What does mastery look like in coaching today — and how are the ICF Core Competencies evolving in 2025?

In this episode of The Coach Within, Coach Jedi unpacks the latest updates to the 8 ICF Core Competencies, based on years of global research, feedback, and practice since the 2019 refresh. Whether you’re an aspiring ACC, an experienced PCC, or a mentor MCC, this episode will help you understand what’s changed, why it matters, and how to apply it in your own coaching practice.

Here’s what you’ll discover:

• Ethical Practice – Navigate integrity, confidentiality, and AI challenges in coaching.

• Coaching Mindset – Embrace ongoing learning, manage biases, and sustain well-being as a coach.

• Agreements – Move beyond checklists into living, revisitable commitments with clients and stakeholders.

• Trust & Safety – The timeless foundation of human connection across cultures and generations.

• Presence – Harness silence, uncertainty, and grounded awareness in coaching conversations.

• Active Listening – Hear beyond words into patterns, emotions, and the unspoken.

• Evoking Awareness – Use questions, metaphors, and observations (without attachment) to spark insight.

• Facilitating Growth – Support autonomy, acknowledge progress, and close with impact.

  
  

Plus: Explore the new ICF Glossary of Terms (2025) and why clarity around concepts like bias, worldview, well-being, technology, and without attachment matters for every coach.

This is more than an update — it’s an invitation to deepen your coaching mastery, align with the latest global standards, and bring fresh clarity to every client conversation.

🎧 Tune in to expand your skills, connect closer to your purpose, and elevate your coaching journey.

👉 For more, visit jedi.coach.

What does it really mean to reach mastery in coaching? In this episode of The Coach Within, MCC coaches Sophia and Jedi unpack the paradox of “Messy Mastery.”

Together, they explore how coaching mastery is less about perfection and more about play, curiosity, rediscovery, and love for the human being. From embracing uncertainty and frustration to drawing inspiration from the “messy” workspaces of Leonardo da Vinci and Picasso, this conversation challenges traditional notions of what mastery should look like.

Discover how presence and surrender create space for organic co-creation, where insights and programs emerge naturally — like a curriculum writing itself. Learn why mastery isn’t a level to attain but an ever-evolving journey, filled with rediscovery of the old, openness to the new, and unconditional love for those we serve.

Whether you’re a coach, leader, or on a personal growth path, this episode invites you to embrace the messiness, unlock fresh clarity, and step bravely into your own evolving mastery.

For more conversations, visit jedi.coach.

Are you preparing for your ACC or PCC exam, or simply seeking to elevate your ethical coaching practice? This session is essential for coaches navigating complex ethical scenarios and striving for excellence.We begin by exploring how to engage in ethical conversations without fear, guilt, or avoidance – a common challenge often presented in certification exams. This episode critically differentiates between proactive care and reactive empathy, highlighting that care, in the ICF context, is an active and deliberate measure a coach takes to support the client, fostering a space of trust and safety.This session meticulously breaks down the eight key sections of Part 3, which fundamentally centers on commitment for all within the ICF ecosystem – encompassing clients, stakeholders, the coaching profession, and its processes.Here’s what we delve into:• Mindful Performance with Integrity and Accountability: Understand your duties to perform mindfully, considering the global impact of your actions on the coaching profession. A critical focus is placed on client confidentiality: learn why sharing client stories or successes, even anonymously, is an ethical breach unless you have explicit, articulated, and recorded permission from the client. We also discuss strategies like fictionalizing content to ethically share lessons learned without compromising privacy. Key factors to consider are the scope of impact/reach and the nature of the permission given.• Commitment to Excellence through Ethical Development: Discover why ethical development is just as vital as skill and personal development. This involves continuous reflection, engaging with dilemmas, and learning from ethical missteps. We explore challenging scenarios, such as the internal struggle of a coach feeling ineffective and the urge to 'solve' for a client, and the importance of regularly resetting your ethical parameters.• Cultural Competence and Curiosity: Navigate the complexities of cultural filters – our invisible assumptions – and how culture profoundly influences ethics. This section advocates for moving beyond mere cultural tolerance to cultural curiosity and responsiveness, rather than neutrality. Learn to respect and adapt to differences in communication styles, hierarchy, generational nuances, and traditions. We provide insights on the importance of pre-session cultural 'homework' and how to frame initial conversations when cultural context is unfamiliar. The distinction between cross-cultural and multicultural differences is also explored.• Awareness of Relationships and Influencing Factors: Gain insight into how biases, power dynamics, and systemic oppressions can affect coaching relationships. Understand that unexamined power can distort the coaching relationship and that the client remains the expert in their own domain knowledge, while the coach provides expertise in the coaching process. We also discuss avoiding overly 'politically correct' but robotic conversations in favor of genuine ethical alignment for client safety.• Respectfully Addressing Unethical Conduct: Develop the courage to confront concerns regarding unethical behavior by peers, clients, or stakeholders. This includes navigating sensitive situations such as HR requests for confidential client insights, or addressing misleading marketing claims and over-promising breakthroughs by other coaches online. Private communication is often the preferred first step.----For more real stories, practical tools, and thought-provoking reflections, or to explore upcoming programs, visit jedi.coach or check out our show notes. If this podcast helped you grow, please follow, share, and leave a review – it helps more people find us. Until next time, keep listening, keep reflecting, and keep braving your story from within.https://jedi.coachJedi@Jedi.Coach