It is perhaps easier to start with what does not happen: you will not get advice; you will not be given a solution; you will not be told what to do; you will not receive suggestions on what to do; you will not be guided.

What will happen is that your coach will work with you in a specific way so that you develop the insights necessary to see new possibilities that you were previously unaware of.

Once you have seen the situation in the light of these new possibilities, your coach will work with you to develop practices and observations that will enable you to build your competence such that you can find the solution to or resolve your challenge or problem yourself.

A practice is a small exercise grounded in habitual behaviours, which is designed to enable you to practice some new skill or competence. E. g., a sitting practice is designed to develop your ability to sit still for a while every day, to become more mindful of your body and to just stop for a while.

An observation is where we start in building your self-awareness – or rather, your ability to observe yourself in the moment, whilst in action. An example could be to notice, in the meetings you attend over the next month, how often you speak in comparison to others. Your coach would ask you to jot this down and to reflect on this at the end of each day, but NOT to take any action. Just to observe your habitual behaviour when it comes to speaking.

Ask a coach how long they have spent learning, studying, researching and practicing the art of coaching. How many training courses have they attended? Who are these courses accredited through? Developed by? Run by? What previous experience does the coach have? At what levels? In which industries? How do they feel about the work that they do? What has their previous work experience exposed them to?

In some respects the power of coaching lies in its simplicity:- a coach coming from an integral approach would explore your current situation, your way of being in the world, and would dialogue around what you wish the outcomes of the coaching programme to be. These outcomes need to be clearly articulated and agreed upon by both coach and coachee. Once this is done, work starts on the way in which these outcomes can be reached.

The recommended minimum time is 6 months and many people choose to work with their coach for 9 – 12 months. Ideally, the length of your coaching programme depends on the depth and complexity of the challenges you wish to work on. A minimum of 6 months is recommended to, for example, develop a new competence such as handling performance assessment sessions constructively. A longer period of 12 months or more is required for addressing issues of fundamental change such as a questioning of your life purpose.

If you are experiencing a particularly turbulent or challenging life period, then you might well need a coach for 12 – 18 or even 24 months. But if, after 24 months you find you are still feeling the need for a coach, you might well wish to ask yourself if there is a chance that you are becoming dependent on your coach. This could happen if, for example, your coach was blurring the boundaries between coaching and mentoring or consulting. In this case the coach might be taking the role more as advisor and expert guide instead of coach. Then by all means, if you receive valued advice, and wish to continue, do so – just don’t call it coaching!

Most European coaches prefer face-to-face coaching, with one session every two weeks for a minimum of 6 months to a maximum of 12 months. Each session lasts one to one-and-a-half hours. For those clients living futher away, one can mix telephonic and face-to-face coaching, and for more remote and international clients, coaches do all sessions telephonically, barring the first one or two, which are face to face.

We believe that it is important to have at least established a personal chemistry between coach and coachee, as well as a visual image of the client to work off for the remainder of the programme.

Only you can decide if you are ready to be coached. You have to want to do this, because your coach is going to need to ask you to apply your attention to areas of your life which you may have ignored or avoided in the past. Ideally, you are ready to be coached if you are curious about yourself and your relationship with the world around you; curious about how you learn, grow and develop. Most importantly, you need to be open to new thoughts, concepts, feelings, ideas and possibilities in all areas of your life.

Coaching grounded in an integral approach takes a holistic approach to personal and professional development by taking into account the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of a client – so that true insights arise and lasting growth can take place. Other forms of coaching may only focus on one aspect of a person – e.g. your career – and work on that area in isolation.

Yes, this is a stand-alone, fully complete course that gives you a coaching certificate in Integral coaching through the Centre for Coaching, the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business Executive Education department, and New Ventures West (USA).

In addition, should you wish to become an internationally recognized coach through the largest global coach association in the world, the International Coach Federation (ICF), this course provides many of the requirements needed in order for you to be able to apply to the ICF for your credential as a coach:

The ICF requires a minimum of 60 hours of coach-specific training to become a member of ICF. Under the auspices of our learning partner, New Ventures West, completion of our Associate Coaching Course will earn you 90 Approved Coach Specific Training Hours (ACSTH).

Should you wish to apply to the ICF to become more than a member, i.e. to become what they call an associate credentialed coach, you are required to provide them with a number of things such as

Proof of attendance at an ICF-approved coach training course (our CfD course provides this)

Proof of 100 logged coaching hours (you can count all the coaching cases you do during our CfD course as part of these logged hours as long as you keep a record of them)

Proof that you have spent at least 10 hours with an ICF-certified Mentor coach (this is covered during our CfD course as long as you attend all the activities we set up between modules as well as all the classroom sessions)

Plus a few other things such as submitting a recording of a coaching session, doing an on-line test that they will send to you and of course payment of their ICF fees (see the ICF website)

The Centre for Coaching is a joint venture between the Centre for Coaching (Pty) Ltd and the UCT Graduate School of Business – one of Africa’s leading business schools. The Centre is located at the UCT GSB campus and integrates seamlessly into that institution’s activities. The Centre for Coaching is also present in Australia and Switzerland. New Ventures West developed the course content for the ICF-accredited courses offered through Centre for Coaching and it develops and certifies leaders of those programmes, including the faculty at the Centre for Coaching.

Coaching is still an emerging industry and therefore still lacks standardisation. Accreditation ensures that programmes are internationally recognised and of a high quality – and sets practising professional coaches apart from ‘chancers’ attempting to enter a largely unregulated industry.

Coaching is a skilful methodology for developing self and others so that the leader is more effective and fulfilled. It involves the development of increasing competence in the person being coached. One of the key ways in which this is done is through enabling a coachee to notice how their ‘way of being’ enhances or hinders what they want to accomplish.

Coaching grounded in an integral approach takes a holistic approach to personal and professional development by taking into account the mental, emotional and physical aspects of a client – so that true insights arise and lasting growth can take place. Other forms of coaching may only focus on one aspect of a person – e.g. your career – and work on that area in isolation.

Participants meet as a group for three modules. Learning takes place in many different ways:

Group sessions – flow and philosophy of coaching; exploration of coaching models.

Individually – reflections, assignments, your own development as a coach.

In small groups called Learning Pods – supported by your Mentor coach, who is a Professional Coaching Course (PCC) graduate.

In pairs with a self-chosen Buddy Coach from the class.

The balance of work between modules is self-paced, including readings, written assignments, and three detailed case-study applications of this coaching method with clients.

Each delegate receives written feedback on each of their assignments – a rich source of learning and reflection

There is on-going support provided by the Centre for Coaching faculty over the six months.

For over 15 years, the Centre for Coaching is now clearly established as a centre for excellence, based at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, a world top 100 executive graduate school. Today, the Centre for Coaching is present in South Africa, Australia and Switzerland, in addition to linking to over 25 years of cutting edge coaching course development through its alliance with New Ventures West in San Francisco.

This course is ideal for those who are interested in evoking excellence in others while also being open to receiving coaching themselves so they too can bring forward excellence in their own endeavours.

60% of participants in this programme are not necessarily aiming to become coaches themselves, but rather are looking to become more effective at what they do by building the capabilities of the people with whom they interact. Participants who have gained value from CfD include but are not limited to:

• Advisors, coaches, and human resource specialists looking to expand capabilities throughout their organization.
• Consultants and private practitioners wanting to deepen or develop their coaching skill set as they support client growth.
• People willing to freely question their assumptions and try out new methods
• Those wishing to obtain an ICF-credentialed coach certification
• Those wishing to step into a different career path

Imagine what you could accomplish with the power to build capabilities and evoke excellence in others within only 6 months.

Contact us to set up a call with one of our directors to explore if the Coaching for Development is the right fit for you.

Yes. The Coaching for Development (CfD) is a stand-alone, fully complete programme that gives you a coaching certificate in an Integral approach to coaching through the Centre for Coaching, the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business Executive Education department, and New Ventures West (USA).