As coaches we care. We do not cure.

In both cases, the coaches I spoke with last week felt their training program promoted the training as leading to ICF credentials. They put money, time and heart into this training. For these coaches, this isn’t a question of do they “need” credentials. They want ICF professional credentials.

If you want ICF professional credentials:

• Look to the ICF website to verify the status of the training you are considering. Programs that have been ICF approved or accredited will be listed at the site.  Don’t just take the word of the school; confirm with ICF.
• If your training has not been approved or accredited, you may still be able to get your credential through the ICF portfolio application process. You will have to provide robust documentation that demonstrates your training meets specific qualifications and the results are not guaranteed, but a portfolio application is definitely an option to consider.
• Begin keeping records and documentation of your coach training as soon as you start.
• Establish and maintain your client log as soon as you start coaching.
• Work with a mentor coach who holds an ICF credential at or above the level for which you are applying.

Use the ICF website:

• To verify that coach training programs are approved or accredited
• To learn what is required and how to apply for a credential (the ACC for example, here)
• To understand how coaching skills are evaluated at each credential level
• To see a sample client log (template at bottom of this page)
• And of course much more – it is a very informative and reasonably easy-to-navigate site.

Finally, to find Christian coach training that is ICF approved or accredited, get The Complete Guide to Christian Coach Training. The eBook version is only $19 and for a limited time includes a bonus – the new book, Becoming a Coach: Wisdom From Leaders in Christian Coach Training.

Want ICF credentials? You can do this! Go for it!

I was raised in a Christian church tradition that didn’t focus on the liturgical calendar, so Advent wasn’t emphasized. We didn’t light Sunday candles or have an Advent wreath in our home. The meaning behind the traditional celebration of Advent is not woven into my childhood Christmas memories. Of course, we enjoyed preparation for Christmas Day and celebrating the birth of Christ. But now as an adult I enjoy a more traditional observation of Advent — and contemplating waiting.

“To the God who stands outside of space and time and who orders the whole of creation, our hours, days, years, eons have a radically different meaning. What is a long time to us is an instant for God, and hence what seems like delay to us is no delay at all to God. What seems like dumb and pointless waiting to us can be the way that God, in a unique and finally mysterious manner, is working God’s purposes out.” (Robert Barron)

What waiting do you need to do now, in this season, to ultimately allow for moving forward into your next season according to God’s greater purposes?

WAYS TO DISCERN OPPORTUNITIES BY JUDY SANTOS

As coaching for Christians becomes better known, a fertile ground is provided for opportunists. Sometimes, opportunities arise to be involved in coaching companies, training situations, speaking engagements, media opportunities, etc. Some are great – others are not. Here are some guidelines and things to watch for that may be helpful in making decisions that you will not later regret.

Used by permission.

What is mentor coaching?

Traditionally, a coach hires a mentor coach to be coached in one or all of the following focus areas:

• Personal coaching for the mentee
• Starting and building a coaching business or ministry
• Developing coaching skills further beyond coach training

However, when a coach is applying for credentials with the International Coach Federation (ICF), the required mentor coaching is to be focused on developing coaching skills.  For more on the ICF mentor coaching qualifications, click here.

Why would a coach hire a coach?

On the same day we had this discussion in the Q & A, I came across an excellent post called “Why Coaches Need Coaching.”  It says the answer to “do coaches need coaching to be great?” is a resounding “yes.” Mentor coaching is all about learning and progressing as a coach.

Andrea Sharb, author of the post, says that when new coaches experience coaching they “learn what it is like to partner with a coach. They learn about opening up to what they often describe initially as vulnerability. They experience the power of coming up with their own solutions without someone telling them what to do. Through this practice they learn to be coaches…”

To learn more about Ms. Sharb’s personal journey as a new coach being coached read the article here.

Linda Hedberg is a mentor coach in the areas of personal coaching, coaching business startup and coaching skills development for prospective and new Christian coaches. She is a member of the ICF Mentor Coach Registry. She is the author of The Complete Guide to Christian Coach Training – 2014. Contact Linda today if you are interested in working with her as your coach.

Sample life satisfaction worksheet instructions:  “This worksheet provides an opportunity to consider your level of satisfaction in various areas of your life. Rate each of the following areas on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 means you are completely dissatisfied – this is an area in which you desire drastic change. 10 means you are completely satisfied – you are entirely pleased and can’t imagine a change that would truly add to your satisfaction. Of course satisfaction changes from day to day. However, use this worksheet to indicate your general sense of where you are in each of these areas right now.  Skip anything that doesn’t apply to you. Add anything that makes sense to you.”

 

Sample life satisfaction areas: 

 

Immediate Family Relationships	Career/Employment
Extended Family Relationships	Financial
Recreation/Relaxation/Fun	Relationships with Friends
Pace of Lifestyle	Spirituality
Physical Environment (living space)	Church/Ministry/Religious Life
Physical Health	Community/Civic Involvement
Mental/Emotional Health	Other
Marriage/Romantic Relationship

 

Sample life satisfaction tool:  “Graph of Life” on page 355 of Gary R. Collins book Christian Coaching: Helping Others Turn Potential into Reality, Second Edition (NavPress, 2009).

The Life Satisfaction Tool is useful in a variety of situations:

If you are considering becoming a coach: Assess satisfaction in your own life and identify an area or areas in which you want to improve satisfaction. Then learn what it’s like to be coached by working with a coach on making the improvements you desire. It’s advisable to work with a coach and learn what coaching is from personal experience before you decide to make a career change or invest money on coach training.

If you are now in coach training: Use this tool to help surface issues in your own life that you can bring to your practice coaching labs and class coaching demos for those times you are assigned the role of coaching client.

If you are already coaching clients: Use this tool to help new clients consider what areas of their lives they want to address in coaching.

If you are already a coach and speaking to a group on a life-satisfaction-related topic: Include it as an activity in a presentation when you speak to a group. Have participants take the life satisfaction assessment, choose the area in which they want to make the most change and ultimately identify the next best step that will get them closer to satisfaction in that area. Walk the group through the process and/or work with an individual volunteer as a coaching demonstration for the group.

Now, why would you want an additional credential from the International Coach Federation (ICF) or the Christian Coaches Network (CCN)?  What is the value of a credential from a source independent from your training school? 

COACHING CERTIFICATION FROM COACH TRAINING SCHOOLS

Training programs often offer “certification” to their students for completion of certain requirements. From program to program, the requirements vary greatly. These certifications may also be referred to as “credentials.” There is no current standard for the certifications that programs offer. Anyone can offer certification and name it what they please. For example, there are several certifications available, each from different organizations, called “Certified Christian Coach.” The requirements for each of these “CCC” certifications are different.

Requirements for the various certifications available may include attending classes (the number of hours widely varies), practicing coaching (again, the number of hours required varies widely), mentor coaching or “being coached” (hours and/or duration of time varies), reading and writing assignments, letters of recommendations, and knowledge and skills tests. Some certifications can be obtained by video training and independent study only, while others require significant voice-to-voice instructor contact.

Certifications or credentials awarded to students by training programs may represent stellar training and excellent proficiency – or they may not.

COACHING CREDENTIALS FROM AN INDEPENDENT SOURCE

Credentials awarded by ICF and CCN are independent of any one training program.  These organizations provide external and objective validation of training programs and coaches.  ICF and CCN credentials identify coaches who have met the same rigorous professional criteria although they may have taken classes from different training programs.

COMBINING YOUR EFFORTS TO RECEIVE BOTH

Some coach training schools provide training that will lead to both a certification from the school itself and at the same time will apply toward a third party credential from ICF and/or CCN.  If this is your goal, it’s important to plan ahead to make sure you are charting a course that will get you the results you desire.  Find help in my book, The Complete Guide to Christian Coach Training – 2014 edition – here.

Learn more on this topic: 

The value of third party credentials is highlighted in Dr. Keith Webb’s excellent recent post which includes Four Reasons to Get Your Certification From An Association.

For more on credential requirements for each organization go to the ICF website and the CCN website.

Some of this post is adapted from my book The Complete Guide to Christian Coach Training -2014 edition – which you can find here.

These are all important questions that can contribute greatly to your wise decision-making process as you partner with God in pursuing the vision for coaching He has put in front of you.  There is a lot of information to gather and sort through in order to make the best decisions for yourself.

This process can cause two unproductive responses.  The first is to feel overwhelmed, to avoid getting enough information and to jump into decisions too quickly. The second is to get stuck in analysis-paralysis, completely avoiding making a decision altogether.  I’ve seen both of these responses many times as I’ve consulted with and coached those thinking of becoming coaches.  I’ve seen frustration and discouragement – due to wasted time and opportunity and money.

You know yourself and where you fall on this spectrum.  You know whether you tend toward impulsively making decisions without gathering enough information or if you tend to over-analyze and avoid making decisions.  What can you do to successfully get the information you need without getting stuck in research and analysis? 

You can hold yourself accountable in this process.  Practice self-awareness and pay attention to whether you feel you’re getting obsessed with information-gathering or tempted to jump into decisions too quickly.  Be intentional about managing this for yourself.

You can wisely get information from a variety of credible sources rather than relying on information from just one coach or just one training organization, for example.

You can work with a coach to help you through your decision-making process.  A coach can hold you accountable to gathering enough information but not getting stuck in your process.  A coach can help you make the choices that are right for you.

You can pray though all of this.  You know this, but I’m compelled to remind you.  You can bring every one of these questions directly to God in prayer.

Accessing God’s wisdom and peace by prayer will ultimately be the way to discern when the information you have is what you need to move forward toward the coaching vision He has for you.

Let me help you with your questions about what it takes to create a successful Christian coaching business or ministry at the next free teleseminar – The Business of Coaching:  What Does It Take – at 1PM ET on Thursday, February 20.  For more information and to register click here.

What were his options? Well, he can certainly proceed with setting up his business without the ICF credential. But he wants the ICF credential because to him it represents credibility and approval according to professional industry standards. In the past, he has worked as a licensed counselor and in the same way that his counseling credentials are important to him, so are coaching credentials.

I’m hearing similar stories, more and more frequently. After taking several courses over the last few years from one training organization, a woman who consulted with me last fall decided to “start over” and in a couple of weeks will start new classes with a completely different program that will lead her to ICF credentials.

I will say, as I most always do when I talk about this subject, that not all coaches need ICF credentials. But for those that do want training that leads to credentials known as the “gold standard” of the profession, there are Christian coach training programs that will lead you there. If you are looking for ICF accredited, approved or aligned training that is taught within a Christian context, it is available!

Please learn what you need to know about ICF credentials before you choose coach training so you can make informed decisions that will get you to that vision of where you want to go. For more information, please read my previous post: Professional Coaching Credentials: What You Want to Know.

It grieves my heart when people end up on a path of training that doesn’t lead them to where they think it will. That is why I’ve revised The Complete Guide to Christian Coach Training annually. And the 2014 edition is available now here.

Before I go further, I will say as I often have:  I don’t believe every coach needs ICF credentials.  You need training that will help you fulfill your unique purposes.  You may simply want to gain some coaching skills to enhance your current ministry effectiveness or job performance and you may not need to pursue credentials.  Of course you would want quality training whether or not you plan to pursue credentials – and either way you can find information about great training programs in my book The Complete Guide to Christian Coach Training.   

But if you want professional level training that can lead to industry-recognized credentials, know the following:

• The International Coach Federation (ICF) is the industry standard accrediting and credentialing organization.
• If you want to get professional credentials from ICF, you need to know that the training you’ve taken will be considered as part of your application.  Acceptable training can be from an ICF accredited/approved school or from a non-approved school that they determine meets their standards.
• If you are considering taking training that isn’t ICF accredited or approved and you want to obtain professional credentials, you can do some research in advance of taking your training that will help you know the chances of your credentialing application being approved.
• If you want to research your chances of your non-ICF-approved training being approved, start by familiarizing yourself with the portfolio application for ACC credentialing at the ICF website.
• As you consider a training course or program that is not ICF approved, ask the director if students from their school have applied and been approved for ACC or PCC credentials using the courses you are considering.  The directors of non-ICF approved schools should not tell you that “yes,” in fact you will be approved – because they can’t speak for the ICF.  However, if students from their training have a history of being awarded their ACC’s or PCC’s from ICF, then you have evidence to believe that your chances of approval are positive.
• Be aware that ICF standards for acceptable training include that courses involve 80% “student contact hours.”  Here is a quote from ICF about this:  “Student contact hours – clock hours spent synchronous (real- time) interactions between faculty and students… A minimum of 80% of all training must be delivered in synchronous activities.”  In other words, acceptable training includes predominantly live, real-time interaction between students and instructors.  A small percentage can include independent study (for example by pre-recorded video or audio).

Are there Christian programs and courses accredited and approved that can apply for your ACC or PCC credential with ICF?  Absolutely!  And are there Christian programs and courses that are not approved but have had students use their courses in their applications resulting in obtaining their ACC’s or PCC’s?  Yes, definitely!   Get my book, The Complete Guide to Christian Coach Training to identify which might be options to help you meet your unique purposes and God-give vision.

I do not want you to experience a sad story of money, time and heart spent on coach training that didn’t meet your expected outcomes.  I am passionate about helping you and I offer three resources that can help you find the right training path for your vision.

• The Complete Guide to Christian Coach Training – Get my ebook for more on the coaching profession, accreditation and credentialing, Eleven Factors in Decision Making, and two page profiles on 18 top Christian coach training programs.
• The Explorers Class – Self-paced video and includes a download of The Complete Guide to Christian Coach Training, expands the info and helps you with deciding what training is right for you.
• Explore Coaching with Linda – Consulting package that includes a 60 minute session with me for personalized help with identifying your next steps toward training and/or a possible career or ministry in coaching.  Access to the Explorers Class and a download of The Complete Guide to Christian Coach Training is included.
• Get these resources at www.mychristiancoachtraining.com.