Cultivating Potential: Coaching Tips and Insights from the Origins of IAC® and The Coaching Masteries® Research Project
Catherine Miller
IAC-Master Coach
IAC Origins Researcher
On December 11, 2002, at a planning meeting for what we know today as The International Association of Coaching® (IAC®), Thomas Leonard, Michael (Coop) Cooper, Shirley Anderson, and three other masterful coaches posed two important questions to themselves:
● ’What was unique about the Association they were creating?’
● ‘What [was] important to create in the field of coaching?’
At that time, most coach certification bodies were primarily schools focused on training coaches within their own programs. They were largely U.S.-centered and required completion of their proprietary courses for certification.
IAC’s founders envisioned something different: an alternative route to coach certification—one that recognized the coaching potential of individuals who had already developed advanced communication skills through personal and professional experience. Such individuals, they believed, did not need to complete a full coaching program to become masterful coaches. Instead, with a solid skills foundation they would have a good understanding with which to adapt, refine, and expand their skills into masterful coaching through self-directed learning such as targeted courses, guidance from the IAC’s coaching tenets, and the IAC’s certification process.
From this vision, IAC became an independent coach certification body:
● Establishing and representing universally applicable, masterful coaching standards, and
● Basing certification on demonstrated coaching skill and ethics, rather than completion of specific school programs.
Yet the founders sensed there was “something more.”
As Thomas Leonard remarked during that December meeting, “…there’s something intriguing or special about [the IAC] and we’re not able to see it because we’re so new, we’re in the middle of it.”
Exploring further, they realized that this “something” lay in their mindset that gave birth to IAC — a way of thinking that embraced possibilities, opportunities, and potential – rather than focusing solely on traditional problem-solving. This framework of possibility, opportunity, and potential is a way of thinking and being that to this day is at the heart of IAC’s values and mission, how IAC coaches serve their clients through The Coaching Masteries®, and throughout its volunteer-run operations.
The founders created IAC to:
● Open up possibilities for coaches worldwide, and
● Provide the place and means for coaches to:
○ realize the potential of coaching
○ and their own potential as coaches to support, encourage, and illuminate the potential in their clients.
To elevate coaching effectiveness for the benefit of clients, they discussed four types of thinking or frameworks that a coach might draw upon in a session, depending on the client’s needs and intentions:
● Problem-Solving
● Possibility
● Opportunity
● Potential
They recognized that each type of thinking had its value and purpose, but believed that focusing on Potential elevated coaching to its most sophisticated and effective level.
The sophistication of The Coaching Masteries® make it possible, with the client’s willingness, for coaches to elicit and expand thinking and potential
with and within the client,
and
for and within the client’s situation.
Mastery 2 is especially helpful for this: Perceiving, Affirming, and Expanding the Client’s Potential.
Nina East – one of the co-creators of The Coaching Masteries® and a Certifier wrote a series of articles on The Coaching Masteries® in the IAC VOICE 2008 – 2009.
This article series is available in full to IAC members in the “Coach Training and Certification Resources” section of the Member Dashboard: IAC Coaching Masteries Supplement. There, you can explore each Mastery in greater depth and apply it to your personal path of growth and certification.
“Perceiving, affirming, and expanding the client’s potential is not just in relation to what the client does, but also in terms of the client, him or herself. Who is the client being? What are they capable of? What are their gifts and talents? And what can this mean for them?
“Some coaches describe this as a ‘being’ mastery vs a ‘doing’ mastery – focusing on who the client is and who they are being, believing in the client’s inner greatness, no matter what the external results happen to look like at the moment.
“As the coach, you are helping expand the client’s self-awareness, knowledge, and abilities. You are NOT trying to get them to see or believe what you believe to be true about them. Rather, you are helping them expand their own beliefs.
… “think of it as expansion, like a balloon. As the client breathes into their own balloon (their beliefs about their potential), they expand in all directions, gaining new dimension and new perspectives.”
Each Coaching Mastery can be applied at any or all of these 4 levels of thinking in a session:
● Problem-Solving
● Possibility
● Opportunity
● Potential
‘Potential’ is present in each Coaching Mastery.
When we coach with Potential in mind, we elevate the conversation and the potential outcome for the client.
Here’s some food for thought:
1. Of these different types of thinking – which tend to show up in your coaching sessions:
● in your client?
● in your coaching?
2. How might being aware of these 4 types of thinking support you in coaching for your client?
And here are two helpful IAC website links to support your reflection, integration, and application – helping you to enrich your coaching experience and practice:
The Coaching Masteries Yours to explore for Possibilities, Opportunities, and Potential.
The IAC Path to Certification Your IAC Guide to becoming an IAC -Certified Coach and IAC- Master Coach – for expanding your own Possibilities, Opportunities, and Potential.
References:
1. December 11, 2002, Planning meeting transcript.
2. Nina East – Mastery # 2: IAC VOICE 2008 – 2009 series on The Coaching Masteries.
Team IAC VOICE Bites
The Coaching Masteries® referenced in this publication, excerpts from the December 11, 2002 planning meeting transcript, and the excerpt in quotations from Nina East’s article on Mastery #2 (the materials) are the exclusive property of the International Association of Coaching® (IAC®). These materials are protected by applicable copyright, trademark, and other laws. Please do not duplicate these in any form, or use in any manner with artificial intelligence, without permission. All views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author unless otherwise referenced.