Mentor coaching is a formal, structured process in which an experienced coach works with you to develop your coaching competencies. It's not therapy, not supervision and not a training course. The focus is entirely on you as a coach: what you’re doing well against the ICF core competencies, and where your next edge of growth lies.

The ICF requires a minimum of 10 hours of mentor coaching for coaches pursuing the ACC, PCC or MCC credential for the first time, and for ACC renewal. These hours must be completed with an ICF credentialled coach at or above the level you are pursuing, over a minimum of three months.

Mentor coaching is for you if you are:
•    Working toward your ICF ACC, PCC or MCC credential for the first time
•    Renewing your ACC credential
•    Wanting to go deeper into your coaching practice beyond what credentialling formally requires
•    Feeling uncertain about where you are as a coach and wanting a warm, experienced thinking partner to help you find your footing

You don't need to have it all figured out. In fact, the coaches who get the most from mentor coaching are often the ones who arrive with genuine questions rather than polished confidence.

Sessions are 60 minutes, conducted online via Zoom (or in-person if you’re in Cape Town). They feel — I hope — like a good conversation between two people who care deeply about coaching.

Where possible, I review a recording of your coaching in advance. This means my feedback is grounded in what actually happened in your session — specific, evidence-based and genuinely useful rather than generic. We look closely at the ICF core competencies, the patterns that are showing up in your coaching, and the missed opportunities that you might not have noticed yourself.

There's warmth in the room — and often some humour — but there's also rigour. I don't do vague encouragement. I do honest, caring, detailed feedback that you can actually use.

Quite a lot, I hope! Here's what I consciously bring into every mentor coaching relationship:

• Warmth and collegiality. We're colleagues on this journey. I'm not here to judge you — I'm here to think alongside you. And honestly? I love mentoring partly because it sharpens my own coaching too. It keeps me on my toes, constantly learning and growing.

• Kindness. I understand how vulnerable it can feel to share your work — and to share yourself. Putting your coaching under a microscope takes courage. I hold that with genuine care and respect.

• Enthusiasm. I genuinely believe that with patience, humility, persistence — and a little laughter along the way — we can all learn to do this well. All of it. The competencies that feel impossible right now, the moments that feel out of reach. I haven't met a coach yet who couldn't grow significantly with the right support, and I bring that belief into every session.

• Rigour and detail. I pay close attention. I notice the subtleties — your relationship with silence, your use of language, the moments where you followed the client and the moments where you didn't quite. The detail matters.

• Evidence-based feedback. My feedback is grounded in what I actually observed in your coaching — not in theory or assumption. This is explicit learning: clear, specific and actionable.

• Role modelling. The way I work with you in mentor coaching is itself a demonstration of what I believe excellent coaching looks and feels like. You will experience presence, deep listening and powerful questioning firsthand. This is implicit learning — you absorb it by being on the receiving end of it.

• Insight and new distinctions. Sometimes what shifts things is a new way of seeing something — a distinction that re-frames what you've been experiencing. I love finding those moments with coaches.

• Help with integration. Understanding something is one thing. Being able to do it differently in a live coaching session is another. I'll help you bridge that gap — finding ways to practice and embody new learning in real coaching conversations.

• Assessment. I'll give you a clear, honest picture of where you are in relation to the ICF competencies at your credential level. Not to evaluate or judge, but to help you know what to focus on and what's already landing well.

• Integrity and commitment. I show up when I say I will. I do what I say I'll do. You can count on me to be fully present, fully prepared and fully invested in your development — every single session.

• And yes — humour. Because this work is serious, but it doesn't always have to be solemn. Some of the best learning happens when we laugh at ourselves a little.

The ICF core competencies are the framework that defines coaching excellence at all credential levels. They cover four domains: Foundation, Co-creating the Relationship, Communicating Effectively, and Cultivating Learning and Growth. Each competency looks and feels different at ACC, PCC and MCC level — and part of our work together is helping you understand not just what they mean on paper, but what they look like in practice.

Not at all. You simply need to have begun coaching clients. Wherever you are, on your journey, you're welcome.

If you're coaching clients and working toward a credential, you're ready. Confidence is not a requirement. In fact, the uncertainty you might be feeling right now — about your coaching, about the competencies, about whether you're on the right track — is often exactly where the most valuable work begins.

The ICF announced in April 2026 a new Mentor Coach Specialization (MCS), effective January 1, 2027. This new specialization formally recognises coaches who are qualified to provide mentor coaching — establishing a defined competency framework, a structured evaluation methodology and two pathways for qualification.

I am currently completing the MCS requirements ahead of the January 2027 deadline. This matters to you because it means the mentor coaching you receive is aligned with the most current and rigorous standard the ICF has established — and that from 2027, I'll be among the first formally qualified mentor coaches under the new framework.

They're related but distinct. Mentor coaching focuses specifically on developing your coaching competencies in relation to the ICF framework — it's competency-focused and forward-looking. Coaching supervision is a broader reflective practice that looks at your overall development as a practitioner, including the emotional and ethical dimensions of your work. Both are valuable; they serve different purposes at different stages of your journey.