Reaching for Mastery of Coaching reminds me: it’s all about presence
I remember feeling awe when I first met Master Certified Coaches. The Madison University Professional Coaching Certificate program had invited MCC coaches to speak to me and my cohort — a group of 40 coaches in training. Research confirmed: only 4% of coaches certified with the International Coaching Federation, the world’s largest non-profit for coaches, make MCC level. And here I was: learning from the best of the best.
My first question: Why so few? I heard the same from every MCC coach I met. The process sucks. It’s expensive and demoralizing, too. Later, when my instructor Chariti Gent certified as an MCC, we cheered and cried with her. Entering this elite group’s huge. She also confirmed, the process sucked because over-and-over, you hear you’re no good.
I felt inspired, all the same, to take my moon shot and certify all the way at the top. MCC coach replaced my want for a business rhetoric or storytelling PhD.
Now, four years later, I’ve met the required coaching hours, the training hours, and started training with my MCC mentor coach. I’m confirming that the process is long and tricky and for me, it’s the oral exam and staying mentally fit within. Your mentor coach must review recordings of you coaching (with the consent of your coachee) and with that provide feedback (written and oral) on how well or not so well you met the markers of MCC. You must then submit to the ICF an oral recording (for a $750 fee) and how they review you determines whether you certify as an MCC Coach.
See the pressure here, dear readers and listeners? The stakes are high; but, the potential feels huge. I’ve reported already on me reaching my milestones in hours and training — I’ve more than doubled the required individual coaching hours and well exceeded the required training hours, too.
In this week’s musings I’m sharing what I’ve learned from completing 2:10 mentor sessions with my MCC mentor coach, and how that insight changes how I feel, think, and how I coach — all through the lens of maintaining presence. (If you’d like to listen along to these musings, I’ve narrated the work in this week’s Competency No 5 podcast.)
Lesson One: Know that MCC-level coaching can resemble a creative, relaxed conversation
Perhaps my favorite a-ha (and relief) came from hearing that my first concerns and tangled mess of nerves became completely unfounded: I worried that my ADHD mind and my creativity and love for freedom obstructed me and my ability to follow the ICF’s stringent rules. The fear behind the fear: My mind and who I am obstructs my ambitions and mastery, not my proficiency.
I worried any attempts to follow the rules would erode my presence. (How can we stay present with our beloved musing and wondering coachee when caged within our own self-doubting mind?) Obsessing about the rules and fearing our evaluators disqualify us for deviating — even a smidgen — opposes and obstructs presence, Competency no. 5, maintaining presence, no? [Hint: The answer’s: yes! Yes, it does.]
My MCC coach first wondered about imposter syndrome; but through coaching we realized it’s more feeling excited, ready, and then fearful I become mechanical and stilted vs. free flow and grounded by obsessing on the rules. I’ve some scars to reflect upon before I can let them go.
I failed studying law in my youth because I could not test in the traditional exam environment. (I had undiagnosed ADHD.) I later failed the Japanese Proficiency Test Level II over and over, despite having the required kanji reading knowledge. On test day, I could not recreate, which torpedoed an earlier career dream of becoming a Japanese translator. My worry: Does this MCC moonshot become another ditched effort? And if so, as a mental fitness coach and practitioner, what’s my gift and opportunity?
A gift and opportunity certainly exists. What my MCC coach has helped me see is we can remain ourselves within the rules. In fact, true mastery of coaching comes when we’re fully oblivious to anything, except the presence with our coachee. (A metaphor to help me: A chicken could walk in the room and I would not notice.)
No one way exists to get there; but the feeling will become clear to you, your coachee, and your evaluators, my MCC coach has reassured me, having passed the exam herself. And I have these moments daily now as I coach — even within each session. The key becomes keeping those tactics and strategies alive in a recorded session I then submit to my evaluators.
Lesson Two: Slow down in the opening to avoid sounding rote
One area where I’ve stayed PCC vs. MCC is in my opening. I met the mark by asking for consent and asking my coachee to celebrate her successes and settle in on her topic, but only at the PCC level (where I’m currently certified).
The tone in which I asked my questions conveyed rushed vs fully present. This feedback felt true and valid. I had felt jostled prior to this call. My sons were off school, we had football for my older son, and I’d had back-to-back coaching calls leading to this one. My lesson: Ensure you’ve more space for your recording and always anchor and get grounded before every coaching call — no matter what. Even five minutes of mindfulness makes a difference.
Lesson Three: Place emphasis on key words to show you‘re grounded
The way we ask questions also signals a more MCC approach. How are you? vs How are you? Signals that slight difference. What would you most want coaching on today vs. what do you most want coaching on today? The nuanced difference signals presence to you, your coachee, and to your evaluators because you’re slowing things down. A ripple effect occurs — and I’ve seen and felt this over and over on my coaching calls. I felt assured, again, to hear this reminder from my mentor coach.
Lesson Four: Separate coaching from mentoring and consulting. Stay pure to the craft
At the MCC level (as our evaluators evaluate us) every moment must count and embody the ICF’s seven core competencies. If a coachee wants to learn from you and your business to help build their own, that’s not the right topic to have others evaluate you on. My MCC coach separates her client bookings from consultations where coachees can ask her questions for the entire sessions, from mentoring certifying coaches, to coaching. Keep this practice up for full mastery, and to build presence in you and your coachee. Pouring in info and insights feels very different to child-like curiosity.
Lesson Five: Know the evaluators are reasonable
I worried from my first submitted recording that I’d missed something vital at the end of my recorded session. My client shared in our last two minutes she feared losing her job. Our session focused on helping her feel less cluttered and more grounded, learning to say yes to less for more whispy whimsical moments with herself — and her children.
I questioned if I’d better resemble MCC level had I dug deeper to determine the ‘why?’ in the first place. My MCC coach reassured me I had shown curiosity and my coachee aired many causes for her struggles. If any additional cause surfaces at the end, it’s unlikely an evaluator will find fault with the coach when not hearing this earlier.
As I close this week’s musing, I’m not surprised to hear my first session I recorded and submitted would not have passed me at the MCC level in part because of the earlier-mentioned struggles of feeling rushed and then rote in my opening questions. I feel empowered and delighted to know the root cause for my nervousness ties to old scars I can work to re-heal and make peace with. I feel ecstatic to know that I can stay me, and be a master certified coach, and I can be creative — my top quality I’d never want to lose, no matter the situation or profession.
I hope my insights spark learning, creativity, and awareness in you as we enter year of the Wood Dragon, a special and coveted Chinese year focusing on our fulfilment. Do follow our conversation on mental blockers as we reach for higher credentials and mastery in our skills. I’ll share this podcast and article on LinkedIn and hope to see you there.
Debbi Gardiner McCullough coaches and trains immigrant leaders to become more confident, concise, and mentally fit communicators. From Wisconsin, she owns and runs Hanging Rock Coaching and coaches worldwide with BetterUp.