There are requirements for both certification and graduation; the specifics below will help ensure you’re on the right path for your goals.
The primary method of assessing your progress is completing at least three coaching assessments and earning a passing score. To prepare, you will need to record a 20-minute coaching session. You are encouraged to send in assessments you feel represent your best coaching. During the assessments, you and your trainer will listen to the recording together. Then your trainer will share constructive feedback. Assessments are typically an hour long and conducted via Zoom. The purpose of feedback is to help you strengthen coaching skills that you’ll need throughout your career.
Certification Requirements
To pass a 1.0 class, complete all three assessments and earn a “Meets Standard | Associate Level.”
To pass a 2.0 class, complete all three assessments and earn an “Exceeds Standard | Professional Level.”
You are allowed as many attempts as necessary to meet the requirements. After the fourth assessments with a trainer, you may schedule additional assessments for $75 per assessment.
Your trainer will evaluate your coaching sessions using the following areas of emphasis:
Professional. A coach sets ethical coaching agreements with clarity and cultural awareness. The central aspects of this competency are establishing clear expectations between the coach, client, and sponsor (if present), maintaining confidentiality, designing an alliance, and addressing accountability.
Empathetic. A coach actively listens empathetically, using imagination and intuition while staying curious and attuned with a client to pick up on even subtle shifts in a client’s emotion. An effective life coach asks questions designed to provoke insight rather than gather information for the coach’s sake.
Empowering. A coach sees the client as the expert in their life, inviting the client to be proactive and craft both the coaching session agenda and action steps. In this sense, a coach is a guide, empowering the client’s leadership. A coach offers expert knowledge with curiosity to empower the client as well as adapts coaching tools to fit the client’s unique situation.
Curious. An effective coach continues to stay curious, even when clients experience strong emotions or realize epiphanies. This competency shows in a coach’s skill to dig for a deeper agenda in the TIME model or asking clients to give a name to an empowering perspective or new insight. A coach uses Powerful Questions which are short and open-ended (usually starting with what, why, or how), and the coach invites the client to do most of the work of uncovering insights in a coaching session.
Courageous. A coach sets a safe space and demonstrates connection and vulnerability while also at times being fierce. Even if this means sometimes asking uncomfortable but priceless questions. Effective coaches model courage during coaching sessions to set the stage for their clients to do the same.
Confident. A coach is confident in the client, inviting the client to explore ideas and emotions in a coaching session. A coach trusts the coaching process and embraces pausing and silence while holding space for the client to arrive at useful action steps. Strong coaches show confidence that their clients can build appropriate accountability.
Inspiring. An effective coach helps clients discover inspiration within themselves and use it to power their journey of self-development. A coach inspires clients to take bold actions between coaching sessions while balancing learning with action steps. They do this by designing ways to help clients stay accountable and follow through on their chosen action steps.
Course Graduation Requirements
Attend 22 of 24 classes. If you miss more than two classes, you will need to make up the needed hours outside of class:
- Watch the class recording and attend a Coaching Power Hour. The Coaching Power Hour is held once a week. Each power hour combined with watching the class recording equates to attending one class OR
- Watch the recording of your class, submit three takeaways to your trainer, and then schedule a 40-minute coaching session with a fellow class member. Only four missed classes can be supplemented with this option.
Complete three assessments.
To pass a 1.0 class, complete all three assessments and earn a “Meets Standard | Associate Level” in each of the standards.
To pass a 2.0 class, complete all three assessments and earn an “Exceeds Standard | Professional Level”
Certification Requirements after Graduation
To earn your certification at either the associate or professional level:
Meet the course graduation requirements. If you received a certificate, you have already accomplished this step.
Log ten hours of coaching (hours can be with a paying or practice client).
There is an “Apply for Certification” link on your course materials webpage that will guide you through uploading your coaching log and confirming the address where you want to receive your certificate.
Once you meet all of the certification requirements, congratulations!
Learning more about Continuing Coach Education (CCE).