E-quips: Exploring Career Paths in Coaching

Laurel Elders:Hello. Happy Tuesday. It looks like we are live for another session of our equip. So very exciting to have another round, another week. Um, while we're waiting for Bryant to hop on, I just. I'm going to make a couple announcements for everyone. Twice a year. The most exciting one twice a year is, um, our pay it forward campaign. And we decided to do that earlier this year because it was a huge success. We noticed that, um, there were some leaders and those in the helping professions that could really benefit from understanding what coaching is and a basic framework for how to coach. So our module one is 6 hours of in depth training on, um, everything foundational around coaching. So if you're a leader, a consultant, a therapist, a first responder, or you're on a team, we are hosting this class free of charge, completely scholarship, $600 value on August 2. And I'm going to post, we'll be posting, um, how to sign up for that. And, um, it's pretty exciting. So you can, you can stay tuned. And just to give you a little bit of an overview of what we cover, we love to, um, not skimp on our coach trainings. We help you really grasp what it is that coaching is also what it is, what coaching is not, and how it's different from, um, counseling and consulting. The other the three c's, coaching, counseling, consulting. Hi, Bryant.

Bryant Alexander:
Hello. Hello. How are you?

Laurel Elders:
Good. Good. Yep. I was just giving an overview of our super exciting pay it forward campaign coming up August 2.

Bryant Alexander:
Amazing. Yes. Pay it forward.

Laurel Elders:
Beautiful.

Bryant Alexander:
Um, opportunity for you to learn more about coaching. I'm sure Laura has gone over what we're going to be covering, but it's just an opportunity for you to understand what coaching is and what it isn't, but also some valuable tools that you can take into your practice or your practice, or if you want to be more of a coach like leader, you could immediately implement them, um, the next day. So just, uh, spend 6 hours with us, and we have scholarship available, as Laurel has probably said already, so, um, don't want to miss out on that.

Laurel Elders:
Yeah. Great. And it is a one day intensive, but we do so many activities, and, um, we really, we outline the current industry standards, how to embody the coaching approaches, the art and science of impactful coaching, the anatomy of impact, and partnering for possibility. So we have a lot of fun, and even if it's a big group, we do breakouts and just a lot of activities to, um. Yeah. To get the most out of our time together.

Bryant Alexander:
Yes. Yep, yep, yep. It is a day to where you will not be talked at. You will be doing the work. So, uh, please take the time off, spend some time with us. Um, great experience.

Laurel Elders:
Yeah. One thing I love, um, just before we dive in and to give folks a minute to show up, one thing that I love about our fundamentals is we get, we typically get one of two reactions. Oh my gosh. I thought I knew what coaching was. I had no clue. This is so exciting. That's one. That was me on my first day in my first coach training. Um, and, or we have coaches that have some coach training. They go, I learned more in this fundamentals than I learned in everything I've studied, which blows me away. Um, I love hearing that because that means we're setting a really solid foundation for people to grow their skills on.

Bryant Alexander:
Agreed? Agreed. Yeah. Somebody I've been coaching for a while and just, um, sitting in that, uh, and that was just module one. I've been through the whole program. Um, but that was just module one. And, um, just that advice to where it's just like, oh, ah. It's like I describe it as, um, kind of like, uh, dharmic or buddhist in a sense. It's not any religion in it, but it's just put to you in a way to where that it is simple, but just things that you wouldn't think about, like, oh, uh, that's what that's called. Or I have more context around what I'm actually practicing versus like just doing something and not being able to label it. So that's the way that I would describe it. Like just more context around your experience as a coach. If you've been coaching, like more tools or terminology, but if you're new to it, it's just clarity. Like what is actually coaching? And what if I want to pursue coaching or if I want to be more of a coach like leader, what does that actually look like?

Laurel Elders:
Yeah. Yes, that's a great summary. And okay, one more announcement before we dive in. We are accepting transfer students. So, coaches, if you are ACC level one trained and you're really wanting to expand into the PCC and MCC master certified coach areas, uh, we have your back. We have an entire transfer process dialed in. We've had coaches come to us like, okay, I've got all these piecemeal certifications and, you know, little trainings here and there. Can you help me? Yes, we can help you. We can help you make sense of the path you've been on and help you get to the destination that you're heading.

Bryant Alexander:
Yep, yep. Transfer students don't waste time. Coaching is like, the second largest growing industry. I think it's going to remain that way. Um, so please, like, get that piece. If you have an accident, might as well get that PCC training. If you're at a PCC, why not go for the MCC? So, uh, yeah, it is a journey. It is work. But if this is what you enjoy doing, why waste that time?

Laurel Elders:
Well put. All right, so that leads us to let's just go ahead and dive into today. We have another amazing round of equips for you. And for those of you that are new to the call today, equips are weekly coaching tips that equip coaches, future coaches, and coach like leaders to develop their excellence in coaching. And your hosts today are myself, Laurel Elders:, and Bryant Alexander: with the Institute for Integrative Intelligence. We are an ICF accredited coach training and education provider, where it's our passion to elevate human potential through both the art and the science of masterful coaching. We host the equips every Tuesday live. However, if you can't join us live, that's not a problem. You can join our newsletter and stay tuned to, um, what we are up to there and also get events, and I will plug that into the comments. All right, so today we're going to be exploring career paths in coaching. Last week, we went kind of deep, right?

Bryant Alexander:
Yeah.

Laurel Elders:
Looking. Yeah. Looking within.

Bryant Alexander:
What? Who am I? There's a lot of that.

Laurel Elders:
Yeah. So if you missed that one, you definitely want to check, um, that out. But today we're just going to really explore what are the career paths in coaching? What are the options? How do I know what direction to head in, um, and answer all of those questions?

Bryant Alexander:
Yes.

Laurel Elders:
So, in essence, there are four primary ways to, um, take on coaching as a career path. So there's, I would say, two ways that people use the coaching training. One is to add coaching skills to something they're already doing, like leadership management. So it's just. Or consulting. It's an adjunct approach to what they're already doing. But for those that want to really take on coaching and, um, be more in the coach role than other roles, there's four primary paths. So the first one's an internal coach, another one's a private coach. The next one is joining a coaching firm or a coaching hub or becoming a leadership or executive coach. And I did piece that one out. Yes, you would be in private, um, a private practice if you became a leadership and executive coach. However, it does take some additional training to branch out in that area, so I separated that out.

Bryant Alexander:
Yeah.

Laurel Elders:
And so internal coaching is basically where the company hires an employee to play a coaching role within the organization. So that coach is hired within the organization to coach, um, for that organization, versus an external coach is a coach that's brought in. So you would have your private coaching practice, but you're brought in as a private coach.

Bryant Alexander:
Mhm. Yeah, yeah. I. Internal coaching, um, I've seen it at a couple of different organizations, uh, specifically in tech. Ah. Cause that's what most of my background is. Um, I was a internal coach, I worked as a career coach, which is very different and I don't need to go into the nuances of that right now, but I worked for a tech bootcamp as a career coach, so that was cool. And uh, just being able to help people through their journey as a uh, career changer. And then I've also seen at other organizations like Amazon or Google, they actually have internal coaches to help with their leadership teams in order to help. Like, I think you have to be a certain level to actually get a coach. But there are teams of coaches, they're usually within the learning and development part of the organization. That's where they usually live. And they are hired specifically to coach leaders within the organization or make coaching programs for leaders within the organization.

Laurel Elders:
Yes. Yeah. And I will say this has exploded since I first started in 2005. I just remember going to a local ICF, um, gathering with other coaches and we heard of someone that was hired from an organization and I was just blown away. I'm like, how do you get that job? That's amazing. And now they're all over the place. There's uh, director roles, director of coaching roles. So coaching is just, it is expanding. But here's what's fascinating. It's expanding. And sometimes I get asked, well, is it saturated? Not at all. It's actually just getting started. It's still not even considered a profession. Like, it hasn't made the title a profession yet because there has to be so many people in that profession to earn that designation. So it's, that's what's neat about it, is that it's um, it's expanding and I only see it expanding from here.

Bryant Alexander:
Agreed. Um, I just think that also people don't know what coaching is still like. The education still isn't there as well because I think like this year, ICF is on track to only certify, like in total, like maybe 92,000, like just in total ICF accredited coaches. I think it's only going to be about 92,000 based on projections. It could be more, but that's not a lot of people. If we think about ICF as a global. So it's still, in my opinion, or what I've observed and just what I, like, I've experienced. Like, people just aren't clear on, like, what is coaching? And it kind of goes back to our conversation last week around the woo woo around, like, just kind of. Kind of just some of that internal work or just like, helping people see the bigger picture and how that impacts, um, the business, but also the personal lives as well. Kind of like the integration that we speak about. How do we make sure that we're showing up as the highest version of ourselves? And that can sound like woo woo, but it has a very tangible impact on the business. So I think it's also education, but also I think that the numbers are still trying to. And there's plenty of numbers out there to prove, like, hey, this stuff works. But I think it's just the buy in from organizations, because everybody's a coach, right? But now I think it's like this phase of, like, who's really a coach and who's not, and how are we, what is the standard? So that might be ICF thing. I don't know. I think they have definitions on there, but it's also just like, clarifying what actually, what is this? What is this profession? Like you said, because it's not clear to everybody. Is it consulting? Is it coaching? I have a therapist. Like, it's just like, it's still in a weird place right now.

Laurel Elders:
Yeah, that is. That is so true. And because of that, I'm seeing three trends that are popping up because of that confusion. So the first trend are companies that get really excited. Um, we just. Michael and I talked to one, um, about a month ago. They get really excited about coaching initiatives and they put something in place without a solid foundation of what an effective initiative looks like. And then they go, did we do it? I don't know. We see that quite a bit. Um, the other trend is leaders that are heading into retirement and they're feeling really called to give back, put their hard earned wisdom towards helping others. And so they, you know, they're told, oh, legally, you don't have to get a certification like you do with becoming a licensed therapist, so just hang your hat. And they hang their hat, not realizing that they, they haven't learned the coaching piece. And so they end up defaulting to advising or trying to mentor or, you know, these other modalities, which is helpful but they just don't know what they're missing.

Bryant Alexander:
Yep.

Laurel Elders:
So we see that, um, and then we also see individuals that are just really feeling that call to coach others, typically in life coaching and they go online and they see oh, I can get an online certificate for dollar 59.

Bryant Alexander:
Yeah.

Laurel Elders:
And I was, I was looking at a couple these, their fake accredited accreditations. But then what I, what hurts my heart is that they end up learning one or two techniques and then find out later I don't know what in the world I'm doing. Like there's not one technique that fits all human beings and so they're um, um, you know, they, they realize like wait a minute, this isn't enough, this isn't enough to succeed.

Bryant Alexander:
Agreed, agreed. Um, I think that uh, ah, I think I've talked to a few people that have come through like that were interested in the institute and they just came out of some type of certification program in LA and it's supposed to be coaching. Um, and they were just like, I just don't feel like I learned anything about the coaching piece. Like I learned a lot of information but I didn't learn specifically of what am I? Or I don't have the confidence to go out and coach. And confidence comes with times course, but it's just their programs didn't really touch into detail. Like hey, this is the coaching piece. And um, we live in a society to where people think that everything can be learned fast because you know, it's delivered to you in two weeks or a month. I'm still working to graduate from the institute, just putting in my hours, doing my reflections, doing my case studies. And the thing about it is that those and the mentor coaching sessions as well, it just helps you get better. So it's like, it's a uh, it's a uh, it's strategically put in place. It may be annoying from time to time just to be transparent. It could be annoying from time to time. I hear you when I sit down with the mentor coach, ICF, uh accredited mentor coach and they're like well why didn't you do this? Or have you considered this? Or here's something else that you can do in order to position your questions better. Like that type of science that we don't really talk about because I have a way of asking multiple questions at the same time because I'm still trying to get the question together in my head. And he says, my mentor coach, uh, Matthew, is just like, just say it like you're trying to just pause, just pause. Take it in a. And then say it like, those things may seem obvious, but if you're actually practicing to be a coach or a better coach, those are the opportunities that you have when you go through a accredited program, or if you're looking to build that skill, set out a little bit more to where it's thorough and you have an understanding of what you're doing. Those are the little things that a program actually gives you, whether you're an internal coach, whether you're external coach, whether you're looking to start, um, whether you just want to be a more coach like leader, because there's power in pause when we gather ourselves, when we actually are listening to somebody, when we're able to just be present with that person. Some of the stuff that is a part of the science of, uh, coaching when it comes to people knowing you're listening and people can sense when you're not. I can be looking at you right now, Laurel, and I can probably sense that if you're not listening, then I probably will talk less, or I feel like I won't share my opinion more. But these are the little things I'm talking about. Like, before I go to. These are the things I'm talking about when it comes to just the value in understanding what coaching actually is.

Laurel Elders:
Oh, uh, that's so, so, so true. And, you know, I always think about it like this. Would you go to a doctor that took a six month crash course in medicine? No. Would you see a chiropractor that took a weekend certification in how to make an adjustment? No. Especially if it was on video. Nobody actually watched you do the thing and helped you get it correct, or a dermatologist that decided, you know, they. They're just going to, all of a sudden, financially advised. So it's. It's interesting, you know, seeing the confusion around coaching, but if you think about it, there's one. There's one missing link to all of these scenarios that we covered. The three scenarios is the education.

Bryant Alexander:
Yes.

Laurel Elders:
Uh, it's the education. And education, a good, solid education will include, one, the education, but two, training. How do I do the thing? How do I. How do I bring this to life? And then three, mentoring. The mentoring. You work one on one with a seasoned coach, and they help you really hone in and bring the coaching to life. And so, yeah, I think that that part is overlooked because of the legal. Oh, I don't legally have to have this, therefore, it's not needed. And that's, um, to me, I've seen that be a pretty big myth that's floating around there.

Bryant Alexander:
Yeah. Um, to add to the mentorship, uh, the misconception or the confusion sometimes is just like, just because you have the education, that this is how you do it, or just because you have the training, this is how you do it. I think the mentorship, in my opinion, has helped me, like, still be true to who I am, but also still use what I learned as far as the education is concerned. Because sometimes, like, you just don't have that type of client that's a little bit more like open ended. Like, they just come there. Like, I, uh, want to make sure I have these solutions right. And that's kind of like the type of coach that I am, too. I want to make sure that we are moving towards solutions if that's what the session allows. So I think that that mentorship is equally as important because, um, you still want to be authentic to you. Like, nobody's expecting you to coach your instructor or nobody's. Nobody's expecting you to show up a certain way because you still have your experience, you have your live, you have your lived experience, you have your professional experience, you have just your perspective or your approach, and that is equally as important to coaching. So I always tell people, like, coaching is something that amplifies all of those things. You just have to know how to kind of work it into your sessions or into your unique style as a coach. So those mentorship sessions helped me a lot.

Laurel Elders:
That's such a good point because that's actually a competency that us, uh, mentors look for a, believe it or not, is the coach being prescriptive? Because coaching is not prescriptive. Coaching is adaptive. Coaching is responsive. And because every client, even if the same client shows up, they have different needs that day. So if we show up with a prescription, and coaching just teaches you how to be that adaptive, responsive, what is happening in the moment? How do I make my client exactly where they're at, not where I think they're at, not where they think they're at, exactly where they're at, and go deeper. Anyway, I geek out. So I would say, um, some good news is that, um, you know, we're talking about education. And the good news is that with coaching, because it is more, um, like an apprenticeship style learning. When you're learning from a seasoned coach, a trained instructor, um, you don't need four to six years to gain that education. So, you know, there's two different tracks, basically, for those that are wondering what are the options out there? There's a level one training and that is perfect. If you're a manager leader seeking to become more coach, like if you're a consultant, adding coaching to what you're doing. Um, if you're adding coaching, basically level one is perfect and that's around uh, four to six months, just depending. It's part of it is self paced. That's why there's a variable. Um, but if you're seeking to really work with clients and have coaching as your primary modality to take on part time or full time clients, that's level two training and that's twelve to 16 months. So it's not, um, you know, years and years training is so applicable to what you're doing in real time and you can practice the tools right away. So it's um. Yeah, so I think, I think that's the good news about coaching at this point.

Bryant Alexander:
Agreed, agreed. Um, it's more of a choose your journey, feel whatever feels right to you. And you can always, if you want to start with level one, you can start there. Um, get the education. And remember, you can always continue the education, which is why Laurel said like transfer is available for people who are looking to continue their education because coaching, you never really stop learning about it. There's always more science about the impacts of coaching. Like it's one of those ever evolving spaces. Um, so yeah, just the connection, like the science, that's what I'm really into, understanding the connection with the human body. How do I make sure people are in their bodies like those things are, ah, level two. But also understand that you're going to be continuing to take in this education as a coach. Um, so I just want to highlight that as well. The education never really stops.

Laurel Elders:
Yeah, yeah, so true. All right, anything else before we wrap up today?

Bryant Alexander:
Um, you know, like, um, remember that, uh, this is a choose your journey type of thing. Thing. I want to emphasize that because we highlighted some career paths around what internal coaching is. Private coaching. Um, again, that's when you have your own coaching practice and organizations bring you in and then you have coach hubs or firms. Um, this is just kind of like the better ups, um, places like that, really popular places like that. And um, then coaching.com as well, if it's, I guess, I guess that would be considered a private coach. But I know some coaches that do work for coaching.com and then you have leadership and executive coaching. Um, that is where we just, you know, dial you work with leaders, like helping leaders become better versions of themselves. So understand, like you don't have to pick a bucket or know exactly what you want to do. Um, it's just more, so what are you looking to gain out of an experience as you're becoming more coach like or if you're looking to become a coach? So just understanding that really should help in guiding you as far as, like, all right, what do I actually want to get out of a coaching program versus, like, I want to become an internal coach. Great, cool. But what does that mean? What does that look like for you within an organization or just for yourself first? So how. I think, um, from, uh, my experience, coaching is so much deeper than just the education that you get, especially going through a coaching program. It's also about, like, all right, being very intentional about how this is going to amplify all aspects of your life, because I always say, I've said it on here multiple times, training and the path that you pick or the reason you pick coach training, um, it's a lot of work on you. Like, it makes you look within to really figure out, all right, what do I got to figure out? Because if you don't know what you need to figure out as a coach, it's almost impossible for you to show up as the best version of yourself for your clients. So understanding that coach training is also inner work that you have to be able to confront, which is why I say, be clear, not necessarily always like, I want to be like, a private coach that generates millions of dollars in revenue. It's like, okay, you want to be a private coach. Why? What is this going to do for you? Right. How does it align with your values? How does it align with your vision as far as for not only just the firm, but just for your life. So I always emphasize that no matter what routes you take, understand how it aligns with you, your values, how you want to design that life, or the impact that you want to have in the work that you're doing.

Laurel Elders:
Yeah, I really appreciate what you're saying, because in order to help others step into their greatness, we need to step into ours, and coach training invites us to do that. So, um, I'm glad you brought that up, because it is, you know, there's, there's different qualities that need to be present when we step into becoming a coach, and that's a big one, is willingness to grow ourselves.

Bryant Alexander:
Yep.

Laurel Elders:
And see what that edges. Right. We don't get there. We keep, we can keep expanding our potential.

Bryant Alexander:
Exactly.

Laurel Elders:
All right, so thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We hope that today's discussion has equipped you with new insights into your potential as a coach, organizational leader, or future coach. And if you are an individual or organizational leader, excuse me, seeking to bring coaching into what you do, please reach out. We have a very clear strategic plan that we walk you through. We have dialed in our process and have pretty profound results, and we'd love to work with you. And as I mentioned upfront, we have our pay it forward campaign. So speaking of education, we want people educated, at least at the get the foundation of coaching education. Coaching fundamentals will teach you that. And our pay it forward campaign coming up August 2, is scholarship. You can bring your team, you can learn together, uh, bring friends, family, whoever you'd like to join, because we want to train at least a hundred new people in exactly what coaching is so that you have a good understanding and, um, go forward in the world and do good things that you're called to do. All right? And, um, that's it for now. So we'll see you next week, hopefully next Tuesday, and have a great rest of your week, everyone. Thanks for joining.

Bryant Alexander:
Have a great rest of your week. Bye.