Coaching and leadership development terms
360-degree assessment
A feedback process in which a leader is rated anonymously by their manager or board, peers, and direct reports, and the results are compared with the leader’s self-rating. Also called 360 feedback or multi-rater feedback. See 360 assessments and the Leadership Circle Profile.
ACC (Associate Certified Coach)
The first of three credential levels issued by the International Coaching Federation, requiring at least 60 hours of coach-specific education and 100 hours of coaching experience. See Coaching credentials explained: ACC, PCC, MCC and beyond.
Accountability
In coaching, the practice of the leader committing to specific actions and reviewing them with the coach at the next session.
Behavioral coaching
Coaching focused on changing specific, observable behaviors, with progress measured through feedback from the people who work with the leader.
Chemistry call
A short introductory conversation between a leader and a prospective coach to judge fit before committing to an engagement. Also called a chemistry session.
Coachee
The person being coached. Many coaches prefer “client” or “leader.”
Coaching
A structured, confidential partnership in which a trained coach helps a person think more clearly and change behavior in order to reach goals the person sets. See What is executive coaching?.
Coaching agreement
The written contract among leader, coach, and sponsor that sets goals, length, fees, and confidentiality terms.
Coaching culture
An organization in which coaching-style conversations, asking, listening, and giving feedback, are a normal part of how people lead. See What is a coaching culture?.
Coaching engagement
The full, time-bound piece of work between a coach and a client, typically six to twelve months.
Confidentiality
The commitment that what is said in coaching sessions is not disclosed to anyone, including the sponsor, without the leader’s permission, subject to narrow ethical and legal exceptions. See Confidentiality in executive coaching.
Creative Competencies
In the Leadership Circle Profile, the set of leadership capabilities, such as relating, self-awareness, authenticity, systems awareness, and achieving, that are associated with greater effectiveness.
Development plan
A written statement of a leader’s development goals, the actions and experiences that will address them, and how progress will be judged.
Executive coaching
One-on-one coaching for senior leaders, set in the context of their organization and usually sponsored by it. See What is executive coaching?.
Executive presence
The ability to project credibility and composure and to communicate clearly, so that others have confidence in the leader.
External coach
A professional coach who is not an employee of the client’s organization.
First team
The principle, popularized by Patrick Lencioni, that a leader’s primary loyalty is to the leadership team they belong to rather than the team they lead. See Building an effective credit union executive team.
Group coaching
Coaching delivered to several individuals together, each working on their own goals with the benefit of peer learning. Distinct from team coaching.
GROW model
A simple coaching conversation structure: Goal, Reality, Options, Will (or Way forward). Popularized by Sir John Whitmore.
High-potential leader
A leader judged to have the capacity, drive, and learning agility to succeed in a significantly larger role.
ICF (International Coaching Federation)
The largest global professional body for coaches. It sets a code of ethics and core competencies and issues the ACC, PCC, and MCC credentials.
Inner game
The beliefs, assumptions, and emotional habits that drive a leader’s behavior, as distinct from outer skills and knowledge. See The inner game of leadership.
Internal coach
An employee trained to coach colleagues within the same organization.
Leadership Circle Profile (LCP)
A 360-degree leadership assessment that measures both Creative Competencies and Reactive Tendencies and displays them in a circular graphic. See 360 assessments and the Leadership Circle Profile.
Leadership development
The broad set of activities, including education, experience, feedback, mentoring, and coaching, that increase a person’s capacity to lead.
Manager as coach
A leadership style in which managers develop their people by asking questions and giving feedback rather than only directing.
MCC (Master Certified Coach)
The highest individual credential issued by the International Coaching Federation, requiring at least 200 hours of coach-specific education and 2,500 hours of coaching experience.
Mentor coaching
Coaching a coach receives on their own coaching skills from a more experienced coach, required for ICF credentials. Not the same as mentoring.
Mentoring
A relationship in which a more experienced person shares knowledge, advice, and connections with a less experienced one. See Coaching vs. mentoring vs. consulting vs. therapy.
PCC (Professional Certified Coach)
The middle credential level issued by the International Coaching Federation, requiring at least 125 hours of coach-specific education and 500 hours of coaching experience.
Psychological safety
A shared belief within a team that it is safe to speak up, ask questions, admit mistakes, and disagree without being punished or embarrassed. The term is associated with the research of Amy Edmondson.
Reactive Tendencies
In the Leadership Circle Profile, self-protective patterns of controlling, protecting, and complying that limit a leader’s effectiveness, especially under pressure.
Sponsor
The person or body in the organization that authorizes and pays for coaching and agrees the goals, such as a board chair, chief executive, or HR leader.
Stakeholder interviews
Confidential interviews a coach holds with people who work with the leader, used to gather richer feedback than a survey provides.
Succession readiness
The degree to which identified successors are actually prepared to step into a role, as opposed to merely being named in a plan.
Team coaching
Coaching of an intact team, as a unit and over time, to improve its collective performance. See Team coaching explained.
Three-way meeting
A meeting among the leader, the sponsor, and the coach to agree goals at the start of an engagement and review progress later. Also called a triad or alignment meeting.
Transition coaching
Coaching that supports a leader through the first months in a new role. Also called onboarding coaching. See Transition coaching for new credit union executives.
Vertical development
Growth in the complexity of how a leader thinks and makes sense of the world, as distinct from horizontal development, which adds knowledge and skills.
Credit union terms
Asset size
The total assets on a credit union’s balance sheet, the most common way of grouping credit unions by scale. See How coaching needs change with credit union asset size.
Board of directors
The governing body of a credit union, elected by and from the membership, responsible for direction, policy, oversight, and hiring the chief executive. See The credit union board and CEO relationship.
CAMELS rating
The supervisory rating system used by the NCUA, covering Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management, Earnings, Liquidity, and Sensitivity to market risk.
Complex credit union
The NCUA’s term for a federally insured credit union with more than $500 million in total assets, which is subject to risk-based capital requirements or the complex credit union leverage ratio.
Cooperative
An organization owned and democratically controlled by the people who use its services. Credit unions are financial cooperatives.
Covered credit union
Under NCUA rules, a federally insured credit union with $10 billion or more in assets, subject to capital planning requirements and, at higher tiers, stress testing.
Credit union
A member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative that provides savings, loans, and other financial services to people within its field of membership.
Credit union league
A state or regional trade association that provides advocacy, education, and services to member credit unions.
CUSO (credit union service organization)
A company owned wholly or partly by one or more credit unions that provides services to credit unions or their members.
Federal credit union (FCU)
A credit union chartered and supervised by the NCUA under the Federal Credit Union Act.
Federally insured, state-chartered credit union (FISCU)
A credit union chartered and supervised by a state regulator whose member deposits are insured by the NCUA’s share insurance fund.
Field of membership
The definition of who is eligible to join a credit union, such as people who share an employer, an association, or a community.
Member
A person who has joined a credit union and holds a share account. Members are owners, each with one vote in board elections.
Merger
The combination of two credit unions into one, with one institution continuing and the other’s charter ending. See Leading through a credit union merger.
NCUA (National Credit Union Administration)
The independent federal agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions and insures deposits at federally insured credit unions through the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund.
ONES (Office of National Examinations and Supervision)
The NCUA office that supervises the largest consumer credit unions, those with $15 billion or more in assets, and corporate credit unions.
Succession plan
A written plan for how key leadership positions will be filled. NCUA rules effective January 1, 2026 require boards of federally insured credit unions to establish one and review it at least every 24 months. See Credit union succession planning.
Supervisory committee
A committee of volunteers, required at federal credit unions, that oversees the audit function and internal controls on behalf of members.
Sources
- International Coaching Federation — credential definitions.
- Leadership Circle Profile — Creative Competencies and Reactive Tendencies.
- NCUA Succession Planning final rule
- NCUA Quarterly Credit Union Data Summary, 2026 Q2 — definition of complex credit unions.
This page is educational and general in nature. It is not legal, regulatory, or clinical advice. Questions or corrections: coaching@syntrinaleadership.com.