Coaching Blog

Top Ten Myths About Life Coaching

Posted by Julia Stewart

dragons and castle

Myths are stories we tell that help us understand our world.

That's why we love them so much. Epic stories like Game or Thrones and Lord of the Ring capture our minds during our adolescence but never quite let us go. At their best, myths can for instance, make sense of the destructive behavior of a  leader who feels betrayed and alone (I'm thinking of you, Daenerys) and they may also help us understand real-life situations.

But there is another type of myth that makes us feel like we understand something new when we really don't and those myths spread like viruses to others who also don't get it. They become "truth-y" even when they truly are false. This is particularly true as our culture evolves because some folks evolve faster than others. Myths can keep those others stuck on the outside of something truly great, believing cynically that it's just a sham, or a fad, or the same old thing wearing a fancy new dress.

There are plenty of myths about life coaching because honestly, if you haven't experienced truly great coaching, you won't get it. You just won't. See below for examples. 

 

Here are Top Ten Life Coaching Myths:

 

  1. Coaching is a new form of therapy or counseling. When I first became a coach about a billion years ago, one of my relatives, who was studying to become a psychotherapist, told me I was practicing therapy without a license. Um, no. In fact, a landmark case was won at about that time which established coaching as a separate profession from therapy. After that, therapists seemed to take an, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," attitude toward coaching and today, many coaches are former therapists who love helping clients go from good to great and are thrilled to not have to deal with insurance companies to get paid. Even my relative eventually commended me on getting into coaching after it became the fastest growing job description worldwide. Good thing I didn't listen to her earlier criticisms!
  2. Coaching isn't a real profession. This was probably true thirty years ago, just as it was of every profession in its earliest days. Remember when your doctor used to "bleed" you with leeches? No? Probably that's because they stopped doing that more than a century ago. Thank God! My point is that all professions develop over time. They begin with a few talented practitioners. Then someone defines what they do and begins teaching it to others. Eventually professional organizations standardize ethical practices and identify credentials. Researchers begin studying the field's efficacy (that finally doomed the use of leeches by physicians). Then universities start developing educational programs. All of this has occurred within the field of coaching. It is now a profession.
  3. Coaching is New Age mumbo-jumbo. As coaching progresses as a profession, research is establishing many coaching practices (some of which were originally dismissed by "experts") as valid. In fact, the practice of focusing mostly on the positive (not 100% positive, just 75 - 95% positive), as well as focusing mostly on the present and desired future, have been well-established as important tools for transforming problems into opportunities and suffering into wisdom. Many therapists have also adopted these tools. Meanwhile, whatever may have been mumbo-jumbo (the coaching equivalent of bloodletting with leeches) is quietly being jettisoned.
  4. Anything goes in coaching. Coaching is a profession that is not regulated by governments. This confuses some people. They think they can do anything and call it coaching. Fortunately, there are reputable organizations that have established ethical guidelines and best practices in coaching. Work with coaches who are aligned with one of these organizations to avoid getting schnookered by people who call themselves coaches but whose practices may not always be effective, fair, or ethical.
  5. You don't need training to become a coach. This depends on whether you want to succeed as a coach. The ICF has been surveying thousands of coaches for years. Their findings are that coaches who've had coach-specific training are more successful more quickly and are less likely to drop out of the profession. So while you could call yourself a coach, even if you have no training, if you want to be a successful coach, get quality training early. It's an excellent investment.
  6. If you have a degree in psychology you're qualified to coach. Oh would that this were true! I know your university degree cost you a fortune so it must be good for something, right? I was like you once. I had two degrees in dance, of all things, from two of the most expensive universities in America. That got me a career as an adjunct professor at a variety of colleges until my back gave out. Luckily, I discovered my true calling was coaching. There were no degrees in coaching, at the time, so I spent a few thousand dollars at a good coach-training school (two, actually) and I've been using what I learned there ever since. Best investment I ever made. If you have a degree from an accredited coach-training university program, you may not need further training, but most degrees in psychology or social work won't qualify.
  7. Clients don't care if you're certified. Mine do! And apparently most other clients do, too. The ICF surveyed actual coaching clients and asked, all else being equal, would they prefer to work with a certified coach? 84% of coaching clients replied that they care very much if their coach is certified.
  8. All coaches are slimy. Well some people who call themselves coaches may be. Perhaps they aren't trained, or aren't certified, or aren't ethical. Because coaching isn't regulated, you do need to be choosy about who you work with. If you're working with a real coach, they probably are anything but slimy.
  9. Coaches have all the answers. Some folks think coaches have perfect lives and know everything. News flash: nobody fits that description. Coaches are skilled at asking important questions clients usually don't ask themselves. They are experts at change and customize every conversation. Coaches are just super-good at bringing valuable answers to light. That's transformative.
  10. Coaching is only for rich people. Coaching caught on first with high-level executive clients, movie stars, and billionaires. But as the profession grows, there are great coaches who specialize in clients from every walk of life. If you're interested in hiring a coach, shop around to find one who is right for you. Coaching is for everyone (and that's no myth)!

Myths spread in the ancient and medieval worlds because often too little information was available. Today, we have the same problem for the opposite reason: There is too much information and we cannot tell which is true.

As a coach, it's part of your job to spread the truth about coaching. Because coaching is an evolved technology that can help people successfully navigate hypercomplexity despite climate disasters. We live in a scary world but fear makes us think small and small thinking is destructive instead of resourceful. Effective coaching can be the difference between success and disaster.

 

What if Daenerys had a good coach?

 

Need a good coach? Find yours here:

 

Find Your Coach Here

 

Topics: ICF, Coach Certification, coaching vs. therapy, Life Coaching, coach training school, coaching ethics

Coaching Tourists Don't Get Coaching Clients

Posted by Julia Stewart

Coaching Tourist - photo by Elan Sun Start

Fifteen years ago, I found myself in a hotel lounge chatting with a group of coach trainers about our coaching students. We were all there as certifiers for a live coach certification event for the largest coach training school in the world and someone brought up an odd coaching phenomenon that we had all noticed...

Thousands of people have fun dabbling with coaching, but never fully commit. That's fine, but most of them seem to think they are seriously building businesses, but they don't make much progress. It reminded me of a recent trip to Hawaii that I'd taken where I noticed how different a tourist's experience of the islands was from a Hawaiian resident's.

I said, "Yeah, it's like they're coaching tourists."

There is nothing wrong with being a tourist, but it gets expensive and it rarely builds a real business. If you want to get coaching clients, it's important that you know when it's okay to play (and for how long) and when it's time to get down to business.

So I designed an assessment that'll give you an idea whether you're just a tourist in the land of coaching or whether you really live here. I hope it helps!

The scoring key is below. The higher your score the more you're acting like a tourist rather than a coach who is building a successful business. Learn what to do about this and get on the path to success now.

0 is a perfect score. No problems here!
5-15% is very good. Why not upgrade to great by working with a coach?
20-45% is okay if you're just getting started with a good coach or training program. But don't delay.
50-100% You're definitely are a tourist. Unless you're independently wealthy, you probably should either do something else for a living or get more serious about building you coaching business.

Take this free life coach assessment:

Are You a Coaching Tourist?

 

Topics: coaching business, coaching clients, coach training school, coach training instructors, how to get coaching clients, coaching tourist

4 Reasons You Should Get ICF ACSTH Coach Training, Not ACTP

Posted by Julia Stewart

IAPPC logo 1 8-18-1[UPDATE: December 30, 2021, School of Coaching Mastery has decided to drop its ICF ACSTH accreditation and only teach the IAPPC Positive Psychology Coaching Skills to prepare our graduates for the IAPPC Certified Positive Psychology Coach® credential. This streamlines our program while retaining the flexibility of the ACSTH. The ICF is in the process of making sweeping changes that that are inconsistent with our approach to peer-reviewed research-based coaching that empowers a growth mindset. We wish them well but are thrilled to finally focus completely on what we consider the true future of coaching: Positive Psychology.]

Four Major Reasons ACSTH is Better for Coaches:

  1. You don't have to wait to get your certifications. When you take an ACTP program, you have to complete the entire program, which may take a couple of years, before you apply for ICF certification and sometimes you can't even get your school's certification until then.
  2. You don't have to pay for an ICF Mentor Coach if you don't want one. ACTP programs are required to provide students with ICF mentor coaches, which means everybody has to pay the coach training school for their mentor coach and that makes tuition awfully expensive. But what if you don't care about ICF certification? Most life coaches don't need ICF coach certification, so why should they be required to pay for a mentor coach to qualify for a certification they don't need or want?
  3. You can choose your own mentor coach. You definitely should have your own coach and you should choose that coach carefully. Not every coach is a good fit for every client, so why would you want one assigned to you by your coaching school? When you take an ACSTH program, you can choose your own coach and we can help you find one that is affordable.
  4. You can customize your training to fit your exact preferences. With an ACSTH program, we're free to customize your training program for your exact needs. Take the courses you want to reach the goals that matter to you. You can also take just one module, before you decide to take the whole program. Virtually all our modules can be taken one-at-a-time, although it's much more cost-effective to register for the full program. Don't take an ACTP program, unless you want one-size-fits-all training.

So there you have it! The Certified Positive Psychology Coach Program is less expensive, offers more choice, can fit your needs exactly, and starts giving you those crucial credentials within weeks, instead of forcing you into a long, expensive, one-size-fits-all training. Best of all, by learning the International Association of Positive Psychology Coaches' apprach to coaching, you are learning peer-reviewed research-based positive psychology coaching and are well prepared for the future!

Learn more about the Certified Positive Psychology Coach Program; download the free fact sheet:

Get Certified Positive Psychology Coach Fact Sheet

Topics: mentor coach, Coach Certification, Certified Positive Psychology Coach, Life coaching school accreditation, coach training school, Coaching Certificate, Positive Psychology, positive psychology certificate, ACSTH, IAPPC

How to Become a Life Coach

Posted by Julia Stewart

Life CoachesDo you want to know how to become a life coach? Here’s a quick story that illustrates the experiences of many of the thousands new coaches that I’ve taught, coached, or talked to over the past few years. It shows how to become a successful life coach. Maybe it will help you decide what path to take.

I call it: A Tale of Two Life Coaches.


Colleen* and Danita* are two new life coaches. Colleen is from a Midwestern town in the US, while Danita lives outside of Ottawa in Canada. Each has a college education and several years working at a career she’s good at, but not inspired by.


Colleen recently left her job as an elementary school reading specialist. She loves helping people, but longs for more professional freedom, so she began dabbling with coaching and enjoys it. Rather than join a coach training school she takes advantage of free teleclass series on topics related to coaching and online coaching summits in the hope of saving money, because her finances are tight.


Danita is a psychotherapist who’s feeling a bit burnt out. She feels emotionally drained by some of her clients and wants to work with high-functioning people who are ready to have successful lives and businesses. Danita has wanted to become a coach for years and is now ready to take the plunge. Although she already has excellent skills for helping her psychotherapy clients, she knows that coaching and coaching skills are significantly different from what she already knows.


Danita is committed to being the very best she can be. She decides to give herself all the advantages possible by joining a great coach training school. She loves the SCM approach and joins the Certified Positive Psychology Coach program. She knows it’s an investment in her future.


Three months later: Colleen loves what she’s learning in free webinars, but she’s constantly overwhelmed. She wants to get her new coaching business off the ground, but isn’t making progress. She can’t decide what to name her business. She has heard she needs a niche, but has no idea how to find one. Finally, she invests in an expensive marketing program that promises to teach her everything she needs to know; plus she’ll get thousands of dollars worth of free information, if she signs up, right now.

 

Three months into her coach training, Danita loves everything she’s learning and already has some coaching clients. Unlike the free webinars that Colleen takes, which are designed to get her to buy more programs, the material Danita is learning at SCM is designed to give her what she needs when she needs it, while allowing her the flexibility to customize. Danita already feels confident about her coaching skills because of the feedback she gets from her instructors, as well as from her clients. She has her Coach 100 directory listing, which is included in her program, displayed at Find a Coach Here and got her first few paying clients through the program. Whenever Danita feels overwhelmed, she uses tools from her SCM Fully Alive with Positive Psychology Program (also included), talks to one of her instructors, or calls one of her buddy coaches from SCM. She’s seriously considering taking advantage of IAPPC's low-cost member coaching, only for Certified Positive Psychology Coach members.


Six months later, Colleen is still struggling and is worried about money. Although she has attracted a few coaching clients, most of them are for free and they don’t stay with her long. Plus she’s spending almost all of her time marketing, instead of coaching. The marketing program she bought was too difficult to implement and she never had time to enjoy all the free goodies that it came with. So she joined an expensive "platinum coaching program" with a famous internet marketer, who she hopes will explain it all, and she’s desperate for the program to work, because otherwise, her finances will run out.


At the same time, Danita has raised her coaching fees and her business is now 50% coaching clients and 50% therapy clients. She’s even beginning to enjoy doing therapy again. Danita has had the opportunity to ask questions from master-coach instructors in her classes, which has helped her make smart choices about her new business. She also has coaching credentials and her first coach certification, which she knows will give her added credibility. Already, prospective clients are asking her about her coach training and certification and it’s a relief to know that she has all that covered. It’s also satisfying to know that her clients are more than paying her back for her SCM tuition and that most of her clients stay with her, because they’re enjoying great results.


One year after starting, Colleen regrets ever having gotten started as a coach. She spent thousands of dollars on marketing programs, but made very little of it back from coaching. She’s now focused on finding a job as quickly as she can and feels foolish to think she ever could have been a coach.


Meanwhile, Danita’s coaching business is thriving. She’s kept a few of her favorite therapy clients, but is only accepting new coaching clients, who pay her almost twice as much as her therapy clients. She’s put in hundreds of hours of hard work, but wouldn’t trade a minute of it, because she’s learned so much and so loves her new coaching business. Her mentor coach is helping her see possibilities for her business that she never could have dreamed of. She’s earned her first coach certification and is well on her way to being a successful master coach.


The sad thing about this tale of two life coaches is that they both had the same aptitude when they started. Colleen could have succeeded and she didn’t just lose the thousands of dollars that she spent on marketing programs. She lost tens of thousands of dollars that she could be earning as a coach. More over, the people she could have helped with coaching may never get the help they deserve and Colleen didn't get to enjoy her dream business.


The obvious difference is that Danita joined a coach training school that worked for her, while Colleen tried to do it ‘on the cheap’, which almost never works. But there are deeper reasons. Danita made a definite commitment to become a coach and be the best she could be. She also made a realistic assessment of what she needed to succeed. That commitment to what she wanted and to what she knew to be true launched her on a trajectory that led her toward success.


Colleen, on the other hand, started out just ‘dabbling’ and because she didn’t know for sure what she wanted, over time, she was influenced by marketers to buy expensive programs via the ‘free’ webinars she attended. As a result, she bought programs she didn’t really want and that didn’t meet her needs. Also, those programs gave conflicting advice which only added to her confusion and overwhelm.


Have you made a definite commitment to coaching? It’s the key to coaching success. It’s fine to dabble if all you want is a hobby, but if you know coaching is what you want to do professionally, you need to take the big leap!


*Colleen and Danita are composites of coaches that I’ve known. The names are fictional, but similar stories have been repeated again and again. Your results may be different, depending on the commitments you make.

 

Ready to commit to your success? Join the Certified Positive Psychology Coach program now.

Need to learn more first? Get the free Fact Sheet:

Get Certified Positive Psychology Coach Fact Sheet

Topics: coach training, become a life coach, become a coach, free coach training, Coach 100, Free, Life Coaches, Certified Positive Psychology Coach, coach training program, how to become a coach, coach training school

Coaching Trends & the Future of Coaching

Posted by Julia Stewart

Future of Coaching

 

What’s on the horizon for the profession of coaching?

 

 Let’s look at today’s trends and then imagine the implications…

TREND: With artificial intelligence expected to replace many humans in professions that rely on knowledge and linear thought, such as medicine and law, thousands are training for fields, such as coaching, where intuition, creativity, people skills, and communication tools are more difficult to replicate in machines.

TREND: Coaching skills have become wide-spread among workers who manage others.

TREND: Coaching horror stories are on the rise.

TREND: Hundreds, if not thousands, of privately-own coach training schools have formed.

TREND: However, coach training is increasingly found in universities with sky-high tuition.

TREND: As the climate crisis continues to grow, distance communication, working from home, virtual meetings, and other forms of distance work will rise.

TREND: Webinar training tools, video chat, and other distance-learning and communications systems are evolving and improving.

TREND: Scientific Research on coaching is on the rise, proving a peer-reviewed scientific basis for coaching results.

TREND: Positive psychology has become a source of powerful coaching tools.

TREND: It is too late to prevent climate change, climate resilience for seven billion people, is a worldwide goal, and resilience is a top deliverable of positive psychology coaching.

TREND: Neuroscience and neuroplasticity powerfully inform effective coaching interventions.

TREND: Technology will continue to disrupt modern life at an ever-faster pace, with most people experiencing several major transitions in their lifetimes.

TREND: The number of coaching professional organizations and certifications that claim to be the ‘best’ continues to increase.

TREND: Professional coaching can now be found in virtually every part of the world.

TREND: Movements have been afoot, around the world, to regulate life coaching and other forms of professional coaching for decades, but so far, coaching remains unregulated.

TREND: Most coaching clients say they prefer to work with certified coaches.

 

If current trends in coaching continue, what is likely to happen in…

 

10 years:

Coaching Growth: The number of new professional coaches swelling the ranks will continue to grow. The number of professional coaches will level off over time, with a less-prepared, less-motivated coaches dropping out, due to increased competition.

Coaching reach: Coaching will no longer be considered exotic or only for the rich and famous. It is almost as common as personal training, today. In addition, non-professional coaches will exist throughout society and many people will experience the benefits of coaching from childhood onward.

Coaching delivery: Technology will provide coaches with excellent options for coaching their clients internationally, but local in-person connections will continue to be important, as technology continues to integrate online with offline. Coaching in corporate settings may continue to be delivered person-to-person, but most coaching will be likely to be delivered via computers, smart phones, and other mobile devices.

Coaching fees: Coaching fees have traditionally been sky-high since coaching’s inception. Fees will level off, with a furthering split between a relatively small group of elite certified coaches, who deliver high-end, high-paid coaching, and a much larger group of coaches who offer lower-paid services.

Coaching regulation: Professional coaching may be regulated in some countries, with many more in the process of developing regulations. These regulations will require coach-specific training, certification and/or college degrees, as well as adherence to standardized codes of ethics as requirements for coaches who coach for pay.

Coach training: Coach training via teleclass will go the way of the buggy whip. Many privately owned coaching schools will go out of business, leaving mostly coach training schools at accredited universities. Coach training will be delivered via live and recorded multi-media distance learning and less via live training in hotel conference rooms. As universities attempt to take over the job of educating coaches, the cost of coach training will skyrocket (Ex: Currently Penn State University offers the Master of Applied Positive Psychology for Life Coaches, at a cost of over $50,000 for one year of training.)

Coach certification: Coach certification will increasingly move toward research-based coaching skills, with peer-reviewed research generally preferred. To meet this demand, new certifying bodies, like the IAPPC, will emerge as important certifiers of coaches to meet this demand.

Coaching skills:

Certifications and degrees: Consumers will commonly be aware of coaching horror stories and will know not to work with uncertified coaches. There will be no one certification, whether from a not-for-profit organization, or from a school, that dominates or is preferred – this will lead to further confusion amongst those who hire coaches, as well as those who want to become coaches. Newer coaches will have coaching-related degrees, certifications and/or certificates from schools and universities. Older coaches, those with years of coaching experience, but not the newer certifications and degrees, will survive only if they have excellent reputations as effective coaches.

 

20 years:

Coaching will be a mature profession that continues to evolve. Virtually all professional coaches will be trained and certified, and coaching regulation will be the norm. People will expect much more from professional coaches, partly because amateur coaches will be everywhere and partly because the dramatic transformations that occur with high-quality coaching will be expected, not just hoped for. Hyper-complexity, via technology and climate change, will be challenges that prompt people to hire coaches more often.

More dramatically, as a result of coaching's growth, society will evolve, with more people living values-driven lives. People will upgrade their expectations of life and will find creative ways to satisfy their new standards. Non-professional coaches will exist everywhere in society and many people will relate to one another with a ‘coach approach’. It will become common for people to be coached at every stage of life. What is considered masterful coaching today will be considered average professional coaching.

 

30 years:

Society will continue to transform due to the effects of climate change, pandemics, artificial intelligence, and professional coaching, and coaching will be a highly respected profession. Excellent professional coaches will continue to earn high fees, but professional coaching will be regulated virtually everywhere. In addition, people throughout society will be coaching others for free. Since coaching can be used for ‘evil’, there will be both positive and negative effects, but the awareness that comes from coaching and being coached will make it harder to manipulate groups of people. Far more will be expected and required from politicians, business leaders, teachers, coaches, and other leaders. Individuals will live their lives more courageously and having a coach to partner through important transitions, will be considered an absolute necessity, which means virtually everyone will have a coach.

 

What do these coaching trends mean to you, the new coach?

 

  1. The future looks extremely bright for the cream of the crop. If you plan to be a professional coach and you want to be well paid, do whatever it takes to distinguish yourself as one of the best. That includes training, certifications, and evidence-based coaching skills.
  2. If you want to stand out quickly, take advantage of this small window of time to study with a privately-held school that will help put you head and shoulders above this increasingly crowded field. If you can afford to spend $50,000 on your training and there is a good-quality university coach training program that will actually teach you to coach, consider it. Because currently most universities only teach about positive psychology, leadership, and other related fields, but neglect in-depth skills and philosophies that make for great coaching and for coaching success.
  3. Get at least one coach certification from an independent organization, such as the IAPPC. Consider getting more than one such certification, since that may soon be a requirement for practicing coaching where you live and it’s impossible to predict which current organization, if any, will prevail.
  4. Continue to upgrade your knowledge and skills throughout your career. It will help you stay up-to-date on important trends, earn higher fees, and it’ll help you stay in business if/when regulations occurs.
 

The School of Coaching Mastery Certified Positive Psychology Coach Program provides coaches with the skills and certifications they need to prevail now and well into the future. Get the facts about this innovative program...

 

Get Certified Positive Psychology Coach Fact Sheet

 

Topics: coach training, coaching success, Coach Certification, Certified Positive Psychology Coach, coaching schools, get certified, coach training program, coaching career, coach training school, Positive Psychology, experienced coaches, Neuroplasticity, positive psychology coach, IAPPC

Coach Training Schools: How to Identify a Fake Coaching School

Posted by Julia Stewart

icf_tpss.jpg

After fifteen years in the  business of coaching and coach-training, I've seen my share of fake online schools. So when I stumbled across a "new" online school with a few tell-tale signs, I intuitively knew it was bogus. Just to be sure though (like any good coach), I checked to be certain. Yup, I was right the first time.

Unfortunately, there is seemingly no limit to the number of people who will spot something popular on the web and will try to scam the unsuspecting into sending money. Don't be fooled!

If you're wondering if a coach-training website, or any educational website, is legit, here's what to look for...

7 Clues a Coach-Training Website is Fake:

1. The site doesn't clearly indicate who owns it or runs it. This new site that I found just states, in the "About Us" section, that it's a membership site for people interested in positive psychology. Pretty sketchy.

2. It claims to be a university or graduate school, but the web address doesn't end with .edu or .org. Read number 4 for more about this. In the United States, there are specific laws about who can claim to be a university. Generally, a university offers many topics and awards degrees based an specific requirements. This one claimed to be a US organization, but didn't seem to fit the definition.

3. It claims to be a college or university in the United States, but it gives out diplomas. In the US, you get a diploma when you graduate from high school. If you go on to post-secondary school, such as a college or university, you earn a degree, certification, or certificate of completion, not a diploma.

4. It claims to be accredited by an official-sounding not-for-profit organization that is approved by the United States Department of Education, but the web address doesn't end with .edu (only educational institutions with this type of accreditation can use .edu addresses). This one made such a claim, but the address ended with .us. Curious whether there was any validity to the claim, I went to the Department of Ed. website and searched their list of approved agencies. Nope, not there.

A hallmark of fake schools is the claim of being accredited by official-sounding organizations that don't exist.

By the way, Department of Ed. approval is the gold-standard in university accreditation. However, legitimate coaching schools that claim accreditation are generally accredited by the International Coach Federation (ICF), which is not approved by the Department of Ed. ICF is a good organization. In fact, it is the oldest and largest such organization in the world. This type of approval or accreditation is the gold standard in coaching. You can trust coaching schools that are approved or accredited by the ICF. Just check the ICF's site to be sure.

5. Information about the courses and topics taught is scarce. This new site shares basic information that anyone can find with a quick web search on positive psychology and copy & paste it onto a fake site.

6. There are no trust marks or confirmation links on the site. Trust marks come from third-party organizations, such as the Department of Ed, or the International Coach Federation, or the Better Business Bureau. They usually include links to the accrediting site that confirm the school's claims and may even rate the school on trust and best practices.

7. Here's the scariest red flag: to join this new "organization" that I discovered, you're instructed to copy & paste their payment form into an EMAIL with your name, address, credit-card number, security code, and expiration date! No legitimate organization will EVER ask you to put sensitive payment information into an email.  Email is just not secure. My conclusion is that this site is designed to steal identities from people who are interested in positive psychology and that if you are foolish enough to "join", you will soon discover that your credit card has been maxed out. And because of the tell-tale "diplomas" mentioned on the site (#3 above), it is likely outside the United States, even though it claims to be "American". It's difficult, if not impossible, to catch international scammers, such as these.

So How Can You Find Trustworthy Coaching Schools?

There are many good coach training schools, but Google isn't the best way to find them. Use the ICF's Training Program Search Service (TPSS). They have a huge number of approved and accredited coaching schools to choose from that they have already vetted for you.

Looking for an ICF Approved Coach Training Program?

The Certified Positive Psychology Coach® program approved for 125 ICF hours. Check us out at the ICF TPSS under the following name:


Julia Stewart Coaching & Training LLC, DBA: School of Coaching Mastery
.

ICF Approved 125 hours

Or go here:

Become a Certified Positive Psychology Coach

Topics: coach training, ICF, Certified Positive Psychology Coach, Life coaching school accreditation, coach training school, Positive Psychology

Coach Training: How to Maximize Your Time and Money

Posted by Julia Stewart

 

Coach Training

 

 

Blog post by Coach Julia Stewart, MCC

There are two groups of coaches that School of Coaching Mastery hasn't focused on enough.

 

1. The first group includes:

  • Coaches for whom our class schedules just don't work (Often they're located in Asia or the Pacific Rim)
  • Coaches who learn best by reading and listening to audio recordings
  • Coaches who want great coach training for less money
These coaches can benefit from the 24/7 availability of pre-recorded MP3 coach training audios and downloadable written coaching guides. SCM has all that for our coach training students, but we're about to make it available in a new program called Just In Time Coach Training.

2. The second group includes what I call, 'High Achievers who want meaningful success'.They are my ideal coaching clients:
  • Coaches who are already succeeding at something and don't have time for endless hours of training
  • Coaches who want to succeed at coaching quickly and need a personalized program to do so
  • Coaches who want personal mentor coaching and personalized coach training to maximize their time, effort and money

I've been coaching clients like these on the side for years, but just made it formally available in a program called Elite Mentor Coaching for High Achievers (EMCHA). And it's going so well that I'm opening it up to three more coaches. EMCHA includes everything that I think you need to succeed, no more no less. Of course, you add your brilliance and you're the one taking action.

I started School of Coaching Mastery in part because many of my mentees really needed more training. But then some of my coach training students have struggled because they didn't have mentor coaches. With EMCHA, you have it all.

What do these two really different coach training programs have in common?

  • They both include Just In Time (JIT) Coach Training
  • They both include optional live training:
    • EMCHA members get free SCM Curriculum coach training personally curated by me for them
    • JIT members can join any SCM Curriculum coach training module at $40% off
  • They both have special introductory pricing right now
  • The special prices are available to a limited number of coaches between now and October 31st

Go here to learn more about Just In Time Coach Training and register:

 

 LEARN ABOUT JUST IN TIME COACH TRAINING

 

Go here to learn about the special offer for the next three members of Elite Mentor Coaching for High Achievers.

Go here for more about Elite Mentor Coaching for High Achievers:

ELITE MENTOR COACHING FOR HIGH ACHIEVERS

Image By Tony Crider

Topics: mentor coach, coach training, Coach Training Programs, Mentor Coaching, coach training schools, coach training program, life coach training, coach training school, mentoring

Coaches and Others: Lose Your Isolation.

Posted by Julia Stewart

Dimdim

There aren't many companies that I would write a love letter to or about

Here is just one that I thought I would share with you, because you'd probably love them, too. And even if you aren't in the market for their service, you might as well try it out, because it's free and trust me, you'll find cool ways to use it.

 

Here's my experience.

 

As the owner of a "cutting edge" coaching school, I went on a mission last year to find the perfect way to share coach training. Something that would combine the intense experience of live training with the convenience and cost-savings of teleclasses. I knew there had to be something better than teleclasses. I was right, but it took a long time to find it.

 

I explored every software out there from WebEx, to GoToMeeting, to InstantTeleseminar and a whole bunch you've never even heard of. You know what I found out? They are all expensive, clunky, sometimes hard to use and they almost always require participants to wait while the system downloads something to their computers, before they can even join the class.

 

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty leery about downloading anything that I don't already understand and I hate to wait.

 

My clients and students are the same way. I bet you are too. And I bet your friends, family, clients, customers and/or students are, too.

 

Somebody finally answered my prayers (Thank you, Seth Godin, for pointing the way). Less than a year ago, I discovered a brand new company that had set their sights on turning the business of webinars upside down.

 

You're not interested in doing webinars? Well, do you...

 

  • Wish you could visit with family and friends, like they were in the room with you (smiling faces and all)?
  • Do you wish you could watch your favorite videos with your faraway friends and chat and laugh like you were together?
  • Do you ever have long-distance phone meetings where you're all trying to follow they same notes, contracts, reports, etc.?
  • Do you ever wish you could stop driving/flying/training and spending time, money, fuel and what's left of the environment, just so you could do your work with others?

 

In other words, if you could use this service for nothing, then why on Earth wouldn't you? The only reason I can think of is that you just don't know about it, yet.

 

So I'm telling you: Get Dimdim.

It's as close to perfect as it comes. You can meet freely. And easily. And do lots of cool stuff with the people you love, no matter where they are.

 

Yes, you can do more if you pay something (An annual subscription is a fraction of what WebEx costs for one month), but for most people, the free account is all you'll ever need and it's not a free trial. It's free forever!

 

And yes, Dimdim has offered to expand my service if I tell my friends about it, so that's my selfish reason for writing, but I already brag about Dimdim to everyone I know. So.

 

 

 

 

Topics: Coaching, coach training, Free, Coach Training Programs, Seth Godin, teleclass, video coaching, coach training school, In-person coach training

6 Reasons to Run Screaming From a Coach Training School

Posted by Julia Stewart

Red Flag Coaching schools are businesses and sometimes over-state what you, the coaching student will experience, if you join them.

And although most coaching schools are honorable, there is probably no school that can give you everything you want exactly how and when you want it.

Coaching is all about personal responsibility, so if you look at getting what you want as your responsibility (Or at least your shared responsibility), you can always find ways to work with a good coaching school that will leave you saying, I'm so glad I started my coaching career by attending XYZ Coaching School. 

That said, there are some big red flags to watch for when choosing the school where you get your coach training and it's your responsibility to check them out. Here are a few:



 
Red FlagDon’t think for a minute that you can learn everything you need to succeed as a coach in one weekend or in a few hours or days, or even two weeks, no matter how intensive the program. Shy away from promises like these. Short training programs rely on 'systems', 'formulas' or 'templates' that only work in very limited circumstances and are useless in the real world of coaching. Most comprehensive coach training programs take about 2 years to complete. However, you can start attracting paying clients even before you graduate or get certified.

Red Flag

      Think twice about a coaching school that paints a too-good-to-be-true picture of what your coaching business will be like in the first few months. If you want to work part time, make hundreds of dollars per hour, take several weeks of vacation per year, only work when you want to and still make hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, this is indeed possible, but you must work up to it and it doesn’t happen for every coach. Expect to develop your ideal coaching business over time and commit yourself to actively creating it. The best school for you will assist you in succeeding with comprehensive tools that meet your needs.

                                                                                                                                                                 Red FlagMoney-back guarantees sound great, but they can be a bad deal for the coach/student, because they give a false impression that you have nothing to lose. The wrong school for you will get in the way of your success and can cost you far more than the price of tuition. Most reputable schools will expect a strong commitment from you to your own success, which you demonstrate with your willingness to invest in yourself. Because nobody really wants their money back from their coaching school. What they want is a successful coaching business, as quickly as possible. Look for a school that will give you a “value back” promise, which simply states that they will do everything they can to assist your success, as long as you are committed and trying your best.

     Red Flag Coaching SchoolRun away fast from any coaching school that promises you'll make a six figure income in a year or less. What you earn as a coach is ultimately up to you, so any school that offers a dollar amount it pulling that number out of thin air.

                                                                                                                                                           Red Flag            

Watch out for the coaching school that feels overly “slick” or commercial. Some of them are. Look for a commitment to quality and a willingness to give you what you need, not a prefab learning structure that forces you into a model or mold that may not fit for you.

Black Hat

Run like crazy from "Black Hat" coaching schools. These "fly by night" companies may have internet addresses that look and sound like reputable coach training schools or professional coach certifying organizations. In some cases, they may use "black hat" practices, such as buying links or email lists (SPAM) to promote their companies quickly. Google often identifies and shuts down black hatters on the internet in a matter of months, so a "red flag" that you're dealing with a "black hat" is that their URL (online address) is less than a year old and/or it's set to expire in a year or less.

The internet empowers those who use it.

 

Look up the URL of your school at a domain registrar, like GoDaddy.com and check the "Who Is" info for it, to find out how long the domain is registered. You can investigate further by Googling the name of the contact person in the registration. Look for evidence that they have been in the coaching business at least for several years. Note whether they are mentioned in lawsuits on the internet.

Use the "search" functions at Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and look for the profiles of the school, the owner, or the contact person associated with the domain registration. Also look for current and former students on social networking sites, such as these, and find out if they are happy with their schools. Even a few minutes' investigation can be very enlightening.

Last but not least, check the school's own site for evidence that the owners and instructors are qualified to teach professional coaching skills. Just because they have experience teaching something else, doesn't mean they know how to teach you to be a successful professional business or life coach. 

There are plenty of good coach-training schools, so you can avoid the both the red flags and the black hats. If you'd like more informations, plus a table that compares several of the better schools...

Become a Coach eBook  Download the free Become a Coach! eBook. 

Red Flag photo by archeoastronomia. Black Hat graphic by Joe Shlabotnik. Both from Flickr Creative Commons.

 

 

Want free information on coaching every week? Subscribe by email to the Coaching Blog in the upper right corner. Or click the orange RSS button.

Topics: coaching business, coach training, Coach Training Programs, coach training schools, coaching schools, coach training school, money-back guarantee, black hat

School of Coaching Mastery

Posted by Julia Stewart

School of Coaching Mastery LogoOkay, there it is. The new School of Coaching Mastery logo. Putting it out here on my blog is an announcement of sorts. SCM has been a kind of brain child for several months. Maybe longer. I think it was gestating for a couple of years, while I was saying, "I don't want to start another coaching school, there are too many out there, already."

I didn't choose SCM though, it chose me.

For about a year now, people have been coming to me from all over the world saying, "I think I might want to become a coach. How can I find out? Where should I train? Can you help me?" I felt at a loss, because most of the schools I have direct knowledge of, where I trained and where I taught, I have reservations about and I can't recommend the ones I don't know about. I did have programs to offer, like the beginner-skills Coaching Groundwork and the client-attraction Experienced Coach Program, but these people were looking for more than just a program.

Other beginner coaches would ask to join the Seven Secrets of Certification, which is really for intermediate coaches who are preparing for IAC Certification via coaching mastery. That can work, but sometimes the coach really needs more tools, first.

I've got too many programs with too many gaps between them. That confuses people.

What if I shaped it all into one school? What if that school prepared coaches for IAC certification (and beyond) from the very beginning? Hmmm...

That's the certification that I believe in and that's the only approach to coach training that makes sense to me. Most coach training schools base their training on coaching models that were developed in the 90's. Coaching has already evolved way past that.

Other schools are a little too commercial for my taste and/or they're based on values that aren't that useful for solving 21st Century problems.

Maybe the world really does need another coaching school.

If I weave together the programs I already have and fill in the gaps, I can create that school fairly easily. That's inspiring ~ maybe I've really been designing this school all along.

What would the ideal coaching school look like to me? That question has become a fun toy to play with. Time to invite others to play, as well. Over the next four months, I will be meeting with advisers, colleagues, clients and students to get their input on what kind of coaching school the world really needs, as of 2007, and where this school may need to grow in the future.

What will it look like? I don't really know yet, but I'm thinking small classes and targeted training with a lot of practice coaching from the very beginning ~ a "boutique" approach. Gifted coaches learn fast, when given the opportunity and attention they need.

I'm also thinking the trainers should be genuine experts with a real gift for coaching and teaching. (Right now, that would just be me ~ sorry ~ but perhaps not for long.) So many coaching schools are staffed by students or recent graduates of their own programs. Sometimes the instructors aren't even paid. That's just not good enough. You need excellence to teach excellence. This ideal school will be staffed by a well-rounded assortment of expert coach/trainers.

I think the program needs to be flexible, so coaches can get what they need, without being tied down to unnecessary requirements. That just instills a culture of mediocrity and cynicism and isn't useful in a world that needs inspired leaders who can stay ahead of constant change.

Live training? Teleclasses? Webinars? Practicums? MP3's? Video? Probably all of these ~ and whatever else works best, as well.

In the meantime, I will continue offering the programs I do have, while I design what is next. And I'll get to work on the new website, while keeping an SCM web presence at www.yourlifepart2.com.

Topics: coach training, School of Coaching Mastery, Coaching Groundwork, coaching schools, IAC, coach training school

    Subscribe for FREE: Learn About Coaching

    Follow Us

    The Coaching Blog

    If you're a professional Business or Life Coach or you're interested in becoming one, the SCM Coaching Blog covers topics you may want to know about: How to Become a Business or Life Coach, Grow a Successful Coaching Business, Get Coach Training and/or Business and Life Coach Certification, Become a Coaching Master and Evolve Your Life and Business. 

    Subscribe above and/or explore by tag, month or article popularity, below.

    Latest Posts

    Most Popular Posts

    Browse by Tag

    Top Career-Jobs Sites Living-Well blog