What Happens in an ICF Mentor Coaching Session (And What You’ll Actually Get Out of It)
If you’ve been thinking about mentor coaching, but haven’t booked anything yet, there’s usually a reason.
It’s not that you don’t care about improving your coaching.
It’s more like:
“I don’t know what we’d actually do in the session”
“What if I already know this?”
“Will this actually make a difference?”
All fair questions.
So instead of keeping this vague, I want to walk you through what actually happens in a session with me—based on the work I do with coaches both privately and through the Hornick School of Coaching.
Before the Session
Most coaches will either:
send me a recording or transcript of a real coaching session
or come in with something specific they want to work through
If you have a recording, that’s ideal.
Because the fastest way to improve your coaching is to look at what you’re actually doing—not what you think you’re doing.
During the Session (This Is Where the Real Work Happens)
This isn’t a lecture. And it’s not me telling you what to do.
It’s a collaborative review of your coaching—with a very specific lens.
We’ll look at moments in your session and slow them down.
Not the whole thing. Just the parts that matter.
And I’ll ask things like:
“What was happening for you right here?”
“What did you notice in the client’s response?”
“What made you move on from that?”
From there, we start to see patterns.
The Kind of Feedback You’ll Actually Get
This is usually the part people are most curious about.
I’m not looking for whether your questions are “good.”
I’m looking at:
how deeply you’re exploring
whether you’re staying with the client or moving on too quickly
where insight could have been expanded
how your coaching aligns with PCC markers
Some real examples of what this can sound like:
“You asked one question here and then shifted topics—this is where depth was lost.”
“The client gave you something important, but it wasn’t explored further.”
“You softened that challenge. What might have happened if you stayed with it?”
None of this is about being critical.
It’s about helping you see what’s happening in your coaching in a way that’s hard to see on your own.
Small Shifts That Make a Big Difference
One thing I’ll say clearly:
We’re not trying to fix everything in one session.
We’re looking for the highest-leverage shift.
That might be:
asking one more follow-up question
staying with a topic 30 seconds longer
trusting yourself enough to challenge a client
These are small adjustments.
But they change the entire feel of a coaching session.
What You’ll Walk Away With
By the end of a session, you’ll have:
a clearer understanding of how your coaching is landing
specific moments where you can go deeper
practical shifts you can apply immediately
more confidence in your decision-making during sessions
And if you’re working toward your ACC or preparing for your PCC with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), you’ll also start to see how your coaching aligns with the markers used in evaluation.
Who This Is Most Helpful For
This kind of work tends to be most valuable if you:
are working toward ACC renewal
feel like your coaching is “good,” but not as impactful as you want it to be
want specific, grounded feedback—not theory
A Quick Note
A lot of coaches come into mentor coaching thinking they need:
better questions
more techniques
more tools
Sometimes that’s part of it.
But more often, it’s about:
slowing down
staying with the client
and trusting the coaching process a little more
That’s where the real shifts happen.
If You’re Considering It
If you’ve been on the fence, a single session can give you a lot of clarity.
Especially if you bring a real coaching conversation to work with.
If you’d like to book a session, you can do that here:
Final Thought
You don’t need to overhaul your coaching to improve it.
Most of the time, it’s a few small, well-placed adjustments that create the biggest difference.
And those are much easier to see when you’re not looking at your coaching alone.