Core Competencies Fall Summit 2026
with Elias Scultori, MCC
Date: Monday, November 9, 2026 • 8:30 AM
Earn CCEs
What Is Empathy... Really? A Deeper Exploration of Empathy in the Coaching Conversation
Empathy is often described as an essential coaching skill. Yet, what does it actually mean to demonstrate empathy in a coaching conversation?
How is empathy different from sympathy, compassion, or the emotional resonance we experience when listening to another person? How can we stay genuinely connected to a client’s experience without losing our center, making assumptions, or feeling compelled to fix what the client brings?
In this interactive 90-minute workshop, Elias Scultori, MCC, invites coaches to look beyond the familiar definitions of empathy and examine the internal stance from which their coaching responses emerge. Through guided reflection, a live coaching demonstration, and group dialogue, participants will explore how empathy influences trust, partnership, presence, and client agency.
The session will also examine the subtle moments when our own experiences and emotions can shape the conversation—and how greater self-awareness can help us remain curious, attuned, and fully present to the client.
Learning Objectives tied to Core Competencies
Participants will have the opportunity to:
- Explore the distinctions between empathy, sympathy, compassion, and emotional resonance.
- Observe how empathy can be demonstrated in an actual coaching conversation.
- Recognize the impulse to fix, reassure, advise, or assume we understand another person’s experience.
- Reflect on how their own emotional responses influence their coaching presence.
- Identify ways to cultivate empathy while maintaining the boundaries and self-awareness essential to effective coaching.
This workshop invites coaches to consider a deeper question: Is empathy simply something we communicate through our words, or is it something we embody through the way we meet another human being?
About the Speaker: Elias Scultori, MCC
Elias Scultori is a Master Certified Coach who supports leaders in creating space for deeper thinking, stronger engagement, and more meaningful impact for individuals, teams, and organizations. Over the past two decades, he has coached and trained professionals in more than 40 countries across six continents. Elias holds the MCC from the International Coaching Federation and the ESIA from the European Mentoring and Coaching Council. He is an ICF credentialing assessor, mentor coach, supervisor, faculty member at the University of Texas at Dallas, co-founder of PRIME Coaching Academy, and host of the PRIME SPACE podcast.