I was recently looking at some coaching programs (the competition) and researching their certification requirements.  One program required coaches to log in 750 hours before earning their certification title!  The Certified Coaches Federation only requires successful completion of our 2 day course…that’s it!  How can there be such a gap? The coaching process is simple.  The more complicated a coaching curriculum, the more diluted the coaching process becomes.  Many people in the “education” world have been conditioned (mistakenly) to equate time and cost with value.  This is a mistake.  With coaching the only thing that counts is clarity of process.  The more simple and direct the process, the easier it becomes for the client to achieve their goals.  We’ve been in the coach certification business since 2006 and, in just 4 short years, we’ve become the leading coach certification company in the world.  Why?  Because people like you have figured it out…you can do this in 2 days. 

In 2004 when we first started investigating the “business” of coaching, we were intrigued to see how much potential coaching had, yet how few solutions were being taught in the typical coaching programs we reviewed.  Coaching is a business and your time is the commodity you sell.  This commodity should be presented in the form of some kind of solution that your potential client is seeking.  And before the coaching process begins your potential client must first see you as an “expert” or “authority” on the topic that potentially could help them solve their problem, or achieve their goal.  In our 2 day course we walk all new CCF Coaches through this process. 

In our 2 day course we teach people both how to coach and how to build a practice as a coach.  The majority of our program is focused on the process of coaching…helping your client go from point A to point B with the shortest possible line.  This is a very simple process once you learn how to remove all the clutter that often holds our clients back from achieving their goals.  Once you learn this amazing process the focus is then on marketing.  Q) How do you get coaching clients? A) Be seen as an expert and an authority on the topic that you plan on building your practice on by speaking publicly about the topic.  For more on this process please visit our sister company, The Professional Speakers Federation at www.professionalspeakersfederation.com.  

In all relationships, and especially in coaching, trust is one of the most valued commodities.  Without trust perspectives given are often met with doubt and uncertainty.  With trust your clients will be more likely to see the possibilities you present through the perspective of an idea.  With trust your clients will take chances on themselves and leap into new situations, experiences and events that were just possibilities, that soon become bridges to build new realities.

Without trust it’s difficult to establish any kind of long-term relationship.  Being someone people can trust is what defines a real coach and an effective coach.  It’s actually quite easy to be “trust worthy.”  The first place to start is with yourself.  Being honest with yourself means being “true” to yourself, and not settling for anything could pull you away from the person you want to be.  When you’re true to yourself, then the value of trust becomes clear.  And when you’re true to yourself you begin to have faith in your choices, and other people have faith in the perspectives you give as a coach.  Simple!

Einstein said,”Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.” Simplicity in coaching is what letters are to words.  For a coaching program to be effective it must be simple to learn; for a coach to be effective her perspective must be simple to understand.  In our society too many people dismiss the value of simplicity to a point where they complicate their lives to the point where the only perspective they see out of is tainted with the stress, fear, and uncertainly that an overly complicated life can create.  This same approach that so many people apply to life is also found in many coaching applications.  Remember, as a coach, your primary objective is always to help someone get from point A to point B….with the shortest possible line.  The Certified Coaches Federation’s Coaches Certification Program is simple, to the point, and can help you get from point A (potential coach) to point B (successful coach) in only two days!

When you were a kid you may have been advised to become a doctor, lawyer, or teacher when you grew up; that would have been normal.  I doubt very much anyone advised you to become a “life coach.”  Well, if you’re old enough, you probably never heard of life coaches when you were growing up.  Today things are different.  Life coaching and business coaching is a very popular career alternative; but it’s not for everyone.  At the Certified Coaches Federation, we recommend only people with considerable life skills and confidence become coaches.   Perhaps the name of this entry should have been the “maturation” of Coaching, because that’s the point I want to make.  Coaching is all about listening and giving perspective. It takes patience to listen and it takes real-life experience to give perspective.  This is why we believe coaching is mostly suited for people who are at least 40 years old.  There are exceptions to this rule of course; we have had new coaches as young as 25 years old take our course and run with it, but they were exceptions.

Today you’ll find courses that are two months long or longer, and, at the other extreme, you’ll find online courses that promise to get you certified after a few clicks of a mouse.  We seldom give advice on where you should go to get certified, but we will say this; don’t do it online, and don’t take a course that is going to take too long or cost too much money. 

The coaching process is used by all great coaches to help their clients either achieve a new goal or remove an unwanted habit, belief, or obstacle that has prevented them from achieving a goal.  The first step is to listen.  When a coach listens to a client share their goals and share their thoughts about what has prevented some of their goals from being achieved, they listen with compassion.  A great coach not only knows how to listen, they also know what to listen for.  We all have certain patterns we unconsciously use to react to both the obstacles and opportunities in life.  The first step in the process of listening is to become aware of your client’s patterns.  In our 2 day course we discuss these patterns in detail, and introduce a powerful tool to create new patterns of thinking that can become aligned with your intentions; it’s quite an experience!  In our next blog entry we’ll talk about the second part of the coaching process….Perspective!

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In July we will be welcoming our newest Master Coach Trainer.  She recently earned a Ph.D in Psychology and also recently become a certified hypnosis instructor.  I’m sure you may be having an image by now of perhaps what this person may look like, how old she/he is, or anything else that could give you an image and expectation of what kind of person could teach our 2 day course.

What may surprise you is that our newest trainer just turned 78 years old!  Our newest trainer is Helen Heubi.  Helen is living proof that you’re never too old to become the person you’ve always wanted to be!  At 77 she earned her Ph-D!  Helen will be offering our courses in South Korea, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands!

Helen shares a quality that many of our graduates have…a passion for learning and a passion for living!  I recently met Helen at one of our classes in Toronto.  Helen took our Level 1 course this past April in Toronto and her attitude blew everyone away in the class.  If you’re lucky you’ll meet people like Helen and they will inspire you to live your life to the fullest, because you will see how much fun they’re having by living their life with such a wonderful sense of possibility and curiosity.  “I wonder how much I can learn,”  “I wonder how much and can grow,” and “I wonder how much of an impact I can make in the world.”  These are the questions people like Helen ask.  What are some questions you can ask today that can help you be more like Helen?

This Is The Next Level In Your Coach Training! Only Certified Coaches Federation CCP graduates are invited to participate in this one year training program. To qualify, applicants must successfully meet the following criteria: *Have a minimum of six months part-time or full-time experience as a Coach
*Have achieved a minimum number of coaching sessions
*Have successfully completed the CCF CCP certification program
*Have successfully passed a pre-registration interview with a Master Coach Trainer

Your Investment includes:
Registration to attend our two day Certified Master Coach Practitioner Training
Registration in our 12 month group coaching program
Membership for one year in the Professional Speakers Federation
    (www.professionalspeakersfederation.com)
The Certified Coaches Federation Certified Master Coach Workbook

You’ll Learn:
How to fine tune your talents as a coach
How to promote, advertise, and sell your services
How to write books that can get published
How to build a network of complimentary strategic alliances
How to get free publicity that works
How to create e-books, MP3s, and other products to build your credibility
How to position yourself as an authority and expert in your chosen field
How to become a great speaker

For more information on this course please call 866-455-2155

Just got back from teaching a class with Jennifer Sprague in Austin, Texas.  The weather was 74 degrees on Sunday in Austin.  It was great to catch a few (warm!) rays before coming back to the great white north where it is currently 28 degrees.  We had a great class with some of the most interesting and inspiring people I’ve  met in a long time.  We had an author, a mother of triplets (7 year old boys) who made time to join us, and we had a woman in our class who totally inspired us.  While most people her age are sitting around waiting for the grim reaper this wonderful woman was busy adding one more life skill to her already quite full book of tricks and talents.  She was alive, vibrant, content and fully alive!  She was a reminder that it’s never to late to live the life you’ve always wanted to live.  Thank you Jo!