About My Coaching Certification Experience :by Bill Peace

By Author: Kate Kelly
Total Articles: 3
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What was the training like (for example, if someone wants to become a business coach)?

The ICF-approved coach training program through the Center for Coaching Certification was the difference between storing much knowledge and theory behind practical, effective coaching and coaching application to its full extent.

A Kinesthetic-Celebrator learner, I embraced my coach training and found real work opportunities to apply my new skills, celebrating my coaching successes one conversation at a time.

Theory has its useful place in classroom and virtual environments, and is needed for fundamentals. Training for certification gave me the chance to continually learn and apply, learn and apply, learn and apply, as I went through the certification process.

As soon as a new concept, learning tool was introduced, my daily work environment became my coaching laboratory ~ skillfully experimenting and experiencing real-life coaching application.

As an internal corporate coach for the past decade, my clear advantage was watching my own professional coaching development as well as the professional and personal ...
... development of the managers I coached on a regular basis.

The hands-on coaching practicums are where coaching came to life. I was able to easily make the connections between understanding personality styles, realizing how everyday language either holds us back or propels us forward, and conducting regular coaching sessions.

One integral part of the coaching practicums was the peer feedback we received. The benefit was twofold for me: To build upon my instilled coaching strengths and to become more aware of areas for improvement. No growth is truly possible without either.

Peer feedback gave me a powerful outer-perspective of my inner coaching process and dialogue. I re-adjusted and re-focused my coaching skills to enhance my interactions. After a while, I could hear the difference in my coaching approach and it made the experience richer.

What did you take away from life coaching certification?

There were several positive things I took away from my executive coach certification, but most importantly, a true sense of purposeful coaching.

Coaching session questions were no longer just sentences with question marks, things that made ME curious, or ‘fillers’ of dialogue, rather intentional client-focused inquiries designed to bring about higher levels of self-discovery and self-awareness for the coachee.

I read and listen to questions now determining what the intent is for the listener.

Executive coaching is a process, I have always known and believed, but was exposed to little more than that concept. Now I had the understanding behind the process with the all-important dialogue, language, wording, probing, client-focused approach to wrap around the process, making it complete.

A stronger sense of self and my coaching competencies accelerated my feeling of success and meaningful coaching work and my recorded daily affirmations are an ongoing reminder of my potential as I visualize the outcomes of already achieved goals

What are you using now from career coach certification?

For several weeks my colleague, an Information Services Manager, would sit in my office worried about how she would coach and mentor a staff employee who was selected for an employee enrichment program. She approached her new coaching role conscientiously and caringly, while wanting to plan out every conversation. She understood the power of effective coaching and its impact on the coaching client.

Armed with the coaching knowledge and practice from my coaching certification, I asked her to consider these three easy yet direct questions:

1)How will her coachee gain the most benefit during their time together? (Meaning, what did the coachee want from the coaching relationship?)

2)How will she make each coaching conversation client-focused?

3)What mutual agreement and commitment will be established to measure the positive impacts of the coaching relationship? (Meaning, how was goal setting and achievement structured?)

The outcome? At the end of their seven-month coaching relationship, she shared with me that both she and her coachee discussed positive change. The coachee reported personal and professional growth in three key areas: self-esteem, public speaking, and time management.
These three areas were identified by the coachee early in the coaching process as weaknesses and barriers from achieving more.

By thoughtfully coaching my colleague, who in turn successfully coached her coachee, I eventually realized the chain-reaction of effective coaching. As a professional coach, this profound experience left me with feelings of achievement and satisfaction.

For more information about coaching certification please visit http://www.centerforcoachingcertification.com/