ICF accredited Executive Coaching programs

What ICF-approved vendors won’t tell you about ICF Accredited Executive Coaching programs. When it comes to being a provider for ICF accredited coach training in India, there are many vendors who will focus on what they provide, which is understandable. They will also keep the program prices high, which is evident because ICF has become the defacto credibility provider when it comes to being the provider of Corporate Coach training, or training to become a Leadership Coach, Life Coach, or Executive Coach certification in India. ICF approved coaching courses play a vital part in improving the credibility of Coach training available, as ICF ensures that the standard of coach training is up to some standard. Hence, the best Executive Coaching certification programs are ICF accredited. 

ICF accredited Executive coaching programs 

Here are some of the things that some of the ICF approved vendors won’t tell you:

1) The truth and guidance about the courses which are available, and which course will suit you as a candidate, as there are entry-level courses, and intermediate level courses as well. You can attend an ICF approved coaching course and start with the ICF ACC level. ICF ACC level is sufficient for you to receive ICF credibility, however, many ICF approved vendors will force you to attend ACTP directly because they want to make sure that you pay extra for a higher level course, and ensure that they make 2-3 times more money to get you certified. 

Considering ACTP takes a longer time to complete, and has many requirements – a person attending ACTP can feel stuck with the ICF approved vendor for a long time. You require a minimum of 125 student contact hours, mentor coaching followed by a performance evaluation process to get the ACTP approval. ACTP programs are also expected to provide 10 hours of mentor coaching. 

If you are determined to work towards ICF PCC directly, then you can join directly for the ICF accredited executive coaching certification program, and work towards becoming an ICF Certified Executive Coach.  If you are looking for an Executive Coaching career then only register for Executive Coaching Certification in India, as ICF accredited Executive Coaching programs are valid globally and will allow you to work with global clients.  

2) If you are looking to become a Life Coach in India (Best Life Coach in India) and work with clients who are individuals, who want to hire you in a personal capacity – you don’t need to become an ICF Executive coach at all, and attend an ICF accredited Executive Coach certification.  Make sure that you get your outcomes cleared before you enroll for an Executive Coach certification in India.  Individuals don’t care about your credentials, if they are looking for a Life Coach; they will check your profile, work done, testimonials, word of mouth buzz, Linkedin profile etc – and only then hire you. So if you are not going to work with corporate clients, it is not important to become an ICF Executive Coach to start Coaching or attend executive coaching certification in India ~ Executive coaching certification programs in India are useful for those who want to predominantly work with corporates, especially executives. You can start by attending a good coaching course and if said course provides course content approval, without an ICF ACC/ICF PCC, even better, as costs will be less, but you can still leverage the brand of ICF.

3) Most of the ICF accredited coach training in India vendors will not tell you that it takes time to get yourself established as a coach. They will likely paint a rosy picture about finishing ICF ACTP and becoming a PCC level coach, and then you are all set. They may ask you to enroll directly for ICF PCC and join Executive Coaching certification in India.  Completing an ICF accredited Executive Coaching program is simple, however, establishing as an Executive Coach is not simple, it takes time. It takes practice to become a good coach, and years of good work to get your credibility going in the market. If you have corporate experience and desire to with corporates then you can go for Executive coaching certification in India, or more specifically you can go for ICF accredited Executive coach training in India with a focus on becoming an ICF ACC or an ICF PCC.  

Moreover, it is not always easy to coach some clients, as some clients are difficult to work with – and that comes with practice. Client selection is also a skill, and many other elements also have to be taken into consideration, when operating as a professional coach, which at times ICF approved vendors interested in selling ICF PCC level courses won’t bring up. Coaches should be adept in combining their skills with experience and knowledge, so it is not as easy as the ICF approved vendors tell you. The coaching industry has been taken by a marketing storm and is being glorified by some vendors, without focusing on the ultimate truth about the industry, which is that a coach requires patience, resilience, persistence to establish himself/herself as a Coach.

4) Most of the ICF approved vendors won’t tell you how to establish yourself as a coach. Learning how to coach is an easy process. Getting established as a Coach is not an easy process. Yes, it is a process, and if someone has been able to do it, they can teach you the structure of how to go about it. Make sure that you are attending an ICF Course where the coaching training program meets the ICF requirements, which will enable you to achieve the designated coaching experience hours, partner with a Mentor Coach, provide you with opportunities to demonstrate the understanding and mastery of ICF Coaching, and most importantly, provide you with access to a Master Coach, who will share with you process and tips to help establish you as a coach.  Some of the ICF vendors courses will be facilitated by trainers who are employed by large organizations, and these facilitators don’t have real-time business knowledge, or the marketing background to share the ground reality.

5) ICF approved vendors sell their courses well, and that will be providing teaching hours, and some of them will happily hide the fact that ICF Mentoring – which is an important and mandatory part of becoming an ICF Coach – is not part of the course, and once you become aware of that, they will charge you more for providing that. To avoid this, you have to make sure that you attend a program from a reputed and trustworthy organization that will provide you with a trained, competitive, and trustworthy coach.

Endnote: The post has been written based on the fact that a lot of ICF approved vendors have entered Asia, including India in recent times. Half of them operate in a way where the information is not provided appropriately and participants attending the course are left hanging after attending an expensive course. Hence, if you are contemplating attending an ICF approved program, make sure that you get maximum career leverage in terms of course content, access to world-class mentor training, and tips of next steps to be taken by you, as well as how to leverage the knowledge received, to get started.  Our ICF course is facilitated by the award wining Coach & Founder of NLP Coaching Academy, Vikram Dhar the best NLP trainer in India/Asia.