How to choose a Coaching School: 10 Super-Tips!

HOW TO CHOOSE A COACHING SCHOOL?
WHICH COACHING SCHOOL DO YOU CHOOSE FOR YOUR PROFESSIONAL TRAINING?

If you’re reading this post, you found yourself (as I did… long time ago) in the situation to choose among unlimited proposals, promotional slogans and smiling gurus (which is always ok), ready to welcome everyone in their best Coaching School! In this general chaos, you probably want to understand how to choose a Coaching School that could really train you, in the best way, to be a Professional Coach.

I know how you feel… and in order to give you a hand, I decided to identify 10 really useful super-tips to make this decision, which I think it will be one of the most important choices of your life.

In fact, I think that choosing a Coaching School doesn’t just mean choosing a course of study that can give you some kind of paper in your hand (I’m talking about the certification, which i find necessary and indispensable, but we’ll get back to it later), but choosing a good Coaching School means embracing a philosophy, developing knowledge about a method to believe in, coming up beside people you know you can trust and who will teach you a difficult profession that demands a great responsibility! For this reason, choosing your Coaching School well is the first great step to be a good Coach.

These are my super-tips on how to choose a Coaching School:

1. Make a quick research on the Internet. My first tip in order to find a Coaching School is easy: you just have to literally write “Coaching School” on the Internet and you will get a long list of possibilities in front of your eyes. Done? Ok, this is where it gets complicated as you need to identify some characteristics that i find indispensable for a good choice.
2. Choose a course that can certificate you. It also has to allow you the access to a Trade Association. Every country, in fact, has its own laws that recognize Coaches as a professional category, assimilated to those subscribed to the more known “Professional Registers” (psychologists, lawyers, etc.).
3. Study the theoretical orientation of reference. Which theoretical line does the Coaching School in question refer to? Unfortunately, there’s still a lot of confusion in the definition of the “Coach” as a professional. The method is often assimilated to other disciplines that don’t correspond to “doing Coaching”, although they have recognized validity. NLP, Counseling and the spiritual/transcendental approach are examples, not on a scientific basis (you can also do a brief research about the definition of Coaching, before choosing the Coaching School of your life!).
4. Staff multidisciplinarity. Union is strength! Staffs consisting of experts in different fields, from athletes to psychologists and quality consultants, express completeness, plasticity of their service, the possibility to access a unique interlocutor who will answer every necessity in a satisfying and specific way. Choosing a Coaching School, consisting of a united and multidisciplinary group, underlines the use of good internal Team Building strategies (always remember: “I walk my words”).
5. Evaluate coherence. Think about it… if you needed to lose weight, would you go to a dietitian with clear problems of weight? My grandfather would have said “don’t trust who doesn’t practices what he preaches”. One of my favorite slogan is “I walk my words”. I’m absolutely convinced that choosing a Coaching School means choosing to share a thought, a certain vision of life. I chose “Coaching for Happiness” because this is both my passion and the one that I found in people and masters I’ve met. So, beyond the sensation of “cult” that has probably just come into your mind, think that being the first who gives demonstration is very important to people expressing thoughts, teaching in a Coaching School (I’d say, whoever teaches). For example: do Coaches have to take care of themselves? In this sense, a neglected and inadeguate aspect (depending on the context, I mean) doesn’t certainly show coherence.
6. Valuate transparence:
   – Listen to evidences. Yes, I know it… there’s an infinite number of fake evidences on the web. They’re usually written by people who are asked to express their (positive) judgement about the Coaching School they’ve just attended. Read them and pass then to references.
   – Study teachers’ references and curricula. Study whoever you will have to deal with, who they worked for, how often, identify customer businesses and partnerships. Transparence is a good way to approach (clear agreements and long friendships).
7. Listen to the grapevine. Not just about the Coaching School, but also about the results achieved by coaches from that specific school. Satisfied customers are the best kind of advertisement you can have.
8. Valuate price. Mistrust those who offer exaggerate discounts. Try to distinguish between those who sell courses and who offers a service of development. Remember that Coaching Schools must provide the required tools to make you professionally active in a proper lapse of time. Kairòs (the opportune moment). Rush is never a good advisor.
9. Listen to yourself. What emotions does the Coaching School you’re choosing transmit to you? What’s the first impression?
10. Awareness and responsibility. I’m going to ask this to you. Being a coach mainly means making aware and responsible choices. The choice of a Coaching school is one of these. Try to face this choice with awareness (study) and responsibility (really study).

I love the idea that choosing your Coaching School is more or less like choosing your ideal partner for tango. A dance between two, where taking and being taken assume the meaning of the word trust.

Coaching School? Watch the video and… make the right choice!