Frequently Asked Questions

There are several key reasons. Firstly, IECL’s program is taught by organisational coaches who also happen to be excellent facilitators of adult learning. When they are not training, they are out there coaching in organisations, so you will learn about real organisational coaching from their experience, not just theories from books. Most of our lead facilitators have over 5,000 hours of one-on-one organisational coaching experience and all are credentialed coaches with the ICF. They know what works, and what doesn’t. The program is grounded in clear frameworks and theories and is very experiential; about 65% of Coaching Essentials Level 1 is coaching practice, so you leave the workshop ready and confident to start coaching. This is an International Coach Federation Accredited Coach Training Program, so your credentials are recognised internationally. And this is a blended learning program, meaning that you can complete some sections of the program in your own time online (anytime, anywhere). Only the three workshop days require synchronous attendance at one of our training locations or online in a timezone that suits you. IECL offers a community of practice, post nominals, continued development workshops and coaching practice through our Membership program. We also support you in launching and growing your coaching business, gaining CCEUs and building your network through this global community of organisational coaches and leaders. After completeing Level 1, you will also be invited to join our free Alumni program, giving you access to free events to develop your coaching practice.

IECL’s program stands alone as an organisational coach-training program conducted by practicing organisational coaches who are also excellent facilitators of adult learning. Additionally, our program is very practical, with 65% coaching practice in Coaching Essentials Level 1. You will learn how to coach through the experience of coaching and being coached, guided by experienced and qualified coaches. This is not a purely theoretical training. Finally, IECL offers comprehensive support to all our alumni in the form of the Community of Practice such as ongoing professional development forums, co-coaching circles participation, CPD activities and access to IECL’s subject matter experts and library of resources. Those that join our membership program are further supported as they develop their coaching.

IECL has truly rescued teaching and learning from the traditional chalk and talk tedium. We employ a generative approach to learning which means our programs are designed to include all four aspects of human learning; thinking, doing, feeling as well as adequate time for structured and purposeful reflection. As a result, the knowing/doing gap is closed and participants leave IECL workshops with real knowledge and skills to immediately apply back in the workplace. Our methods of teaching and facilitation are based on in-depth educational theory and research. Adult learning theory, the psychology of adult development, blended e-learning, social learning and contemporary neuroscience all inform our practice. The IECL learning environment - whether face to face or via Zoom - includes input, workshop activities, demonstration, practice, a constructive emotional ambience and purposeful reflective conversations.

The IECL offers a coach training program which teaches the ICF Core Competencies of coaching and is based in positive psychology and adult learning principles. We teach that your client is resourceful and the expert in their own life, reflected in what we refer to as a “gold mining mentality” meaning that when you are coaching you understand that you are looking for the “gold” in your client, rather than focusing on the “dirt”.

The program tends to attract experienced, professional people. Program participants include both internal and external coaches, as well as consultants, psychologists and counsellors wanting to add to their skill-set and offering. Most have a degree or equivalent work experience.

Our organisational coaching program is currently offered predominantly online via Zoom, with occasional face to face options. Timezones we cater for are: Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Brisbane), New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Ghuanzhou and Beijing, India, the Middle-East and Africa, the UK and Europe and the USA and Canada. The three day workshop at each Level of training will be held via Zoom (or occasionally face to face in select locations) with the remainder of the coaching accreditation completed online.

IECL’s coach training program is accredited by the International Coach Federation and is, therefore, internationally recognised. IECL also has a very strong reputation for corporate coaching and coach training with our multi-national client companies.

At the beginning we recommend that you start by coaching your peers from Coaching Essentials Level 1 (which you will need to do to complete your certification). IECL Membership offers peer coaching practice opportunities, as well as pro-bono coaching from time to time. You can also begin looking for other coaching clients (paid or unpaid) after certification. (We recommend you don’t coach your significant other or your children!). As you gain in experience, you can start marketing your coaching services in the same way in which you would market any other consultative service…often networking among business groups and sourcing and publishing clear testimonials about your work are more effective than pure paid advertising.

Unlikely. The IECL program provides a unique framework for organisational coaching. In our experience, no other program offers this. Coaching Essentials Level 1 provides the foundations for organisational coaching, and also for interaction with the other IECL alumni. At Level 1 you gain the language, the landscape and the frameworks for organisational coaching that provide a sturdy and rigorous background for all your future coaching. If you feel strongly that you have already covered this foundational material you are welcome to apply for recognition of prior learning (RPL). Please contact us at coach.training@iecl.com for our RPL policy.

Until you have completed our Organisational Coaching Accreditation (Level 3), you still need to apply for ICF credentials using the ACSTH method. You can only use the ACTP route after you have passed our exam (at Level 3) and completed your Level 3 accreditation with IECL. For example, a student who completes Level 2 executive coaching certification could apply for the ICF’s ACC credential using the ACSTH application, if you have enough mentor coaching hours (click here to find out more about our ACC Fast Track program, that provides mentor coaching hours to bring you up to the minimum). A student who has completed the IECL’s full three-level accreditation could apply for the ACC or PCC credential using the ACTP graduate application. The fees for ICF credentials vary from $100 (for members applying for ACC) to $625 (for non-members applying for MCC) and there’s a whole range in between. ICF has a detailed list of all the other requirements for each credential (e.g. you need to have completed a certain number of logged coaching hours before applying). It’s best to visit the ICF website to find out exactly what fee applies for you and what you have to do to gain your ICF credentials.

The ICF accredits programs (like ours) and credentials coaches (like you!) The best way to understand more about the ICF’s credentialing process is via their website here. The easiest way to attain an ICF credential is via the ACTP pathway but that means completing Level 3 with us first. You can apply to ICF after IECL Level 2 via the ACSTH pathway but you will need to jump through extra hoops (including six mentor coaching sessions which we can help you with via our ACC Fast Track program.

The 500 hours must be logged AFTER you complete Coaching Essentials Level 1 training, hence any coaching hours before your Level 1 will not count towards your coaching hours when applying for ICF’s PCC credential.

In granting Accreditation as a Coach Training Program, the ICF have accredited our three-level coach training, and not any other program, or any single part of this program. Having said that, this coaching accreditation by the ICF contributes significantly to the reputation of IECL in the field of coach training and by virtue of that, to all of our trainings. They have been developed by the same faculty, with the same academic rigor and coaching frameworks that were applied to the three-level coach training program. In addition, some of the content of the Coaching Skills for Leaders is shared in common with the Coaching Essentials Level 1 training. If an ICF credential is your goal, consider Coaching Essentials Level 1 and 2 as a first step.

When it comes to age and experience, everything is relative. However, there will be some clients who prefer an older, more experienced coach. We generally find that people who have a related degree and at least five years corporate experience do well in the course, and as a coach. Without at least one of these traits, you may find it difficult to have the confidence and gravitas necessary to coach at more senior levels. Of course, if you start gaining experience as an executive coach when you are young and continue practicing your coaching skills, you will become even more experienced as you get older. It comes down to how soon you want to go out on your own as an executive coach. Setting up a coaching practice while in your twenties is entirely possible, but it may take longer for you to build a client base, as you will have more limitations on who you can work with initially.

Both are correct! We have made a shift in the wording to “organisational coaching” as it more accurately describes what we teach (it’s not just executives that we coach, but people at all levels in organisations, and the results of coaching affect the whole system of the organisation, not just the executive) so we find organisational coaching to be a more appropriate descriptor for what we teach and offer. Because the term “executive coaching” is still commonly used, you may hear it used interchangeably with organisational coaching.

Organisational coaching is a collaborative learning relationship that aims to improve both wellbeing and performance in the workplace, and thereby contribute to organisational effectiveness. Organisational, or executive coaching is distinguished by a three-way relationship between the coach, the coaching counterpart and the organisation. The organisation is actually the client, making the dynamic between coach, counterpart and the client sponsor more complex than in a simple one-to-one coaching relationship. What distinguishes organisational coaches from other coaches is their understanding of how to manage the ethics of the three-way relationship through their professional background, their organisational experience and their specific organisational-centred coaching training. You can utilise the skills and methodologies taught by IECL to coach anyone, on any topic.

IECL’s three levels of coach training lead to IECL accreditation, and as a program are certified by the ICF as an accredited coach training program (ACTP). The ICF accredits programs (like IECL’s) but does not accredit people; what it offers to individuals is the opportunity to apply for an ICF credential and there are three levels; Associate, Professional and Master coach. After attaining certification in our Coaching Essentials Level 2 program (or equivalent of 60 coach specific training hours), you can apply for the ICF’s Associate Coach Credential (via the ACSTH pathway). The ICF will also ask you to demonstrate 100 hours of coach practice (in a coaching log) as well as provide other evidence of your experience and expertise in coaching, including sitting for the ICF coaching knowledge assessment. You will also need to receive six additional hours of mentor coaching if applying to ICF after Level 2 (see our Fast Track to ACC package for this). After gaining IECL’s Level 3 coaching accreditation, you can apply via the ICF’s ACTP pathway. To apply for the ICF’s PCC (professional coach credential) you will need 125 hours of coach specific training. IECL’s Levels 1, 2 and 3 (the full coach accreditation program) provide this. To apply for the ICF’s MCC (master coach credential), you will need 200 documented hours of coach specific training. The Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership’s Levels 1, 2 and 3 coaching accreditation facilitate this, combined with additional coach specific training equal to 65 extra hours of training. This may include continuing professional development days you attend with IECL, and two hours for every Institute alumni professional development forum (allow approximately eight hours for each coach CPD day), in addition to other coach specific training. For more information on obtaining ICF credentials, visit the ICF.

Firstly, the organisational coach is coaching their counterpart within the broader organisational context. We teach our coaches how to consider the entire landscape within which their client exists; including organisational systems, culture and politics. Another key difference is that of relationship. In life coaching the relationship tends to be two way; between the coach and the counterpart. This makes for a straightforward relationship and invariably the counterpart is paying their own coaching bill. With organisational coaching the person being coached is usually not paying for the coaching themselves and so this immediately introduces complexity into the relationship, which is (at least) a three-way relationship; between the coach, the counterpart, and the organisational sponsor. The presence of this third party introduces complex issues of confidentiality and ethics and requires the coach to be more mindful of the boundaries involved. Having said this, both life coaches and organisational coaches use similar skills. If you train as an organisational coach you can use those skills to coach just about anybody.

While the basics of the organisational coaching content is shared in common between these two programs, their focus is quite different. Coaching Skills for Leaders/Managers is a two day-program that is generally offered to teams within organisations. It focuses on both the coaching skills that can benefit leaders/managers and the particular issues within that organisation (these programs are often slightly customised to address those issues). This program is not currently offered to individuals in a public course. Our Coaching Essentials Level 1 course is offered to individuals as a public program. It is designed to teach coaching frameworks, tools and skills to both internal and external organisational coaches. As a three-day workshop within a seven week program, it goes into more depth around topics such as how to set-up and manage a coaching engagement, and looks at the three-way relationships that exist between coach, coaching counterpart and company sponsor.

In the two weeks prior to the workshop please allow three to four hours a week to complete the preparations. You can do this anytime, anywhere, online. During the four weeks after the workshop, allow approximately three hours a week to complete your certification. Some of this will be online (anytime, anywhere), and the coaching practice is in small groups (you will have the opportunity to coordinate times and days to suit everyone in your group).

The Coaching Essentials Level 1 certificate course provides 45 coach specific training hours. Coaching Essentials Level 2 certification provides 46 training hours, and the Level 3 coaching accreditation provides 53 hours. In total, the number of coach specific training hours obtained through IECL’s three-level program is 128.5 hours. Additional coach training hours can be gained through attending IECL alumni professional development forums, co-coaching circles, Membership events and continuous professional development activities. Six hours of mentor coaching can be purchased via our ACC Fast Track program.

Each level can be completed in approximately eight-to-10 weeks. However, we recommend that people take a minimum of 12-18 months to complete the entire three level program as there is a great deal of new material imparted at each level, and rushing through means you don’t get a chance to embed the learning before moving on. We recommend that you get as much coaching practice as possible between each level and ask that you have 25 hours of coaching logged after Level 1 and prior to joining Level 2 and an additional 50 hours of coaching logged after Level 2, before joining Level 3.

Once you complete the requirements of Organisational Coaching Accreditation (Level Three), we recommend that you maintain your accreditation through a program of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) as is common in most professions. To maintain accreditation we recommend: Participation in regular coaching supervision and/or regular co-coaching circles (with other IECL alumni). At least once per year, please send your (brief ” 500 word) written reflection on your practice to coach.training@iecl.com or add it to the Alumni Community of Practice online as a blog post, and Minimum 50 hours of logged coaching practice per year, plus Attendance at two alumni CPD events per year ) or, regular participation in the alumni community of practice, or membership community, online.

From past experience, we have found that participants who go through RPL and don’t participate in Level 1 don’t necessarily have the IECL coaching mindset, frameworks and language to benefit from Coaching Essentials Level 2 or alumni events such as professional development sessions, co-coaching circles and CPD activities. Most of our course participants are already highly experienced (and sometimes highly trained) executive coaches. Therefore, we ask everyone to start at the beginning, so that we are all on the same page in terms of frameworks, models and the language we use to describe the executive coaching encounter. If you feel strongly that you will be covering material that you know well, please contact us to discuss your situation and our Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) policy.

CSU prices change slightly each year, therefore we recommend visiting the CSU website for the latest pricing. Click here for current CSU prices.

For each of your completed IECL course(s), you will need to submit your reflective learning task(s) and get those marked and passed to complete certification for the level(s) completed. To proceed to CSU (after Level 1 you can enrol for the Graduate Certificate), you will also need to complete one bridging assignment (at the level completed). This is a one-off essay style assessment that brings your completed level(s) with IECL up to CSU standard and gives you full credit for those “subject(s)”. You can enrol for the bridging assignment on our course page.

The required Graduate Certificate subjects from IECL are Coaching Essentials Levels 1 and 2 (plus one bridging assignment at $300 + GST if you have completed Level Two before the end of 2014). That will convert your Levels 1 and 2 to Coaching Theory to Practice 1 and 2. Registration for the Bridging Program is available in our course page. Once you pass both, you will receive a transcript for these two subjects from IECL that will allow you to apply to CSU for enrolment in the Graduate Certificate.

Yes, as long as you have an undergraduate degree, you are more than welcome to enrol in CSU and IECL Level 1 concurrently or you can start at CSU and enrol at IECL later. If you do not have a previous degree/s, you will need to complete IECL Levels 1 and 2 before you enrol with CSU.

Yes, if you have completed the required IECL subjects and have a minimum of three years’ relevant work experience you are eligible to apply to CSU to enrol in these postgraduate degree programs. If you would like to revisit your academic skills, CSU offers free short courses on writing and referencing, as well as an introduction to online learning and transition to university study programs.

If you have completed Coaching Essentials Levels 1 and 2 at IECL before the end of 2014, you simply need to complete the Bridging Program (i.e. one assignment to bring you up to speed for CSU entry requirements), and then can apply to CSU to join the Graduate Certificate. If you have completed Level 1 and 2 from 2015 onwards, you can simply apply to CSU to join the Graduate Certificate (two IECL subjects, two CSU subjects). You will be asked to submit your IECL transcript as proof of completion (an updated transcript is available from IECL on full completion of each level).

The Graduate Diploma of Organisational Coaching and Leadership from CSU comprises four IECL subjects and four CSU subjects. If you have completed Level 3 before the end of 2014, you will also need to take part in the Bridging Program i.e. one assignment to bring you up to speed for CSU entry requirements. Once you complete that, you simply need to complete the Principles of Organisational Coaching subject with IECL (this is your fourth coaching subject).

Short answer; no! You can enrol in just Coaching Essentials Level 1 to get a taste of IECL coach training and then decide from there. If you decide to complete an Organisational Coaching and Leadership graduate degree at CSU at any point you can always use your IECL Levels 1 to 3 (with additional assessments) and “Principles of Organisational Coaching” as full credit subjects in your CSU degree.