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The Overlooked Competency
60 Plays12 days ago
Behind every powerful coaching question lies something quieter—but far more essential: trust.
In this episode of PRIME SPACE, Elias Scultori, MCC, shines a light on an often underestimated ICF Core Competencies: Cultivating Trust and Safety. While many coaches focus on powerful questions, agreements, and action planning, the foundation of effective coaching rests on something more fundamental—trust.
Elias explores how trust shows up in everyday life, why it is indispensable in coaching, and how coaches can intentionally nurture it from the very first impression they make. He also introduces the powerful distinction between safe space and brave space, inviting coaches to reimagine trust-building as a shared responsibility between coach and client.
If you’ve ever wondered how to deepen your coaching relationships, this episode will remind you why trust isn’t just another competency—it’s the very ground on which coaching stands.
#Coaching #ICFCompetencies #ProfessionalCoaching #TrustAndSafety #Leadership #PRIMESPACE
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Transcript
Introduction to Prime Space Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to PRIME SPACE a PRIME Coaching Academy podcast with your host, Elias Scultori.
Understanding the Pervasive Role of Trust
00:00:14
Speaker
Coaches, isn't it amazing how much we take trust for granted? Have you ever thought about that?
00:00:26
Speaker
Trust is everywhere. Without trust, trust everywhere. There are no relationships without trust. There are no communities without trust.
00:00:39
Speaker
There is no society. There is no culture. and We live together as human beings. And in order for us to live together, we need trust.
00:00:52
Speaker
And therefore, because we're still living here, there is trust everywhere. And it's interesting that we don't even think much about trust on our day-to-day lives.
00:01:11
Speaker
Think about this. Every time you go to a supermarket... You trust that the food available to you is safe for consumption.
00:01:29
Speaker
You trust that those products were handled appropriately and safely. When you go to the to payment, ah you give for your credit card, and perhaps, and you trust that transaction is going to be done fairly.
00:01:55
Speaker
We drive on a highway... We put our lives in danger because cars are very dangerous if we don't handle it properly. ah And we believe that everybody in that highway will follow the same traffic rules as we do.
Trust as a Core Competency for Coaches
00:02:21
Speaker
Those are very obvious and simple examples of how we trust and we have to trust on a daily basis.
00:02:33
Speaker
And that's why I say that trust and safety, cultivates trust and safety and maintains presence are two core competencies that I see coaches and especially new coaches almost overlooking them.
00:02:51
Speaker
We spend so much time trying to practice our questions, our language, our session agreement, the way we close the conversation, how we support the client into moving forward and generating their action plan, how much we are evoking awareness.
00:03:16
Speaker
We even talk a lot about coaching mindset, but there is very little talk about trust and safety, building trust and safety, and very little talk about presence in general.
00:03:30
Speaker
But this is the beauty of these two competencies. Here, core competency number four, cultivates trust and safety, is the ICF, is the community of coaches, putting the spotlight on this crucial aspect of the coaching conversation.
00:03:54
Speaker
Without trust, there is no coaching. Because without trust, the client is not going to be able to fully explore themselves, to feel comfortable and safe, to go to the uncomfortable parts, to go a step, a layer further, to go a step further, to dare to examine things that are perhaps not as comfortable.
00:04:28
Speaker
For us to go to this depth of exploration, trust is fundamental. And that's why we, the community of coaches, through these competencies, we call ourselves to be experts in building and cultivating trust and safety with our clients.
Building Trust with Clients
00:04:55
Speaker
Trust and safety cannot be assumed
00:05:00
Speaker
but something that we are going to work intentionally during a coaching engagement at large. So how do we cultivate trust and safety?
00:05:13
Speaker
I often say to my students and mentees that we start cultivating trust as a safety from the moment that our clients see our name.
00:05:24
Speaker
Everywhere, the moment that someone mentions, oh, I have this coach or someone goes to see our LinkedIn profile or our website or sees our a business card or see our name in in the an advertisement for a course, a workshop that we are giving, all of that, we are in that moment already building trust and safety.
00:05:49
Speaker
The way we show up. ah the the The clothing that we wear, the words that we that we share, all of this supports the other individual in feeling safe or not, trusting or not, or how much they can open up or not.
00:06:10
Speaker
And it's important for us to be mindful of that. Of course, not be obsessed about it but be mindful that at every moment, our clients are coming to us and looking and paying attention to what we are doing. That's why it's so important, and we are even called in ah the ethical code of the of the ICF, to be mindful that it's everywhere we go, we are ambassadors of this profession, right?
00:06:38
Speaker
And we are inviting people to feel safe with the profession and feel safe especially with working with us. So at every moment from high, cultivating trust and safety is already there.
00:06:55
Speaker
The tone of voice, the smile on the face, the background that we have in in Zoom, all whole of this. I'm a firm believer that all of these are contributors to the way we build trust and safety and we build our relationship with our client.
00:07:12
Speaker
But there are specific things that we need to be mindful of.
00:07:18
Speaker
It's very powerful when we generously and with authenticity... share with the client an acknowledgement of what they are doing, showing support to their journey and to what they are saying.
00:07:40
Speaker
The way we listen to certain words and to certain change of tone and change of energy to the non-verbals, and we bring them to our coaching process All of this supports the client into noticing, wow, my coach is paying attention.
00:08:00
Speaker
My coach accepts me. My coach sees me. And whether if it's conscious or unconscious, this gives the client this relaxation, this openness, this letting go that allows them to go deeper into their exploration.
00:08:26
Speaker
the level of respect, authentic respect that we have for our clients will impact everything that happens in that conversation.
00:08:40
Speaker
Meeting the client where they are in every single moment. Understanding or being curious about their context and the background that brings them to that particular moment supports the client into noticing that they can trust us as their coach and they can then be able to explore further.
00:09:08
Speaker
All of these are crucial aspects of the coaching process. And I say verbal support, verbal demonstration of support.
00:09:19
Speaker
This does not mean that it has to be a paragraph or a very extensive a statement. We still utilize language skills that are supposed to be concise and and intentional.
Exploring the Concept of Brave Space
00:09:34
Speaker
But these authentic manifestations of support and acknowledgement can be tremendously powerful in a coaching conversation. And oftentimes we overlook the possibility of doing that. And we are focused so much into asking a question that we miss that opportunity to just say to the client how much we appreciate and how much we are noticing the commitment that they have around the process.
00:10:05
Speaker
But I want to introduce another aspect of cultivating trust and safety that is rarely talked about. And it's a distinction that is becoming more and more prominent in these discussions about safe space.
00:10:23
Speaker
And it's the distinction between safe space and brave space.
00:10:31
Speaker
I love the concept of Brave Space, and if you have not heard of this concept of Brave Space before, I highly encourage you to Google it. There are documents and research done on this, and it's a beautiful concept.
00:10:47
Speaker
And the reason why I love Brave Space is because usually, if you notice... Usually when we talk about cultivating trust and safety or cultivating this safe space, the responsibility is on the facilitator, the leader, the professional, or the person managing that particular relationship.
00:11:12
Speaker
A teacher is there to provide safe space for a client. A teacher is supposed to provide safe space for the students. A manager is supposed to provide safe space for the employees.
00:11:25
Speaker
A coach is supposed to provide safe space for the client. So there is a responsibility that is put on the professional, which is, of course, we know, imperative. But the concept of brave space makes this more of a partnership, makes everyone involved in that group responsible for taking ownership of creating a so ah communal space where everyone is safe and everyone is brave enough to put themselves forward.
00:11:59
Speaker
and to and to take responsibility for what is this space. I'm not just simply waiting for the leader to provide safe space and if the leader is not doing something X, Y, and Z, then I do not feel safe.
00:12:16
Speaker
But the idea is that I am responsible for my own feelings and I am responsible for the way I show up in this particular space.
00:12:27
Speaker
I love this because it seems Brave Space for me seems a much more adult relationship and adult approach to this idea that we are creating a ah space for people to to feel free and express themselves fully.
00:12:47
Speaker
And I think that it's 100% applicable to the coaching environment as well. Yes, we as coaches have the responsibility of doing our part and providing ah this safe environment for our clients.
00:13:03
Speaker
However, coaching is a partnership. And it is important that the client also commits to this process of, I am going to be brave enough to take a step into outside of my comfort zone and be able to express myself and be able to explore things that may not be easy for me.
Conclusion and Call to Engagement
00:13:27
Speaker
Coaching is an adult process. Coaching is a partnership. The client is willing to do the work. And therefore, the client has the courage and the willingness to step forward and embrace this moment.
00:13:47
Speaker
I love this concept that for us to create this safe environment is also a partnership that requires both coach and client to generate this fertile ground for exploration.
00:14:06
Speaker
What do you think of that? I encourage you again to do some research on this concept of brave space and the distinction between safe space and brave space and see how this can support you in your coaching. Love to hear from you and hear your thoughts. So please continue to send me your emails and your comments and check in with me on LinkedIn. It's always wonderful to hear from you.
00:14:34
Speaker
Thank you for listening and thank you for sharing this episode with other coaches and and subscribing to not only our podcast, but also subscribe to our YouTube channel and have a wonderful week. And I will talk to you next time.