste are the five senses that makeup perception. It also contains proprioception, a combination of senses that allows you to notice changes in your body’s posture and movement.

But what is the hard case of perception? Do you want to find out? Tune into International Coaching week. Register now. The session will focus on solving the problem of perception between the client and the coach to instill Trust and Security.

“(…) a successful perception in order to make sense of the world, involves making educated guesses about the world. These aren’t guesses that you explicitly say, I’m guessing this or I’m guessing that, but they’re unconscious guesses,  they’re guesses that your visual system makes” – Yale – Introduction to Psychology  – Coursera 

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