This paper examines the impact of context on the development of coaching and mentoring practice. Qualitative research was undertaken with mentors working in the voluntary sector in the United Kingdom and this is combined with the author’s own reflections on coaching practice, in order to examine the role that contextual knowledge and understanding plays in the development of standards for coaching and mentoring practice. Theories of knowing, socially constructed learning and the action-oriented nature of knowledge are explored in order to explain the potential for accessing and developing coaching and mentoring ‘know how’ through practice, and to support the argument for a ‘post-technocratic’ model of professional development.