My Path to Becoming a Coach
A Primer on Coach Training and Certification | #15
Some of my readers may already know that I work for one of the largest digital coaching platforms in the world. I work in a role where I lead learning and development initiatives for coaches. As an employee benefit, I’ve had the opportunity to engage with different coaches on the platform to help me navigate both professional and personal topics. As a coach myself, this has been an invaluable experience to help me further develop my own coaching skills.
My Personal Journey
I was called a coach before I became certified as a coach. Prior to coaching, I had started my career as a mental health counselor by pursuing Psychology in undergrad and a M.A. in Counseling in graduate school with a plan to become a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC). Those plans changed after working for a few years as a therapist and quickly burning out.
My first counseling job was providing individual and group therapy to teenagers in several high schools through a non-profit organization. The pay was low, and there were many systematic issues that I encountered working with teenagers in an under-resourced school setting. It was challenging to manage the large caseload and handle emotionally the range of issues that my clients brought to sessions. As a newly trained counselor, I had clients in my caseload that had experienced abuse, suicidal thoughts, traumatic family problems, etc. Many of these students and their families were also living well below the poverty line. Often, I felt helpless in my role to move the needle for many of these teens and their families.
After much reflection, I decided to leave the field even though I had invested so much time and money into my graduate education. It was a hard decision but looking back, it was the right thing to do at that time for me. I ended up applying for an alternative teacher training program and spent a year working in a NYC public high school teaching history. Soon after that experience, I pivoted again and found my calling in the career development space where I spent many years helping people navigate various career challenges.
My first job in the career development space was in higher education helping students and alumni as a career counselor. Three years into that world, I became a parent and decided to leave the full-time work world. After my son started going to daycare, I started my first official coaching role working as a contract coach for a company that provided career coaching to accompanying partners of relocated employees. The company provided training on all aspects of career coaching which helped me gain the confidence to open up my own private practice as a career coach. I also took on additional contracts with other companies to provide similar coaching services.
During this time, I decided to get certified as a coach so that I could feel more confident coaching employees from these companies. Because I had gone through clinical training as a therapist in my graduate program, I was able to take advantage of an accelerated coaching certification pathway via the Center for Credentialing and Education (CCE) to become a Board Certified Coach (BCC). I chose a school called the Institute for Life Coach Training (ILCT) because it was both affordable and convenient. Back then, remote learning was not as common as today so I was lucky to find a program that I could do from home.
I specialized in career coaching since I had experienced my own career challenges and had successfully navigated multiple career transitions. I worked as a career and executive coach for many years both in my own private practice and for many companies and organizations. I was lucky to work with many interesting clients from a variety of roles, industries, and levels. My experience in both teaching and coaching helped me pivot into the tech space where I continued to add on additional skills that led me to what I do today.
Early last year, I decided to pursue a second coaching certification, the Professional Coach Certification (PCC) from one of the most recognized certifying bodies in the coaching world, the International Coaching Federation (ICF). This certification is what a lot of companies look for when they hire coaches for their employees or leaders. I’ll share more below about the different certifications and training programs.
A Primer on the Coaching Industry
Coaching is an unregulated industry which means you don’t necessarily need to be certified to work as a coach. There are many different certifying bodies for coaches but the two mains ones that I have personal experience with are the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and the Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE). I’ll be focusing on these two in this post since I have been through training programs for both, and I know that they are recognized by many employers who hire coaches.
ICF defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” If you are considering different coaching certifications, I do recommend thinking about what type of coaching you plan to do, including the audience you want to coach. Many corporations and coaching companies have some type of selection criteria when it comes to the certifications they consider. The safest best is to go through an ICF certification since it is globally recognized and the most popular coach certifying body in the world.
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) offers 3 credentials:
ACC - Associate Certified Coach: You need 60+ hours of coach education, 100+. hours of coaching experience, 10 hours of Mentor Coaching, successful completion (passing score) of a performance evaluation and successful completion (passing score) of the ICF Credentialing Exam.
PCC - Professional Certified Coach: You need 125+ hours of coach education and 500+ hours of coaching experience, 10 hours of Mentor Coaching, successful completion (passing score) of a performance evaluation and successful completion (passing score) of the ICF Credentialing Exam.
MCC - Master Certified Coach: You need 200+ hours of coach education and 2500+ hours of coaching experience, 10 hours of Mentor Coaching, successful completion (passing score) of a performance evaluation and successful completion (passing score) of the ICF Credentialing Exam. Plus you need to already have held a PCC credential.
The ICF website has a section where you can search for coach training programs called the Education Search Service (ESS). These are not the only programs that are out there like this but it does give you a starting place to do your research. I do recommend asking coaches you respect about their pathway to becoming certified as a coach.
Many companies who hire coaches do look for credentials like the ones from the ICF, which is why it’s wise to get certified if you plan to work in the corporate sector. However, not everyone needs to get certified. I’ve seen individuals with other relevant backgrounds or unique expertise get hired as a corporate coach or be able to run their own private coaching practice.
The Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE) offers the Board Certified Coach (BCC) credential.
BCC - Board Certified Coach: This is a popular credential for therapists or individuals with a behavioral science background. Because therapists often already have a lot of the required skills needed to become a coach, this credentialing pathway is much shorter. Due to my M.A. degree in Counseling, I only needed 30 hours of coach training, 30 hours of coaching experience, one professional endorsement, and successful completion (passing score) of the BCC examination. They have different pathways depending on your educational degree.
Other Coaching Credentials
There are many other coaching credentials out there and in many different specializations so this is just a starting place to learn but I recommend asking different types of coaches about their pathway to becoming a coach.
Making Coaching Affordable & Accessible
Coach training programs are generally quite costly; however, they are more economical and time-saving than going back to school for a master’s or doctorate degree. Some of the training schools and the credentialing organizations do offer scholarships for various situations. I would recommend checking them out before applying to any coach training programs.
There are organizations out there that are trying to disrupt the industry and make coach training more affordable and accessible. As much as I appreciate that there is a governing body to hold coaches accountable and ensure they are acting in ethical ways, I do believe that the industry in general needs to create more opportunities to diversify and democratize the field so that the coaching profession is made more accessible to more people. While some ICF coach training programs are in the $10K+ range, there are other newer programs that are between $2K and $3K.
One other thing to be aware of is that the credentialing process does involve costs associated with taking the certification exams and also maintaining the coaching credential. For an ICF (ACC, PCC, MCC) credential, a coach needs to renew their credential every three years by paying a fee and taking 40 hours of coach continuing education courses. Some of these course may be obtained for free but many times a coach needs to put aside money to take certain courses.
For the CCE (BCC) credential, a coach needs to renew their credential every 5 years and take at least 70 hours of coach continuing education courses. The coach also needs to pay an annual renewal fee. This is a similar process to how therapists maintain their licenses to practice. A love for continuous learning is an important trait to have as a coach.
Coaching Resources
If you want to dive further into the coach training world, I’ve included a summary of my top recommended resources. There are many coaching certifications and pathways out there but I am mentioning only the ones that I have experience with and that I know are recognized by many companies. If I had to pick one certification to get, I would recommend the PCC certification via ICF.
Coach Credentialing Organizations
These are the two organizations that I mentioned that set standards and certification for the coaching industry.
International Coaching Federation (ICF) - The ACC, PCC, or MCC credential
If you are looking for coach training programs, you can check out this page to explore a large number of coach education schools offering training towards one or more of the ICF credentials.
Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE) - The BCC credential
If you are looking for coach training programs, you can check out this page and do a search for ACTP programs. (approx 42 different programs)
Coach Training Schools
I am sharing below a few of the coach training programs that I or other coaches in my close network have experience with.
Corporate Sponsored Coach Training - I am pursuing my second coaching certification through this program. Students in this program can obtain the ACC and/or PCC credential. I am planning to go straight for the PCC credential since I already have one coaching credential. I found this program to be the most affordable out there along with high quality since the founder has years of experience in this field as a coach and in developing coaches. I like that it’s easy to fit into a full-time work schedule since we only meet once a week for 2 hours over a year. I also like that there is weekly coaching practice with peers baked into the program. The program is also set up to help support you as you obtain your ICF credential(s) without having to navigate the application process on your own.
Institute for Life Coach Training (ILCT) - This was my first coach training that I went through to obtain my BCC credential. They now offer a variety of programs to get ICF certified. When I took this training ten years ago, it was via a phone conference system since Zoom was not as popular back then. I am sure they have upgraded their coach trainings to a virtual experience today.
Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC) - They offer many different coaching credentials towards the ICF credentials. Many coaches in my network have gone through one of their programs. It’s known to be one of the best coach training programs out there but it does come with a hefty price tag.
Co-Active Training Institute (CTI) - They offer the Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) certification. I know a few coaches who have gone through this certification but then have chosen to do further certifications towards an ICF credential. I do like a book that they published that I will mention below if you want to learn basic coaching skills.
Books about Coaching
These are a few of my favorite books about coaching.
The Art of Laser Focused Coaching, Marion Franklin
Coach the Person, Not the Problem, Marcia Reynolds
Co-Active Coaching: The Proven Framework for Transformative Conversations at Work and in Life, Henry Kimsey-House, Karen Kimsey-House, Phillip Sandahl, Laura Whitworth
The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever, Michael Bungay Stanier
The Prosperous Coach: Increase Income and Impact for You and Your Clients, Steve Chandler, Rich Litvin
Thanks for reading! Please remember that this is just an introduction to the coach training and certification process through my personal experience. If you are interested in learning more, please talk to more coaches and check out the resources that I shared above!
Super helpful post! thank you for sharing