#134 Is it about time we had an agreed-upon capability framework for coaching?

There is no agreed-upon framework for coaching capability. Competency frameworks developed by professional bodies go some way to address this; however, these have been repeatedly criticised by industry commentators.

Bachkirova and Lawton Smith (2015) set out four arguments that capture these criticisms some ten years ago:

1. Fragmented Professionalisation: Unlike other established professions, coaching lacks a unified, transparent route to recognition. The divide between qualifications and professional body accreditations creates confusion, sidelines critical thinking, and limits the evolution of coaching as a profession.

2. Questionable Grading of Expertise: There is little evidence that labels such as ‘Master Coach’ guarantee quality coaching. True mastery in complex professions like coaching is context-dependent, shaped by experience, self-awareness, and human dynamics. Such elements are too nuanced to distil into fixed levels of competence.

3. Oversimplification of Practice: Competency frameworks tend to reduce coaching to checklists of observable behaviours, ignoring context, relational dynamics, and the complexity of real-world coaching. This stifles creativity. Can coaching skills even be meaningfully broken down into discrete competencies?

4. Outdated Philosophical Foundations: Many accreditation models reflect linear, modernist thinking, assuming predictable cause-and-effect between methods and outcomes. A more contemporary, complexity-based view sees coaching as an emergent, co-created process, better served by capability-based approaches that develop the coach’s holistic awareness, flexibility, and authenticity.

They proposed a capability framework with four foci based on (1) skills and behaviours, (2) reflective practice, (3) a commitment to the profession (continuing development and supervision), and (4) theoretical and conceptual underpinning knowledge, which I believe is in use at Oxford Brookes. However, ten years on, we are still encumbered with competency frameworks.

My own ongoing research into coaching supervision has led me to think about capability in the context of different stages of a coach’s career, which I refer to as novice coaches, mid-career coaches, and advanced practitioners.

Novice coaches have undertaken coach training, which usually comprises some underpinning theories, but more often focuses on the basic coaching skills of contracting, building rapport, listening, asking questions, expressing oneself, generating new understanding, action planning, and closing. They are beginning to apply their skills in real-world coaching. Typically, they are anxious about their coaching practice, asking themselves, ‘Am I doing it right?’

Mid-career coaches have built their confidence. By now, they may have developed their personalised coaching process and adopted one or more coaching modalities. They are becoming clearer about their purpose and coaching philosophy. Typically, their challenge is to further develop their skills in different contexts; for example, from life coaching to executive coaching, from individual coaching to team coaching, or from performance development coaching to systemic coaching. While they are experienced in some contexts, they are novices in others. They often reach for more and more training courses, which are expensive and this is not necessarily the most appropriate developmental route.

Advanced practitioners have begun to learn to let go and just be, in many contexts. Van Nieuwerburgh and Love (2019) comprehensively describe the advanced practitioner as balancing contradictions in coaching:

• being focused on process and prioritising the relationship

• being challenging and letting things go

• being fully present and attending to the wider context

• being tenacious and encouraging autonomy

• being creative and protecting trust

• being ethical and staying true to personal values

• being who you are and adapting to others

• being committed to outcomes and prioritising well-being

• being impartial and strengthening hopefulness

What career stage are you at? What is your capability level?

For novice coaches who are asking themselves, ‘Am I doing it right?’ supervision can help you apply your skills and challenge the quality of your conceptual thinking.

For mid-career coaches who are learning to develop their skills further and apply them to different contexts, supervision can help you develop a clear sense of your purpose, philosophy and process and apply them in different contexts. You do not always need to reach for another training course!

For advanced practitioners, supervision can help you explore the horizons of your practice.

In all cases, developing your reflective practice is essential. Coaching supervision is a safe, relational space co-created by coaches and their supervisor for encouraging, enabling and externalising the coaches’ reflective practice.

I urge coaches to think beyond competency and work on their contextual capability. I offer coaching supervision for practitioners at all stages and all capability levels.

Follow this link to answer a few questions that will help you think about what you are looking for from supervision. In return, I will email you a complimentary coaching practice review and offer you a no-obligation introductory session.

References:

Bachkirova, T. and Lawton Smith, C. (2015). From competencies to capabilities in the assessment and accreditation of coaches, International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 13(2): 123-140.

Van Nieuwerburgh, D. and Love, D. (2019). Advanced Coaching Practice: Inspiring Change in Others, Sage.