What is a Coach-Client Overview?

Part of becoming a certified coach includes recording yourself with a practice client and reviewing that recording with a Coach Mentor. This one-hour review session with your Coach Mentor is known as an “overview.” Throughout this meeting, your Coach Mentor will review your recording, provide feedback on your use of the essential coach qualities, and assess your performance according to specific coaching criteria as laid out in the overview form. 

To complete any 1.0 course, you will need three coach-client overviews with your assigned Mentor Coach. Your first overview is not graded, but you must pass at least one of the final two to obtain certification.

Why are Overviews important?

Overviews are designed to give you an idea of how well you are developing your coaching skills and offer useful feedback to improve your coaching. They also count toward the coach mentor hours required for an ICF credential.

Benefits of Overviews

• Listening to yourself coach leads to personal growth. As you listen, mark timestamps for moments of success and areas needing feedback. This will help your mentor coach provide stronger, more intentional feedback.
• Listening with a Coach Mentor present enables honest, constructive feedback. It's an opportunity to view yourself with the support of someone who has been through the process before. While hearing your recordings may not be enjoyable, it provides valuable insights for improvement. You'll also receive action steps to enhance your coaching skills.
• You can use this feedback moving forward, witnessing its positive impact as you observe improvement in your coaching skills. This allows you to track progress, share with your Coach Mentor, celebrate, and gain confidence in your abilities.

Overview Considerations

• Coach-client overviews are necessary for a Letter of Completion, a CTEDU Certificate from Coach Training EDU, or an ICF coaching credential.
• Completing three overviews is required in the 1.0 or 2.0 coach training programs.
• Because the overview process requires the implementation of feedback from the overview to the coach’s next session, Coach Mentors do not accept all three overview transcripts/forms at one time or in quick succession. Submit one, receive feedback, and apply it to your next session.
• Reviewing multiple calls in one mentoring session counts as only one of the ten required for certification.
• In both the 1.0 and the 2.0 Coach Training programs, you must complete all three overviews regardless of your score. However, the additional scores are only for your information. You are encouraged to send in overviews that represent your best coaching.
• You may complete a fourth overview at no charge if you have not yet met the necessary standard.
• If a coach-in-training has not received a passing score on the fourth overview and is seeking certification through the program, they can request additional overviews for $75 an overview. They can also request a different Coach Mentor for subsequent overviews.

What does success look like?

Coach Training EDU™ promotes a growth mindset, emphasizing feedback for coaching improvement in their courses. The scoring system prioritizes feedback over judgment and ensures certification standards are met.

With the exception of the first overview of the 1.0 course (this is scored on a pass/fail basis), each overview is scored using a Meets Standards or Does Not Meet Standards basis. 

To pass a 1.0 course, you must complete all three overviews. The first one is scored only on completion. The second and third overviews must earn a ‘Meets Standard’ on an ACC level on at least one overview to pass.

To pass a 2.0 or above course, you must complete all three overviews and earn a ‘Meets Standard’ at a PCC level at least one overview to pass.