NOTE: As of 2022 the Center for Executive Coaching is now accredited with the ICF as a Level 2 Coach Training Organization. The ICF has changed their language and replaced ACTP with Level 2. We were among the first group of coach training programs to receive this accreditation, after a rigorous review by the ICF.

After a World Tour Training Executive Coaches, Here Are Five Tips to Be a Better Coach

It has been an honor to return from a three-continent tour to train Executive Coaches from countries such as USA, Canada, Scotland, England, Ireland, Portugal, Indonesia, and Australia. There are so many seasoned professionals interested in and passionate about this terrific field!

Here are the five lessons that coaches worldwide seemed to take away from our trainings:

1. We are coaches, not mentors. Executives don’t need mentors. They are already seasoned professionals. Therefore, it is crucial to master coaching conversations, not mentoring conversations. This means asking truly powerful questions and listening. Top executive coaches listen 75% of the time and talk 25% of the time.

2. We are solution providers and trusted advisors before we are executive coaches. Our clients want solutions. Sometimes that means we serve as trainers, facilitators, and consultants. We need to be skilled in a variety of formats to get results, and should not be constrained by the classic executive coaching structure of brief meetings every week or so.

3. Get a niche. The most successful executive coaches are those who dominate a niche. A niche might include: an industry, a demographic group (e.g., women, African-Americans, Christian-owned businesses, family-owned businesses), and a particular job title (e.g., CIOs, CFOs). Start with focus and build from there.

4. Learn to collaborate with other professionals. The coaches who are billing over one million dollars per year are doing so by creating powerful collaborations with other professionals. Our program shows you how to do that.

5. Keep developing content. It is not enough — despite what other programs claim — to just ask questions and conduct an inquiry with clients. Not even close. Top coaches need content and tools to constantly engage and challenge their clients. The process never ends, or else the coach becoems stagnant. In our program, we even show you a tool to create more tools, so you are always fresh and bringing new content to your market.

Aflac

Amazon

Ancestry

Army Corp of Engineers

Ascension Health

AT&T

Bank of America

Bechtel

Best Buy

Booz Allen

Bose

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Brown University

Capital One

Caterpillar

Charles Schwab & Co.

Children’s Hospital Colorado

Cisco

Citrix

Coca-Cola

Deloitte

Dropbox

Duke Energy

Galveston Independent School District

General Atomics

General Electric

Google

Harvard Business School

Home Depot

Inland Steel

International Red Cross

Johnson and Johnson

Kaiser-Permanente

KPMG

Laser Spine Institute

Lexis Nexis

Liberty Mututal

L’Oreal

Macy’s

Mckinsey Consulting

Merck

Microsoft

MIT

NASA

National Basketball Association (NBA)

Nike

Nissan

Nvidia

Partners Healthcare

Philips

Procter & Gamble

Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC)

Ralph Lauren

Regeneron

Rice University

Ross Stores

Russell Reynolds Associates

Schneider Electric

Shell Oil

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Stryker

The Ohio State University

Tom’s Shoes

United Nations

University of Florida

Unum

UPS

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US Army

US Army Medical Corps

US Marines

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USAID

Valassis

VMWare

Xerox

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