The 8 ICF Core Competencies, explained with session examples

This guide explains each competency in our own words. For each one you get what it means, what it sounds like in a session, and a mistake that coaches often make. Five of them also have a worked question in the style of the ACC Exam. The clients in the examples are invented.

ICF's own document lists the behaviours under each competency in detail. Read it beside this guide. The link is under Sources at the end.

The four groups

The groups follow the shape of coaching. The foundation is who you are as a coach. Then you build the relationship, then the conversation, then the change the client makes after it.

1. Demonstrates Ethical Practice

What it means. You act with honesty towards the client and towards anyone else with a stake in the coaching, such as an employer who pays for it. You keep what the client says confidential, inside the limits you agreed. You notice a conflict of interest and say so. You know where coaching stops and other kinds of help begin, such as therapy or legal advice, and you refer when the client needs them.

In a session. A client mentions that he has slept badly for months and feels hopeless most days. The coach doesn't move on to his goal for the session. She says what she heard, asks how he is, and talks with him about whether a doctor or a therapist could help alongside the coaching.

A common mistake. Going on with the coaching because the client asked for it, when the topic needs a different professional.

For more on this competency, read coaching or therapy: when to refer and the limits of confidentiality in coaching.

2. Embodies a Coaching Mindset

What it means. You treat the client as the expert on their own life. The choices are theirs, and so is the responsibility for them. You stay curious instead of trying to fix things. You notice your own reactions and opinions, and you keep them from steering the session. Outside the sessions, you keep learning and you reflect on your work, for example with a supervisor or a mentor coach.

In a session. The coach privately thinks a client's plan to leave a secure job is risky. She doesn't say so, and she doesn't ask about the risks one by one. She asks, "What would help you feel sure about this, either way?" After the session she writes down her urge to steer, so that she can look at it later.

A common mistake. Advice phrased as a question: "Have you thought about just talking to your manager?"

3. Establishes and Maintains Agreements

What it means. You agree two things with the client. The first is the overall agreement: what coaching is and is not, the practical terms, confidentiality, and who else is involved, for example a sponsor. The second is the agreement for each session: what the client wants from today, how they will know they have it, and why it matters to them now. You come back to the agreement during the session, and you end the session against it.

In a session. A client starts with, "I want to talk about my team." The coach asks, "What would you like to have by the end of our time today?" Then: "How will you know we've got there?" Twenty minutes later the client is talking about her manager. The coach checks: "We've moved on to your manager. Is this still what you want to work on, or shall we go back to the team?"

A common mistake. Taking the first topic the client names as the agreement, and going straight into the story.

The Goal stage of the GROW model does the same job. See GROW model questions, with a worked example.

4. Cultivates Trust and Safety

What it means. The client can say what is true for them without fear of judgement. You respect who they are: their identity, culture, values and beliefs. You notice and say what they are doing well. You show care. When the client disagrees with you, you accept it and you stay with them.

In a session. The coach offers an observation: "It sounds like you're waiting for permission." The client says, "No, that's not it." The coach answers, "Thank you for telling me. What would you say it is?"

A common mistake. Defending your observation, or saying it again in other words until the client agrees.

5. Maintains Presence

What it means. All of your attention is on the client, and you respond to what happens in the moment instead of to a plan. You stay calm with silence, with strong feelings and with not knowing where the session will go. You manage your own reactions so that they don't take up the client's space.

In a session. The coach asks, "What would you do if you knew nobody would judge you?" The client looks away and goes quiet. The coach waits. After about twenty seconds the client says something she hasn't said before.

A common mistake. Filling a silence with a second question, or with a softer version of the first one.

6. Listens Actively

What it means. You listen to what the client says and to what they don't say. You hear their words, their tone and their energy, and the patterns across what they tell you. You hear their context too: the people, the work and the values around the topic. You reflect and summarise, so that the client can check that you understood and can hear their own thinking.

In a session. "You've said 'should' three times about this job. What is the 'should' about?"

A common mistake. Listening for your next question while the client is still talking.

7. Evokes Awareness

What it means. You help the client see something new about themselves or their situation. Your tools are questions, silence, metaphor, observation and, at times, challenge. You share what you notice without being attached to it. The client reaches the insight. You don't hand it to them.

In a session. The client describes her job as "a cage". The coach asks, "If it's a cage, where is the door?"

A common mistake. Telling the client what you think the insight is, and asking them to agree with it.

8. Facilitates Client Growth

What it means. You help the client turn what they learned into action. The client designs the goals and the actions, with you as a partner. You explore what will help and what will get in the way, and how they will hold themselves to it. You notice and celebrate progress. You close the session with what the client is taking away.

In a session. Near the end, the coach asks, "What will you do with this, and by when?" Then: "What could get in the way?" And last: "What are you taking away from today?"

A common mistake. Setting homework for the client, or agreeing the actions for them.

How the competencies work together

In a real session you don't use the competencies one at a time. A single good question can show presence, careful listening and a coaching mindset at once. An assessor who listens to a recording for a credential listens for all eight across the whole session. The worked example in a coaching session example, start to end shows them together.

The 2019 and 2025 versions

ICF updated the model in 2025. The eight competency names did not change. ICF added five sub-competencies, revised eleven, updated one definition and added a glossary. ICF's ACC Candidate Guide (revised September 2026) says that the current ACC Exam reflects the 2019 Core Competencies. Check ICF's current guidance before your exam.

The competencies in the ACC Exam

The ACC Exam covers three domains: Coaching Ethics (30% of the questions), Definition and Boundaries of Coaching (30%), and Coaching Competencies, Strategies and Techniques (40%). The competencies come up most in the third domain, where a question describes a moment in a session and asks what the coach should do. Try a full set in the free ACC practice exam, or see all the free questions on credential exam practice.