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Once MCC, Always MCC ??
71 Plays2 months ago
In this thought-provoking episode of PRIME SPACE, host Elias Scultori challenges one of the elusive coaching myths: “If I'm an MCC, my sessions are always at MCC level.”
Drawing from personal experiences, powerful metaphors, and insights from the PRIME Coaching Academy programs, Elias explores the dynamic, human, and imperfect nature of coaching—and why certification alone doesn't define the quality of a coaching session.
Whether you're working toward your ICF certification (ACC, PCC, or MCC), deepening your coaching presence, or supporting clients at all levels, this episode invites you to reflect on:
• Why coaching is more than just checking competency markers
• How to serve your clients with authenticity and skill
• The real purpose behind coach training and credentialing
• Why being present is more powerful than being perfect
📌 This episode is part of the “Coaching Myths Uncovered” series, expanding on a PRIME EVENT now available on YouTube.
👉 Tune in to discover how coaching excellence is not about flawless sessions—but about serving clients with intention, adaptability, and heart.
🔗 Subscribe, rate, and share this episode with fellow coaches, and explore our upcoming Level 1 coach training cohort at www.primecoachingacademy.com.
#CoachingPodcast #ICFCoaching #MCCCoach #CoachingMyths #CoachTraining #ProfessionalCoaching #EliasScultori #PRIMESPACE #PRIMECoachingAcademy #MentorCoaching #CoachingPresence #CoachingCompetencies #ICFCertification #CoachingMastery
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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.
MCC Coaching Workshop Story
00:00:15
Speaker
Coaches, i have another story for you. And I'm not sure if I've already told you this story here. Some of you may be familiar with this story, but here it goes.
00:00:26
Speaker
Many, many years ago, i was in this workshop led by this MCC coach, very experienced coach. And in the middle of the workshop, this coach stops and asks a question to the group.
00:00:42
Speaker
do you think that because I have my MCC, all of my sessions, all of my coaching sessions that I have with my clients are at MCC level?
Debunking the MCC Coaching Myth
00:00:53
Speaker
And she was like, no, of course not. Some some sessions are not even ACC level.
00:01:00
Speaker
And ah that was such an impactful moment for me. And i I remember that very clearly. And I have carried that moment with me ever since... ah And this is what I would like to talk to you about in this episode, continuing with the ah the myths of coaching a series that i I started last season.
00:01:26
Speaker
I would like to continue with this next myth. Remember, this is from ah PRIME EVENT that Amy and I gave ah a few months ago.
00:01:37
Speaker
The event, the whole event is recorded and is in our YouTube channel. So please go there and listen to the event. You have all of the eight myths um there. But as I said, when we did the event, we only had an hour left.
00:01:55
Speaker
We did it very quickly and I'm using now PRIME SPACE to go a little deeper in each one of these myths. But I highly encourage you to ah listen to that event in our YouTube channel.
Coaching's Unpredictable Nature
00:02:07
Speaker
But anyways, the myth here that I want to address is if a coach has an MCC...
00:02:13
Speaker
Their sessions will always be at MCC level. Oh, that's a big myth. Big myth. And the the reason why this is a myth is because coaching is dynamic.
00:02:29
Speaker
We prepare. We come ready. But coaching is one of these practices that every time, every moment is a different experience.
00:02:44
Speaker
There are so many factors at play during a coaching conversation that it makes crucial for us to acknowledge that we are not in control.
00:03:01
Speaker
And it this is part ah of being comfortable with the not knowing, being comfortable with the unpredictable.
00:03:11
Speaker
We don't know where the session is going to go.
00:03:18
Speaker
And that's okay. We provide the framework. We provide this skillfully crafted space for the client's exploration.
00:03:32
Speaker
And off we go.
Prioritizing Client Needs Over Certification
00:03:35
Speaker
Sometimes everything is aligned and beautifully balanced in this partnership with the client, in all of these factors that are at play, and the session goes and it flows beautifully.
00:03:53
Speaker
Sometimes it doesn't. But that's not the point. When I am... with my clients, my goal is not that I am performing at MCC level, that I am checking all the markers and all the bars, that I am fully demonstrating all of the skills assigned by the International Coaching Federation. That's not my goal.
00:04:27
Speaker
My goal in that moment is to serve my clients.
00:04:33
Speaker
And I utilize my skills, my understanding of the standards that we have designed for this profession. I understand all of the research that has been done around the coaching process.
00:04:49
Speaker
I understand all of all of the the the best practices that we have generated with all the coaches around the world. my best understanding of all of these skills, I utilize that to support my clients.
00:05:08
Speaker
And this is something that oftentimes we get confused. In coach training, we are so focused, not only in coach training, the in the arena, in the space of professional coaching. Sometimes,
00:05:22
Speaker
We get so focused on skills and what are the standards and what are the markers, what are the bars, and we focus so much on that that we forget that the most important part is the client. We forget the client.
00:05:38
Speaker
All of a sudden, we are there to to fu fulfill all of these expectations that And we are more at the service of the competencies and of the standards than we are at the service of our clients.
00:05:54
Speaker
The purpose of all of our training and all of our commitment to building our skills, to getting the experience, is so that we are an effective
Adaptability in Coaching Partnerships
00:06:06
Speaker
coach. Okay.
00:06:08
Speaker
The purpose is not that we are MCC.
00:06:15
Speaker
The purpose is to support our clients. And that is, that's a tricky part. And that's why coach training is so crucial for the value that we provide with our clients.
00:06:32
Speaker
Because...
00:06:35
Speaker
all of a sudden the client may ask for an advice or the client may ah be looking for a specific strategy or the client is relying on our subject matter expertise or we are too reliant on our subject matter expertise.
00:07:01
Speaker
Or perhaps ah the way we set the value, of what we bring to our client is only based on knowledge.
00:07:13
Speaker
If we don't understand the main proposition behind these standards, then we are going to fall into providing certain things to the to the client, thinking that this is the best thing.
00:07:31
Speaker
that we can offer, but in reality we are probably doing a disservice or creating less value than we could. And that's the reason why we do coach training. And that's why the reason why we go through all of the hoops of being certified and continuing the journey and going for ACC, PCC and MCC and continue to polish to polish our skills is so that we can provide better value to the client.
00:08:02
Speaker
It's not simply that, oh, now I have a PCC. Oh, now I have an MCC. It is that we have a more ingrained and more sophisticated way of understanding these standards.
00:08:16
Speaker
And when the situations are happening in our coaching session, moment by moment by moment, we have more resources to provide even greater value to our
Coaching Compared to Surgery
00:08:30
Speaker
clients.
00:08:30
Speaker
That is what I am paying attention to when I am with my clients. I'm not concerned if it's ACC, PCC, or MCC. And the reason why I continue to my commitment to to growing in my coaching skills is so that i am more equipped for that moment.
00:08:54
Speaker
But I also realize, and we cannot forget, that coaching is a partnership. I can come with all of my skills, all of my understanding, all of the years of experience.
00:09:07
Speaker
If the client in that particular moment... is not ready or for whatever reason the client is not in the moment of going deeper and doing the the full body of work that an MCC session can provide for them, if they are not ready for that...
00:09:30
Speaker
i Pushing MCC on them will not be right.
00:09:35
Speaker
I am there to meet the client where the client is in that particular moment. And I said this before, just like there are coaches operating at ACC, PCC, and MCC level, there are clients operating at ACC, PCC, and MCC level. And I use these these markers just as an illustration based on the ICF standards.
00:09:58
Speaker
So if the client is operating, for whatever reason in that moment, at a more sort superficial level of exploration, my job is to still open the door for but a possibility for more, but my job is to be with them where they are.
00:10:19
Speaker
I'm there for my client. I'm not there for competencies and certification levels.
00:10:30
Speaker
Coaching is not an exact science. And this is something for us to keep in mind as we go through this journey. And especially when we are eager to get to the next level of of certification. And we get so confused about these markers and these bars and these expectations and these recordings.
00:10:51
Speaker
All of a sudden we we think that, okay, if I check off the all the bars, so then, oh, then I am a PCC. Oh, then I am an a a ACC. Oh, then I am an MCC. Yeah, maybe when in that particular session you may be able to demonstrate that, but that is not the point.
00:11:08
Speaker
The point is consistency. The point is depth of understanding of these standards. And this takes time to mature because since coaching is such a human experience and there is it requires so much of of the authenticity, the transparency, the vulnerability of the coach, it's so much us being fully present, understanding what it means to be fully present. That takes years, right?
00:11:39
Speaker
One of the tenets that we have at PRIME Coaching Academy is that coaching is simple but not easy.
00:11:47
Speaker
And that is... the the curious part of coaching. To me, it's tentilating, this aspect of the nuances of coaching.
00:12:00
Speaker
And in that those nuances, they are going to play at every coaching session.
Effective Client Service as Coaching Goal
00:12:08
Speaker
Coaching is human. Coaching is imperfect.
00:12:10
Speaker
There is no coaching session that it is a perfect session. Even the ones that pass MCC, those are not perfect. That's not the goal. Coaching is messy.
00:12:22
Speaker
And it it is in this messiness that we encounter each other. That's the artistry.
00:12:32
Speaker
That's where the magic happens. Even though we are not there to create magic.
00:12:41
Speaker
I often compare this moment of coaching with the the idea of a surgeon performing surgery on a patient. There are many tools next to the surgeon.
00:12:56
Speaker
And all the tools are there available, sharp, clean, ready to be used. The surgeon ah spent hours countless hours in perfecting their skills in how to utilize the the tools, when to utilize the tools, what best tools are for them to use in this particular moment.
00:13:21
Speaker
But does the surgeon use every single tool in every single surgery? i I'm not a ah doctor, but I doubt that.
00:13:33
Speaker
The surgeon is looking at the situation, looking at the patient, and looking at the operation, and the surgeon is making decisions in the moment. There are best practices, there are standards, there are requirements, expectations, and based on they are the surgeon's knowledge and experience, the surgeon is making choices in the moment.
00:13:58
Speaker
And then the surgeon picks one particular tool and uses for that because the goal is not to utilize all the tools. The goal is to support that patient.
00:14:11
Speaker
The same is with coaching skills. The goal is not that my session is at MCC level. The goal is that I am there to support my client.
00:14:23
Speaker
And my job is to be skillful enough, to be knowledgeable enough of the core concepts of coaching. to have these tools so easily available, readily available to me, so that in the moment I can make choices that truly bring value to the client.
00:14:47
Speaker
And I know the reason why I'm making the choice of utilizing this tool or that other tool, or to not utilize this tool and to go into the other and to move forward.
00:15:01
Speaker
That is the goal. So this is this is a call for all of us. what What is that we are putting most important here? Are we putting the the certification as the primary goal or we putting in the serving our clients? And when we are serving our clients, what is making us make this choice or that choice or utilize this tool instead of the other one?
00:15:28
Speaker
That is the goal of coach training. And that's why we work with a mentor coach. And that's why we we we get our CCEs. And that's why we get coach training. And we go and get our level two training and go through PCC and get ah more training. And then we go over to our MCC. the The purpose of all of that is so that we are more capable
00:15:56
Speaker
to make sound choices in the middle of a coaching session that is of support to the client.
00:16:07
Speaker
So just because I am an an MCC, does that mean that every coaching session, i am my sessions are ready for me to submit to the ICF and pass an MCC certification process? No.
00:16:21
Speaker
And I don't care. That's not the goal. My sessions are there to support my clients.
00:16:30
Speaker
And then we can talk about you know the certification process and the goal for certification process and all of that. But that's another story. We can talk about that another another moment. right But right now, the point is, um what are we aiming for?
00:16:48
Speaker
What are we aiming for? And let's focus on our clients and let's focus on the decisions that we are making in every coaching session. why
Closing and Future Engagements
00:16:59
Speaker
Why did i I ask that question?
00:17:02
Speaker
What made me make that particular comment, that particular observation? What happened that in this session, the session agreement was not very well established?
00:17:15
Speaker
What happened that in this session i was not able to give the client sufficient support to establish a good movement forward? What happened in this session that everything went so beautifully and smooth?
00:17:30
Speaker
ah Learning from all of these interactions with the client and with the goal of getting better and providing ah being more skillful in all of these um interactions with our clients.
00:17:52
Speaker
So there you have it. Lots to think about. i appreciate your listening and I appreciate also your emails. Thank you so much for ah contacting me and sharing your thoughts and asking questions.
00:18:08
Speaker
And some of you are giving me ideas of what to talk about here and address in in these episodes. So I appreciate your communication. Thank you so much. Please continue to send these emails and messages to me.
00:18:23
Speaker
Don't forget to subscribe and share this episode with others. This is very helpful ah to us here PRIME Coaching Academy. We have a level one cohort starting very soon.
00:18:35
Speaker
So if you or someone else that you know would be interested in joining us, that would be a joy for us to work with you. Otherwise, everyone, take good care and i I'll see you next time.