ICF: LISTEN

In the 2021 video Updated ICF Core Competency 6: Listens Actively by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), Sackeena Gordon-Jones, CEO Transformation Edge, discusses the competency. Gordon-Jones explains that listening actively is focusing on what the client is and is not saying to fully understand what is being communicated in the context of the client systems as well as to support client self-expression.

Gordon-Jones says this competency is essential for coaches. She explains three-types of listening: coach hears the client, client hears themself, and client’s feel heard. The new competencies focus on the being and doing (verbs) of the coach where the older versions focused on the what (nouns). Coaches are participating as partners and part of what a coach gives is the ability to hear fully what is being said verbally, physically, viscerally, and to be able to reflect that back to the client.  

A master of this competency, according to Gordon-Jones, has to do with the coach’s level of attunement to a client, how present they are with the client, and how the coach responds to what the client shares. The coach is listening empathetically to the client’s system–not just their words–and what their body’s are saying…or not saying. The coach must consider the client’s context, culture, and perspective; not filter the message only through the coach’s lens.

What ICF is looking for is what is the coach noticing, observing, and reflecting back to the client. The coach is responsible for helping the client disrupt their thinking. For example, a client may say, “I am really excited about this opportunity for this promotion” but everything else that the coach is hearing doesn’t match. The coach needs to say, “I notice you say you are excited about X, but your body doesn’t seem to match that same excitement. What do you think about that?” or “Help me understand…” Only when a coach listens actively will they not miss opportunities to reflect back to the client and hear from multiple neuro pathways.

LISTEN — Explore Client’s Emotions, Energy Shift, Non-Verbal Cues and Consider Client’s Context, Environment, Experiences, Values, Beliefs

• I notice you say you are excited about X, but your body doesn’t seem to match that same excitement. What do you think about that?
• Help me understand why you feel that way..
• What do we need to do today to make it worth your while in showing up?
• I’m sensing this from you. Am I tracking?

REFLECTIONS
• Listen to the system — not just the words.
• Coach attunement requires listening empathetically from the client’s context too and then reflecting that back to the client so they can hear that too…mirroring, restating, inquiring to clarify what was heard and said.