Becoming a Leadership Coach: Your Essential Guide to Earning a Leadership Coaching Certification

According to research, there are an approximate 41,300 coaches worldwide. If you want to stand out from the competition, you need to have the best leadership coaching certification in order to have a successful career.

Becoming a certified leadership coach is a very fulfilling career. You connect with people at a deeper level and help to create their professional life. This, in turn, can create a positive change in the world, lighting it up as you help people to pursue their passions.

The problem is that the career of a leadership coach is relatively new, so finding information on how to become a leadership coach can be confusing. Even if you do find one, how do you know that the certification program is worthwhile?

Thankfully, we did the research for you. Keep on reading to learn how to find a leadership coaching certification that will not only get you ahead of your competition but also help you to design a successful coaching business.

Let’s get started!

What is Leadership Coaching?

When most people think of coaching, they usually think of the definitions of a life coach which is the process of helping an individual create the life of their dreams. In our experience, very few life coaches find clients.

Leadership coaching, in contrast, is about working with business professionals, CEO’s, and people in management and executive positions. There is a substantial, established market for leadership coaches.

Leadership coaching is not career counseling, consulting, mentoring, or even teaching. The goal is to help a client with the most pressing challenges in their professional life such as:

Work-life balance
Being the best leader for their company
Better relationships in and out of work
Achieve milestones in their career
Develop effective leadership styles
Handle conflict appropriately
Strengthen assertiveness, confidence, and delegation
Have difficult conversations while maintaining the relationships
Time, priority, and overwhelm management
Dealing with difficult personalities in the workplace effectively

You work with someone who is in a leadership or executive role and is in charge of a group of other people. You will help these professionals recognize their unique skills and abilities, and live out their fullest potential in the workplace.

Since leadership coaching has become more common nowadays, you can even be hired by a major company to work with multiple individuals within the workplace. At the Center for Executive Coaching, our graduates have come from, and work with, major organizations world wide.

Discover Your Specialization

Even though leadership coaching is a niche in itself, you may discover you have a special strength within the world of coaching other leaders. In order to discover your niche, you have to dive into the world of coaching, while we help you discover where you want to focus.

Some niches within leadership coaching are:

Emotional intelligence
Sales coaching
Team building
Leadership development and succession planning
Change leadership
Strategic planning and execution

You can also focus by specific industries, types of leaders, and demographics. Knowing what sets you apart from your competition will help your success as a leadership coach.

How To Choose the Right Program

In order to find the right executive leadership coaching certification, you have to do some research. The institution should be recognized by either the International Coaching Federation (ICF) or the Center for Credentialing and Education (CCE).

Even if the program is recognized, you still need to discover if it is the right program for you, and this could depend on many factors such as learning style, location, flexibility, experience, classroom time, continuing education, curriculum length, cost, and mission.

Before you sign up for the program, schedule a discovery call and create a list of questions to ask. This will help you decide if this program is a fair, good, great, or a perfect fit. You can reach our Founder and Director Andrew Neitlich via email at andrewneitlich@centerforexecutivecoaching.com to schedule time; other programs force you to speak to a salesperson, not the actual Founder and person who leads the training.

Know Your Learning Style

Knowing your learning style is essential for your success in the leadership coaching certification program. You must be honest with yourself as you make this decision because if the method does not match your learning style, you may not get the most out of the program. For this reason, we offer both online/distance learning and in-person options.

Online Program

If you enjoy the freedom and flexibility of attending class from your own home, then an online program is a great choice for you. You must have a high level of determination and self-discipline to complete the coaching practice and review the materials, along with a high level of independence.

Intensive Seminar

If you do better by immersing yourself in an environment with likeminded people, then choosing an intensive seminar experience is the best choice for you. Being amongst other people with the same goal of becoming a certified leadership coach is a great way to build a community of support. We are proud that the people who come to our seminars have amazing backgrounds, track records of success, and leadership experiences. Plus our seminar option includes our full online program, so that you get ongoing support and can refresh or add to your learning at anytime.

Combination

If you cannot decide, do not panic! We offer a blend of both ongoing distance and intensive seminar training. Our seminar includes our online/distance program. It is nice to meet with the other coaches-in-training, as you embark on a similar journey towards coaching mastery. With our program, if you are not sure how to proceed, you can even start with our online program and then add or register for one of our seminars at anytime. Still not sure? See an overview of our programs to make it easier.

Determine if You Are Ready

Becoming a leadership coach is not for the faint of heart, and it is certainly not a walk in the park. You are dealing with high-end business professionals who are paying you to coach them into advancing their careers or improving how they run their company.

These are high paying clients that have high expectations and want significant results. If your current lifestyle is not supporting you to take this program, the timing might not be right. The good news is that you can complete our distance learning program with a commitment of just 3-4 hours per week, over 2-4 months (or 7-9 months if you want the full ICF training hours and ICF mentor coaching program, because the ICF requires live participation).

Learn More about Our Leadership Coaching Certification

Now that you have read and understood how to choose the right leadership coaching certification for you, you may be wondering which program checks all the above requirement boxes.

At the Center For Executive Coaching, our Certified Executive coaching program is offered both in-person, through an immersive seminar, and there are even opportunities for you to become a board certified coach (BCC). Learn more now.