Developing Coaches Who Develop Others: The Vision Behind the FWD Mentor Coaching Institute
One of the things I love most about coaching is watching a coach grow.
There is a moment that happens in a coach’s development when they begin to move beyond doing coaching—asking the right questions, remembering the competencies, and following a process—and begin to truly become a coach.
They listen differently. They trust the client more deeply. They become more comfortable with silence. They notice what is happening beneath the words. They stop trying so hard to create the breakthrough and learn how to create the space in which the client can discover it for themselves.
Helping coaches reach those moments has become one of the most meaningful parts of my work.
Why Mentor Coaching Matters to Me
My passion for developing people began long before I became a professional coach.
Throughout my career in leadership and human resources, I was drawn to the work of helping people understand themselves, strengthen their leadership, and grow into their potential. Coaching gave me a powerful way to continue that work.
Mentor coaching has allowed me to take it one step further: developing the people who develop others.
When I work with a coach, I am not simply listening for whether they demonstrated an ICF competency. I am interested in helping them understand what is happening in the coaching conversation.
What did you notice?
What might you have missed?
Where did you trust the client?
Where might you have stepped in too quickly?
What would become possible if you stayed curious just a little longer?
Those conversations are where learning comes alive.
I believe excellent mentor coaching should help coaches develop both competence and confidence. Coaches need to understand the ICF Core Competencies and ethical standards, but they also need opportunities to practice, receive thoughtful feedback, reflect, experiment, and develop their own authentic coaching presence.
A New Chapter: The FWD Mentor Coaching Institute
That passion is leading to something new.
I am currently hard at work developing the FWD Mentor Coaching Institute, an extension of FWD Coaching & Consulting dedicated to what I like to describe simply as:
All things mentor coaching.
My vision is to create a place where coaches can come throughout their professional journey—not simply when they need to complete mentor coaching hours for an ICF credential or renewal.
The Institute is being designed as a learning and development community for coaches who want to deepen their craft.
Over time, I envision the FWD Mentor Coaching Institute offering individual and group mentor coaching, coach development experiences, competency-focused learning, observed coaching and feedback, resources for strengthening coaching practice, and advanced development opportunities for coaches who want to become stronger mentor coaches themselves.
Most importantly, I want it to be a place where coaches can practice coaching, talk about coaching, study coaching, receive feedback on coaching, and continue becoming the coach they want to be.
Mentor Coaching Is More Than a Requirement
It can be easy to approach mentor coaching as something to complete:
I need ten hours.
I need this for my credential.
I need to check this requirement off my list.
The hours matter. The requirements matter. Standards matter.
But mentor coaching can be so much more.
Done well, it gives us an opportunity to slow down and examine our craft. It gives us another set of eyes and ears. It challenges habits we may not even realize we have developed. And it helps us recognize the things we are already doing exceptionally well.
That is the kind of mentor coaching experience I want to create.
Continuing My Own Development
I believe those of us who develop coaches must remain committed to our own development as well.
I recently earned the International Coaching Federation Mentor Coach Specialization (MCS) for ACC and PCC, an accomplishment that is particularly meaningful to me because it reflects the direction in which my work continues to grow.
But I don't see a specialization as the finish line.
It carries a responsibility—to continue learning, examining my own practice, staying connected to the evolution of our profession, and creating developmental experiences worthy of the coaches who entrust part of their journey to me.
That commitment is shaping the FWD Mentor Coaching Institute.
Looking FWD
There is still much being built.
Programs are being designed. Learning experiences are taking shape. Resources are being developed. And I am asking an important question throughout the process:
What would genuinely help coaches become better coaches?
That question will remain at the center of the Institute.
My hope is that the FWD Mentor Coaching Institute eventually becomes more than a place where coaches fulfill a requirement. I want it to become a place they return to because they are serious about their craft, curious about their development, and committed to providing excellent coaching to the people they serve.
Because developing great coaches has a ripple effect.
When we help one coach become more present, more skillful, more courageous, and more deeply grounded in the profession, that growth doesn't stop with the coach.
It reaches every client they will coach next.
And that is work worth doing.
FWD Mentor Coaching Institute — Coming 2027
Developing coaches. Deepening the craft. Moving the profession FWD.