Are you passionate about partnering with people overcoming obstacles?
Are you willing to be of service to others, or are you searching for the right path to enhance your skills and allow the others to do the same?
Are you determined to live a more flexible lifestyle?
Do you want to be in charge of your own business?
Maybe becoming a Professional Coach can be your professional path.
If you’d like to give meaning to what you do and find a way to transform yourself and your life, you can consider the Coaching Profession as the right one for you. Whatever inspires you to consider the coaching professional path, make sure you take your time to get clear about all the different aspects that will make your choice a successful one.
1. Be clear about what moves you to become a life coach
Becoming a great life coach requires a number of personal qualities and extensive training, supervision, and experience. Appropriate qualities include openness, curiosity, and the willingness to be in a journey of self discovery. That is why it is important to clarify your purpose and motivation to commit to develop the needed skills to be a Professional Coach.
Whatever pulls you to the coaching profession, make sure you take your time to clarify it. You can always … work with a coach to uncover it! We actually encourage those who are willing to embark in some coach training, to be the first to test the amazing benefits of coaching.
It is important that you reflect on what drives you to become a certified coach because this has an important impact on what type of training and education you will select for yourself. Our suggestion is to spend some time determining what is really important to you.
2. Search for a coach training certification program that suits your needs
When you decide to become a coach and you are ready to enroll in a Coach Training Certification Program, make sure you choose an program that is aligned with and accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). Our program received the highest ICF accreditation (ACTP) and is now equipped and ready to shift to the new ICF Accreditations Levels in order to offer to the students the best coaching education worldwide.
Learn more here.
International Coaching Federation is the largest leading global organization dedicated to advancing the coaching profession by setting high standards, providing independent certification and building a worldwide network of trained coaching professionals.
ICF developed the coaching Core Competencies as the gold standard of coaching, plus a strong Code of Ethics that protects both coaches and clients. It offers the most globally recognized, independent credentialing program for coach practitioners. It is essential that you choose a coaching education that ensure you that your investment is well valued, globally recognized and appealing to your future clients.
3. How can you choose ‘the right’ training program?
All training programs are different. What do you need to consider to choose wisely and to accordingly to your needs and expectations? Remember that length of the program, teaching mode, configuration of the classes, can all be different in the programs.
Be aware of what is important to you in your training, and prioritize those factors to help you decide which program might best fit into your schedule and learning mode.
For instance, does the program offer one to one training? Or training in groups?
And again about Exposure/Diversity: find out how the program addresses diversity, culture, different approaches to life and learning… if the program is a global one, active in different countries around the world.
Last but not least, consider the Cost. Make sure you choose the best program that fits into your budget:
– explore what financing options are available
– does the program offer tuition assistance
Feel free to ask! Always take your time to explore because you are investing in your Self, in your activity, in your future and especially your are creating the premises to build your own profession.
4. What do you need to know about being a business entrepreneur?
Beyond the life coaching skill set that you’ll learn during the coach training certification program you will choose, you have to keep in mind that there are a number of areas related to professional and entrepreneurial development in which you will need to become competent.
Make sure that the training program that you choose offers you some training and tools on The Business of Coaching, so that you can acquire the needed information and awareness about what is required to start up your coaching business and thrive as a coach and as a business person.
5. What does it take to get a Professional Coaching Certification
According to the ICF (International Coaching Federation, the largest coaching organization in the world), 89% of coach practitioners receive training that was accredited or approved by a professional coaching organization.
However, learning and mastering the core coaching competencies it is not enough to launch your new business! While you are in a training program to become a Certified Life Coach, it is helpful to start planning how to set up your new coaching business. That is why we suggest that you choose a school – like SunLight Academy – that gives you the training and shares with you the expertise needed to start up your new coaching practice and business. Our school also offers to the students effective training on how to use Social Media for your coaching activity, how to set up your webpage and how to manage the needed SEO activities to be seen in the web and in the coaching world.
When you’re a certified coach with an ICF program, you’re bound by the ICF ethical guidelines. Our training is fully focused on that and on how to create your ethical approach to marketing that is fully aligned with the ICF requirements and Code of Ethic.
Before you enroll in a training program, make sure that the course you choose is aligned and accredited by an association like the International Coach Federation, which sets industry standards for ethical coaching.
6. Consider branding, marketing, selling and administration
What kind of coach do you want to be? Who are your ideal clients? How do you want to be seen and found by your ideal clients?
Effective marketing of your coaching business is a vital, on-going task. You may be a wonderful and skilled certified coach, but if no one knows about you and about your services… all those coaching talents and resources will be wasted!
Once you’ve promoted your coaching services and the inquiries from clients start coming in, you’re not finished yet. When paying clients are coming in, then you have a business to manage!
8. Commit to an ongoing learning process and develop a coaching mindset
Life coaches – professional coaches in general – are required by ICF to engage in an ongoing learning and developing process to enhance their skills, to develop and maintain a ‘coaching mindset’.
As a professional coach, after your certification, you should consider to keep on seeking out learning and practice opportunities to ensure that you deliver the best service possible to your clients.
The amount of Continuing Coaching Education programs (CCEs) can vary in relation to your coaching focus area, but all life coaches should keep on attending workshops, webinars and also retreats that can contribute to sustain their skills and expertise. ICF offers to its members free training opportunities all year long.
9. Be wise and plan your transition into your new career
With any new business, it takes some time to manifest what you want and succeed. Your coaching business will be no different.
You need to consider how to transition into your new career in a sustainable way, in a way that allows you to be in charge of your life, to support yourself economically during the time you will learn your new skills and during the period when you will create your clients’ relationships.
Choose your successful path with us!
Our coaching, training and mentoring programs are for individuals and organizations who are determined to thrive in the new emerging world, who are willing to sustain their evolution, who want to evoke the best out of their talents and create their success according to their values. Choose your level of education to become a Certified Life Coach, Business Coach, Executive or Leadership Coach, Team or Group Coach.
