The importance and value of coaching plus the rapidly growing use of coaching for internal employee development at all levels has also been extensively reported by such organizations as Society of Human Resource Management, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Fast Company, Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, NBC, ABC, CNN, Fox News, The New Yorker, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, and of course the International Coach Federation.
According to the most recent update of Birkman International’s landmark study The New Reality, “Leadership development, finding talent, employee development, and employee retention rank highest in terms of the people-related needs of organizations.”
Typically, because of the high cost of external executive coaching, companies can’t afford to offer coaching at lower levels in an organization. Positive Coach addresses this gap in two ways—first, we have designed a dramatically more affordable coaching program for middle managers and senior professionals. We only engage credentialed, trained coaches, but often these coaches would prefer to coach than to market their business. So we can secure highly qualified coaches at a competitive rate. Second, we offer certified coach training programs to internal leaders and HR professionals, so that employees can provide cost effective coaching as part of their job, and at the same time, it builds on their leadership and communication skills.
Thus, our Leader as Coach Training provides a dynamic, cutting-edge learning experience for leaders as well as experienced HR professionals to deliver internal coaching—both as part of their normal day-to-day leadership duties and also as a resource for companies to provide internal coaches who are properly trained and competent in excellent coaching. Our programs are ACCREDITED by both the International Coach Federation (ICF ACSTH) and the Center for Credentialing Education (CCE). With 60 hours of training and 10 hours of mentor coaching, graduates can apply for their Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with the ICF and their Board Certified Coach with the CCE.
There is much research and science available about how the mind works and about the subtle, powerful elements of communication. And yet, we believe the vast majority of this knowledge base has not been fully harnessed in existing coach training programs. Our approach is to teach the deep fundamentals of communication, listening, asking provocative questions, all with an emphasis on facilitating productive and lasting outcomes.
Our curricula have been developed in flexible modules that can be mixed and matched to fit the scope and objectives of a wide range of needs. Thus, we can customize just the right program(s) for your company, your needs, your managers, and using your forms and processes. The training is 80% on-site, in-person. We strongly believe that face-to-face training is far more effective than other media, especially in teaching important coaching skills such as creating rapport, building trust, listening, and coaching presence. It also provides an effective way to create supervised practice coaching activities in which everyone participates. Once the basic skills are mastered, it is relatively easy to transfer them into a virtual communication or leadership environment.
Three popular programs are as follows. All programs are primarily in-person, except for the mentor coaching.
- Coaching Essentials for Managers: two initial days, with one follow-up session the next month
- Certified Management Coach Training: two days a month for three months with one follow-up session approximately two months later; includes two individual mentor coaching sessions
- Coach Certification Program: eight-day intensive followed by ten hours of group and individual mentor coaching
Our faculty is top notch—all are certified coaches with advanced degrees and many years of experience, both in executive coaching and in business.
