The third competency focuses on the cooperation between coach and client: leading the coaching process, planning and setting goals. Erickson Coaching International, the school where I learned coaching, gives particular weight to this competency and calls its coaching style “Solution-Focused coaching”.

During the first two meetings (the introductory session and the first coaching session), the coach’s task is to build a clear and stable basis for the further work together, so that the client understands:
· what coaching is,
· how the coach and the client work together,
· what the coach is responsible for and what the client is responsible for,
· what the goal of the coaching is, as a whole and for each session, and how the client will know that the result has been reached (the success criteria),
· what the coaching agreement contains: depending on the client’s wishes it can be formal or informal, and it covers confidentiality, length, frequency, payment and the ending of the coaching.

In the sessions that follow, this competency means that the coach is able to hold the focus of the sessions, in order to move steadily towards the goal the client has defined. The coach has to make sure that every session gives the client the best possible result. This means the client is given the chance to change the direction or goal of a session, and of the coaching as a whole, according to the topic that matters most at that moment.

Establishes and Maintains Agreements is the third ICF Core Competency. In short, the coach works in partnership with the client, and with others who have a stake in the coaching, to reach clear agreements about the coaching relationship, the process, the plans and the goals, both for the coaching as a whole and for each session.

In practice this covers explaining what coaching is and is not; agreeing what is and is not appropriate in the relationship and who is responsible for what; settling practical matters such as logistics, fees, scheduling, duration, confidentiality and how the coaching ends; setting an overall plan and goals; checking that coach and client are a good match; agreeing what the client wants from each session and how success will be measured; keeping to the time and focus of the session; and closing the coaching relationship with respect.

The 2025 review added one point: during the coaching, the coach returns to the agreement to make sure the approach still meets the client’s needs.


This article is based on my Latvian article “Kouča kompetence - attiecību kopradīšana”, published on 27 April 2021. It was translated into English and its facts were updated in October 2026. In place of the full ICF text quoted in the original, it gives a short summary and a link to the official version.