Are all coach certification programs created equal?

This month I am coming back to a popular topic and talking about coach certification / credential. I’ve covered various aspects of this topic in the past but today the focus is on how to select the right program to meet your goals and objectives.

I realized as I was starting write this that graduations are in full swing and I think there are some interesting parallels between pursuing a degree and pursuing a coach certification / credential. I bring this up as I think the parallels help provide a familiar decision-making framework for selecting a coach certification / credential program.

So, let’s look at the parallels to see what insights can be gleaned. Many, not all, but many ask the following questions prior to pursuing a degree.

• Should I get a degree?
• Which degree?
• How many degrees?
• From what school?
• Will my degree help me get a job?
• How will I use my degree?

Similar questions are, or should be, asked when considering a coach certification / credential.

• Should I get a certification /credential?
• Which one should I get?
• How many certifications / credentials do I need?
• From what program should I receive the required training?
• Will a certification / credential help me get clients, a job or advance in my career?
• How can I leverage my certification / credential?

So, let’s dive into this. Getting a coach certification / credential, just like getting a degree, is an investment in your future. The answer to many of the questions posed above depends on your goals and objectives. Where do you want to be in 3, 5, 10 years? The answer to this question will help guide you through the decision-making process.

If you are new to coaching or even if you’ve been practicing for a while, you may not have clearly defined your goals and objectives or updated them recently. If that is true, it is worth taking the time to do so. When it comes to defining your coaching goals and objectives, some that you might be considering include;

• I want to become a full or part-time coach with my own practice
• I want to continue working in an organization but add coaching skills to be a more effective and valuable employee
• I want to have a second career in coaching after I retire. One that provides more freedom/flexibility
• I want to continue working in my profession but supplement this with a part-time coaching practice
• I want to develop coaching skills to become a more effective leader and advance in leadership positions

Once you have your goals and objectives defined, you are ready to think about selecting a program. When you start researching to see what programs are available, you’ll want to answer these questions about the training program and the organization that offers it, considering your goals and objectives;

• Will you learn the desired / required skills?
• Is the program recognized among peers, clients?
• Will the training program be around / recognized in the future?
• Does the training program have a good reputation?
• Does the organization provide on-going support?
• Does the organization provide continuing education?
• Is the organization growing and evolving with the industry? Keeping up with the times?
• Is the training program accredited – likely to be recognized and meet standards if the industry becomes regulated?

Graduations are a time of great expectations and bright futures and getting a certification / credential should be too. Learn more about this topic by attending our next free webinar. Register here.

Educational Webinars

The Business of Coaching

Building a thriving coaching business takes more than just great coaching skills. You also must know how to build a business. For many, this is the hardest part of going out on your own. If you are starting your own coaching business, check out our guide – Making it as a Coach or view our recent webinar Making it as a Coach: Strategies for Success.

Education and Training Courses

Build Core Competencies

Coaching Fundamentals Program™
ICF Core Competency Hours: 15

Coaching is catching on. More and more people are turning to coaching because coaching produces results. The performance of individuals, teams and organizations are being transformed when coaching skills are developed, used and become part of the culture. If you are intrigued by what is happening with coaching and want to learn core coaching skills, this fundamentals class is for you.

This is a hands-on class that includes practical techniques for trust building, focused listening, evocative questioning, planning and goal setting. The course includes practice sessions that are reviewed by a professional coach who provides feedback on coaching skills and comprehension of the competencies. You will learn the skills and gain the confidence needed to use them. Click on the course name to learn more and register.

Coaching Fundamentals Program™ - Starts June 6

Advance Your Skills

Advanced Coaching Skills Practicum
ICF Core Competency Hours: 12

Are you looking to enhance your coaching skills? Take your coaching to the next level? Or maybe you are looking for tools to help you with your biggest coaching challenges. If any of these apply, check out our Advanced Coaching Skills Practicum.

Take the Fast Track to Your ICF Credential

Fast Track to ICF Credential
Fulfils the educational requirements of obtaining the ICF ACC credential

Develop the skills and set yourself apart by jumping on the Fast Track. Coaching is becoming more and more competitive and yet many coaches have no credential and minimal training. One of the best ways to set yourself apart is to complete the training and earn a coaching credential.

But pursuing your ICF Credential is a big step and commitment. That is why we created the Fast Track to ICF Credential - to streamline the process and make it as convenient as possible.

Benefits of the Fast Track to ICF Credential include;

● FAST TRACK: Takes only 6 months to complete (other programs may take as long as 18 months).

● ROBUST, DISTANCE-BASED LEARNING: We use cutting-edge technology to create an in-person, interactive classroom experience while you participate remotely.

● TOP-NOTCH EDUCATION AND TRAINING: You get world-class instruction from expert coaches with experience in both coaching and teaching.

● FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE: We offer day and evening classes for your convenience, and new classes start throughout the year.

● AFFORDABLE: This program is priced to fit into your budget. Save $495 US / $595 CDN when you register for the package option. Don’t need the package option? You also have the choice of taking separate modules a la carte. We even have a payment plan.

Our next program (evening) starts July 9. Click here to view the schedule

Coaching Resources

We offer many resources on a wide variety of topics to support coaches at all levels. On our website, you can find blog articles, educational videos, webinar recordings and more under Coaching Resources. We are continually updating this section so check back often.

Our coaching guides continue to be very popular and we will be adding to these in 2018. If you haven’t taken advantage of these free resources, you can find them here.

We have several resources available to answer your questions about certification.

Webinars - Visit our webinars page and then scroll down until you find the webinar titles;

• Coach Certification A - Z
• Coaching Certification

Coaching Guides – Visit our Coaching Tools page or click on the link below.

Guide to Coach Certification

HOME | ABOUT US | COACHING EDUCATION PROGRAMS | CONTACT

We would love to connect with you! Reach out to our team here or call Toll Free, 
1-888-4A-COACH (1-888-422-6224).

Rx for Healthcare -
How to Get Startedon a Coaching Program

Coaching is catching on in healthcare and for good reason – organizations are seeing powerful results. In fact, the results are so remarkable they have caught the attention of prominent organizations including the Institute of Coaching, Harvard Medical School & McLean Hospital where we recently presented the findings from some of our groundbreaking work in healthcare.

While many healthcare leaders recognize the benefits that coaching can bring to their organization they get stuck when it comes to determining how the training will be implemented. It can be overwhelming to think about selecting a coaching program and then determining how best to get everyone trained. This can be especially daunting when you have multiple locations and/or a remote workforce.

So how do you bring coaching in to your healthcare organization and have it embedded throughout so that the skills are learned and then practiced in everyday situations? And how do you sustain this?

As with most things in life, there is not a one size fits all approach to bringing coaching in and having it spread throughout the organization. The best approach will depend on many factors. Here are 7 things to consider when deciding which approach is best for your healthcare organization.

1. How many people are to be trained?
2. What is the timeframe to complete the training?
3. Are qualified human resources available to conduct the training?
4. What are the objectives and desired outcomes of the training?
5. How serious are the issues the organization is facing?
6. Is the organization ready to adopt a coaching culture?
7. What is the budget allotted to training?

Once you’ve answered the questions above it is time to take a closer look at three common approaches to see which best suits the needs and resources of your organization. These are;

• The External Approach: At least initially, all training is conducted by external trainers.
  
  
• The Blended Approach: In the start-up phase external trainers are utilized to help the organization get a core group of employees trained or to supplement the internal trainers. Eventually the training is transitioned to internal trainers.
  
  
• The In-house Approach: All or most of the training is conducted by qualified and trained internal resources. External resources may be used initially to ‘train the trainers’.

The following table outlines some reasons one approach may be preferred over another. In reviewing this information, it is important to remember that there is no single best approach and often the approach used evolves over time.

My purpose for writing this is to give you a framework for determining which approach is best for your organization and, ultimately, to help you get started. For more on bringing coaching to your healthcare (or any) organization, attend our next webinar. Rx for Healthcare - How to Get Started on a Coaching Program.

Read more about the webinar and register here.

Educational Webinars

The Business of Coaching

Building a thriving coaching business takes more than just great coaching skills. You also must know how to build a business. For many, this is the hardest part of going out on your own. If you are starting your own coaching business, check out our guide – Making it as a Coach or view our recent webinar Making it as a Coach: Strategies for Success.

Education and Training Courses

Build Core Competencies

5/5/5 Coaching Skills Training Program™
ICF Core Competency Hours: 12

If your 2018 goals include starting a coaching business or using coaching to lead within an organization, you won't want to miss our 5/5/5 Coaching Skills Training Program™.

Coaching Fundamentals Program™
ICF Core Competency Hours: 15

Coaching is catching on. More and more people are turning to coaching because coaching produces results. The performance of individuals, teams and organizations are being transformed when coaching skills are developed, used and become part of the culture. If you are intrigued by what is happening with coaching and want to learn core coaching skills, this fundamentals class is for you.

This is a hands-on class that includes practical techniques for trust building, focused listening, evocative questioning, planning and goal setting. The course includes practice sessions that are reviewed by a professional coach who provides feedback on coaching skills and comprehension of the competencies. You will learn the skills and gain the confidence needed to use them. Click on the course name to learn more and register.

Coaching Fundamentals Program™ - Starts June 6

Advance Your Skills

Personal Groundwork for Coaching Program™
ICF Core Competency Hours: 20

Are you looking to enhance your coaching skills or take your coaching to the next level? Or maybe you need to obtain CCE credits to renew your ICF credential or add to your coach specific training hours.

Take the Fast Track to Your ICF Credential

Fast Track to ICF Credential - fulfils the educational requirements of obtaining the ICF ACC credential

Develop the skills and set yourself apart by jumping on the Fast Track. Coaching is becoming more and more competitive and yet many coaches have no credential and minimal training. One of the best ways to set yourself apart is to complete the training and earn a coaching credential.

But pursuing your ICF Credential is a big step and commitment. That is why we created the Fast Track to ICF Credential - to streamline the process and make it as convenient as possible.

Benefits of the Fast Track to ICF Credential include;

● FAST TRACK: Takes only 6 months to complete (other programs may take as long as 18 months).

● ROBUST, DISTANCE-BASED LEARNING: We use cutting-edge technology to create an in-person, interactive classroom experience while you participate remotely.

● TOP-NOTCH EDUCATION AND TRAINING: You get world-class instruction from expert coaches with experience in both coaching and teaching.

● FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE: We offer day and evening classes for your convenience, and new classes start throughout the year.

● AFFORDABLE: This program is priced to fit into your budget. Save $495 US / $595 Canada when you register for the package option. Don’t need the package option? You also have the choice of taking separate modules a la carte. We even have a payment plan.

Our next program starts May 7. Click here to view the schedule

Ace the ICF Credential Exam

ICF Coach Knowledge Assessment Prep Class
ICF Core Competency Hours: 9

This course is designed to prepare coaches for the ICF Coach Knowledge Assessment exam which must be successfully completed prior to receiving the International Coach Federation (ICF) ACC Credential.

The course covers ICF Core Competencies and Ethics and Standards plus test taking strategies. This prep class will present several questions each week that mimic the multiple-choice questions you will be asked to answer in the CKA exam. Click the course link below to learn more and register.

ICF CKA Prep Class – Starts May 17

Coaching Resources

We offer many resources on a wide variety of topics to support coaches at all levels. On our website, you can find blog articles, educational videos, webinar recordings and more under Coaching Resources. We are continually updating this section so check back often.

Our coaching guides continue to be very popular and we will be adding to these in 2018. If you haven’t taken advantage of these free resources, you can find them here.

We have a specialization in healthcare and offer several coaching resources that are specific to this industry. Learn more about these resources by clicking on the links below.

Webinars - Visit our webinars page and then scroll down until you find the webinar titles;

• Coaching in the Healthcare Setting
• Coaching in Healthcare

Coaching Guides – Visit our Coaching Tools page or click on the links below.

• Coaching Case Study: Using Coaching to Transform Individuals, Teams and Organizations
• Determining the Impact of a Coaching Skills Development Program in the Healthcare Setting

HOME | ABOUT US | COACHING EDUCATION PROGRAMS | CONTACT

We would love to connect with you! Reach out to our team here or call Toll Free, 
1-888-4A-COACH (1-888-422-6224).

Tackling Coaching Challenges

Challenges – we all have them. Some are minor hurdles while others seem like mountains that are nearly impossible to overcome. The good news about challenges is that they likely mean you are stretching yourself and learning and growing in the process.

How to Coach the Poor Communicator

Today I want to touch on one of those challenges that can seem like a mountain - a coachee who is a poor communicator. Coaching is all about communicating but what if you have a client or coachee who is just really bad at getting their thoughts out and points across? Or maybe the challenge is in HOW they deliver their message. For certain, it is difficult to coach someone who is a poor communicator. Additionally, poor communication skills impact one’s ability to do their job and can make relationships with managers, peers and employees difficult. These issues, in turn, impact a person’s ability to achieve their goals and perform at their peak. Other consequences of being a bad communicator include;

• Misunderstandings
• Inefficiency
• Unengaged staff
• Conflict

If you think about it, most interactions, whether in our work or personal lives, are dependent on how well we communicate with one another. So how do we tackle the challenge of coaching a poor communicator?

First, we need to identify the barriers getting in the way of good communication. Once we understand the reasons for poor communication, we need to break down the barriers and start building a path that will lead to clear, open, honest and productive communication.

This is one area where your questioning skills really come into play. Use your questioning skills to ask powerful coaching questions that will help you and your coachee identify the barriers that prevent them from communicating in a way that is heard and well received by their audience.

As you work through the process, look for clues to these 5 common barriers.

• Filtering: A sender’s manipulation of the information to make it more favorable to the receiver. Sugar-coating a message or omitting important details.

• Selective Perception: Inability to receive the intended message when they interpret what they hear based on an over-reliance on their interests, background, experience and attitudes.

• Information Overload: Inability to send clear messages or take in new information due to overload and distractions.

• Defensiveness: When a message is interpreted as threatening, defenses go up and communication is thwarted.

• Language: With increasing diversity in our workplace, language can become a barrier when words mean different things to different people.

Your success in this process will be based on your ability to not only ask excellent questions, but to ask them in a manner that is open, unattached and judgment-free. Asking not only the appropriate question, but in the appropriate way, is very important to the learning, living and communications process. Questions can offer new perspectives and stimulate answers and possibilities. They can also push buttons, express judgments and make assumptions!

I hope by now you know that I am passionate about the power of coaching and about helping you be successful. We have several resources specifically related to communication available to support you. If you haven’t already done so, you’ll want to take advantage of the following;

365 Coaching Questions Booklet

Webinar on questioning and listening skills

5/5/5 Coaching Skills Training Program™

One last comment on this topic. I had the privilege to present to Harvard Medical School, Institute of Coaching the results that an organization achieved after adopting our 5/5/5 Coaching Skills Training Program™. One of the key findings was Improved Communication. Given that communication is one of the key challenges in most organizations, this result was especially important. See the full list of results achieved here.

The Business of Coaching

ICF Business Development Series

Building a thriving coaching business takes more than just great coaching skills. You also must know how to build a business. For many, this is the hardest part of going out on your own.

ICF has created a program to help you build, sustain and expand a successful coaching business. Their Business Development Series is designed to help you succeed on the business side of coaching. It is starting soon so check it out here. You might also want to check out our guide – Making it as a Coach.

Education and Training Courses

Build Core Competencies

Coaching Fundamentals™

This class is for coaches, leaders and managers who want to learn core coaching skills and gain the confidence to begin applying these skills in their organization or coaching business. This is a hands-on class that includes practical techniques for trust building, focused listening, evocative questioning, planning and goal setting.

The course includes practice sessions that are reviewed by a professional coach who provides feedback on coaching skills and comprehension of the competencies. You will learn the skills and gain the confidence needed to use them. Click on the course name to learn more and register.

Coaching Fundamentals™ - Starts February 6

Advance Your Skills

Train the Trainer Program™

This course prepares you to become licensed to deliver the 5/5/5 Coaching Skills Training Program™. Becoming a licensed trainer gives you the opportunity to leverage your coaching skills, adds a new tool to your coaching toolkit and provides a new source of revenue.

Train the Trainer Program™ - Starts February 6

Click on the course name to learn more and register.

Ace the ICF CKA Exam

ICF Coach Knowledge Assessment

This course is designed to prepare coaches for the ICF Coach Knowledge Assessment exam which must be successfully completed prior to receiving the International Coach Federation (ICF) ACC Credential. The course covers ICF Core Competencies and Ethics and Standards plus test taking strategies. This prep class will present several questions each week that mimic the multiple-choice questions you will be asked to answer in the CKA exam.

ICF Coach Knowledge Assessment – Starts February 28

Take the Fast Track to Your ICF Credential

There has never been a better time to obtain your ICF ACC Credential. More and more coaches are getting credentialed and many clients expect it. But pursuing your ICF Credential is a big step and commitment. That is why we created the Fast Track to ICF Credential Package - to streamline the process and make it as convenient as possible.

New for 2018;

• we've added more class start dates
• day and evening classes
• the ability to build your own schedule

Our next evening program starts March 6. Click here to view the schedule

Coaching Resources

We offer many resources on a wide variety of topics to support coaches at all levels. On our website, you can find blog articles, educational videos, webinar recordings and more under Coaching Resources. We are continually updating this section so check back often.

Our coaching guides continue to be very popular and we will be adding to these in 2018. If you haven’t taken advantage of these free resources, you can find them here.

One resource that we have developed is the 365 Coaching Questions. This tool provides provocative questions in 21 different topic areas.

If you get stuck trying to come up with different questions or different ways to ask the same question, this resource can help. Click here to read more about this resource.

Here are the topic areas covered.

HOME | ABOUT US | COACHING EDUCATION PROGRAMS | CONTACT

We would love to connect with you! Reach out to our team here or call Toll Free, 
1-888-4A-COACH (1-888-422-6224).