ICF Certified Coaching Programs are considered the best to get started with professional coaching. ICF stands for International Coach Federation. It is the leading global accreditation and credentialing body that defines standards within the coaching profession.
If you wonder how to make the right selection of an ICF Accredited Coaching Program for yourself, you are at the right place. In this post, we will explain everything that you should consider during the selection process.
Choose a Coaching Program That Provides Real Coaching
The term “real coaching” means a program that follows the ICF/EMCC/CCE’s coaching industry standards. To become a certified coach, you will focus on:
- Creating a coaching mindset
- Acquiring coaching skills
- Mastering coaching models and tools=
A program that provides real coaching enables you to become a coach who follows counter-intuitive coaching practices. As a professional coach, you will be:
- Listening more than talking
- Generating ideas from clients rather than feeding ideas into their mind
- Asking questions instead of giving information
- Tapping into clients’ real-life experiences in place of sharing your stories
- Expand the thinking ability of clients to find suitable solutions rather than providing solutions
- Empower and make clients independent rather than making them look at you or at their superior when they find themselves in a critical situation.
You will be able to achieve all these traits only when you work on and master the above three sets.
Ensure That the Coaching Program is Actually ICF/EMCC/CCE Certified
The coaching industry is unregulated, which means anyone can create their own program and even provide their own certification. Many might even claim that their coaching standards and certification match the level of these organizations.
ICF is the gold standard in the coaching industry. The ICF only offers accreditations to coaches and coach training programs. Being an ICF certified makes you a world-wide recognized Certified Coach. So, unless a coaching program is approved by the ICF/EMCC/CCE, don’t fall for big promises.
Choose the Right Level of ICF Certified Coaching Program
ICF Certified Coaching Programs are offered at different levels. Depending upon the student contact hours, the program varies. ICF provides three pathways to achieve coach certification – ACSTH, ACTP, and CCE. Team Transformation offers three levels of coach certification programs:
i) Team Transformation Foundational Level
Suitable for professionals who are new to coaching, an ICF-Approved Team Transformation Foundational Program incorporates what coaching means, types of coaching, and its applications. This program is of 20 hours duration. And provides 20 ICF-CCE units.
ii) Team Transformation Professional Coach
This 60-hours program is for those who wish to be a Certified Team Transformation Professional Coach. The ICF-certified Team Transformation Professional Coach program helps you develop a comprehensive understanding of teams’ dynamics and master team coaching through coaching models and tools.
An ACSTH Professional Coach Training Program is aligned with the ICF Core Competencies and Code of Ethics. It provides you with enough time to learn and reflect on your coaching skills in real-time. This course is designed to better equip you to lead, coach, and collaborate effectively.
iii) Team Transformation Master Coach
The Team Transformation Master Coach Program mainly focuses on building a much deeper understanding of team dynamics, competencies of a team as a system, performance indicators, system intervention, and much more. The duration of this program is 125 hours and approved by ICF. This advanced level of the coach training program is for leaders, coaches, managers, senior executives, and professionals who want to master team coaching.
So, choose the right ICF certified coaching programs based on your goals and requirements.
Focus on Becoming a Coach, Not on Marketing Yourself
You may find many coaches who are selling their coaching programs by promising to teach you how to coach and only help you market yourself. Your focus should be on becoming a certified coach first and then market yourself later. Both things are different, and choosing the wrong option will only lead to the wrong path. Be sure that you are selecting the best ICF Certified Coaching Program to be a successful coach.
Team Transformation is an ICF, EMCC, and CCE accredited coaching academy in Dubai, providing classroom-based and online ICF certified coaching programs. Our ICF certified coaching programs will help you become an accredited coach competent in bringing a positive and sustainable team transformation within an organization. Contact us to know about our different team transformation coach certification.
