ICF Competencies Facilitating Learning and Result

He was young to be an Assistant Principal, but had demonstrated great gifts in the classroom; thoughtful, intelligent, bursting with energy and dedication.  The veteran principal new to the building understood why her predecessor would promote someone with so much potential, yet the students and staff had great needs.

She, and the school, would endure significant negative consequences without clear positive achievement. Her approach to the other member of her administrative “team” was the first critical decision in leading the troubled school to optimum well-being.

Her analysis came down to these options:

  • She could insist that the Superintendent allow her to select her assistant.
  • She could mentor the young administrator; tell him what he should do, when he should do it, and how long he should continue.
  • She could coach the young administrator, adhering to International Coach Federation (ICF) competencies for facilitating learning and results.

She chose to coach and it made all the difference. Over time the young administrator, the members of the staff, and the students appreciated her commitment to create awareness, design actions, plan and set goals, and manage progress and accountability. Her first critical decision aligned with creating the kind of learning environment that she wanted the school to become:

  • Unshakable in commitment to each learner’s worth and to professionals’ ability to integrate and accurately evaluate multiple sources of information;
  • A creative partnership among learners and leaders upholding the equilibrium between individual learning aspirations and system learning requirements;
  • Structured for sustained progress toward achievement identified as worthwhile and achievement appreciated only in retrospect;
  • Focused on results and open to multiple paths for achieving the results

ICF honed these competencies out of the practice of successful leaders and the research of effective learning. There is nothing easy or natural about adhering to these competencies. There is less immediate gratification to the coach as opposed to the “sage-on-the-stage” adherent.

There is significant pressure from learners who do not want to be accountable for their own learning and from critics who want command to be all that’s necessary.  Competencies that complement relationships are hard to recognize in this age of instant gratification, whiz-bang audio-visuals.

The veteran principal, new to the building, chose to coach.  In so doing, she aligned herself for the time when she would be the retired principal, new to her capstone career, and gratified that her successor would lead a culture embedded with the competencies for facilitating learning and results.

By David Winans, PCC
Coaching for Results Global