CPQ™ Competency Model C01-C08
Eight CPQ-owned competencies with observable behaviours and progression indicators
1. Model Philosophy
Document basis: CPQ institutional files and diploma cards, Discover Your Professional Path in Coaching, Ethics of Coaching Law, and CPQ's published professional content. New numeric or procedural requirements not already fixed in the source materials are presented as proposed CPQ internal policy for external review, not as a claim of recognition or equivalence by another body.
A competency is not merely a skill label; it is behaviour observable in a decision, session or record. The model prioritises client protection, quality of thinking and autonomy rather than the number of tools a coach can name.
2. Competencies
| Code | Competency | Core Observable Behaviours |
|---|---|---|
| C01 | Ethics & Scope | Explains limits; protects confidentiality; notices risk; refers appropriately; discloses conflicts. |
| C02 | Professional Mindset & Reflection | Examines bias; receives feedback; uses supervision; does not defend interpretations as fact. |
| C03 | Contracting & Client Autonomy | Clarifies purpose; revisits agreement; defines roles; returns decisions to client. |
| C04 | Presence, Listening & Communication | Listens for meaning/context; uses silence; summarises accurately; adapts language. |
| C05 | Inquiry & Awareness | Asks one clear question; tests assumptions; distinguishes facts from interpretations. |
| C06 | Goals, Action & Accountability | Turns awareness into experiments; defines review criteria; learns from non-action without blame. |
| C07 | Context, Inclusion & Systems | Considers culture, power, organisation and accessibility; avoids reducing system problems to the individual. |
| C08 | Evidence, Development & Growth | Documents learning; reviews impact; updates knowledge; avoids overstating research. |
3. Progression Expectations
T1: safe, consistent foundation with openness to supervision. T2: integrated competencies across varied situations with greater independence. T3: precision in complex and specialist contexts and ability to justify professional decisions. T4: advanced practice, education and supervision of others with strong conflict-of-interest governance.
4. Assessment Rules
A critical failure in ethics or safety cannot be offset by high conversational-skill scores. Unauthorised diagnosis, deliberate confidentiality breach, exploitation, falsified evidence or unmanaged serious risk results in a Critical Fail and review.