When Should You Invest in a Coaching Certification? Pros, Cons, and Personal Insights

In recent years, the coaching industry has seen a significant surge in popularity. As more people recognize the value of coaching for personal and professional growth, many are contemplating whether to invest in a coaching certification.

Through this article, I aim to provide a comprehensive look at the pros and cons of obtaining a coaching certification and share my personal journey, takeaways, and questions to consider before making this investment.

My Journey with Accomplishment Coaching (January 2017 - January 2018)

Back in 2017, I embarked on a year-long coaching certification program with Accomplishment Coaching. This experience was transformative and provided me with a solid foundation in coaching principles and practices. Here’s an overview of what it entailed and my personal insights.

What is Accomplishment Coaching?

Accomplishment Coaching is a comprehensive coaching program that focuses on developing both coaching skills and personal growth. It is known for its rigorous and immersive format, combining hands-on practice with theoretical learning.

Program Format

• Duration: One year
• Structure: Monthly in-person training sessions, weekly teleclasses, and one-on-one coaching practice
• Cohort: We had 24 participants and ten coaches who made up the training/facilitation. We all became very close, and it was the first time in my life that I felt truly heard and appreciated in that way. It broke down barriers and helped me let down my wall, which was the beginning of my getting into this type of work. Questions: I would ask myself if I were evacuating. Do you prefer virtual or in-person? The in-person experience made us all close. We have people flying in from Canada, Vermont, and all over the world. It was really cool for me that people were that committed. Luckily, I was living in NYC then, so it was an easy commute.
• Components: Intensive workshops and seminars per coaching and feedback. Mentorship from experienced coaches: Personal development exercises
• Questions to ask: What type of distinctions and framework are you teaching? Can you give me an example of one? Are you an ICF certified program? How many people end up getting their PCC after the certification?

What I Enjoyed About It

1. Immersive Learning Experience: I still use many of the exercises with my clients and family members when they are going through a tough time. The most common distinctions and tools that I leverage are

1. Overwhelm Cycle

2. Essence and Survival Mechanism

3. Rating our values

4. Context vs Content

5. Completion exercise—fully utilizing these 5 tools alone in a practical sense is worth the ROI on its own.

2. Comprehensive Curriculum: Each Month had a different theme that came with homework assignments that were a combination of books, videos/movies that were deep and sometimes philosophical.

The themes that stood out most to me were Business, Money, Spirituality, Family, and Relationships.

This was cool because it was so thorough, and I learned a lot from the books that I was reading. we ended up having discussions about it as a group. In practicing leadership, we all took turns adding the room and practiced our communication skills.

Once a month, for the in-person meetings at the Andaz in Downtown Manhattan, we are allowed to bring guests to observe, which was a treat because leadership is practicing vulnerability in front of people.

This allowed us to address the room and provide context.

Being able to describe and explain what's going on put our guests at ease, and it was an opportunity to be able to practice concise communication.

3. Supportive Community: Many of the participats and I have become lifelong friends going to each other's bachelors parties, and many people would be the first person to come to mind when I am going through something.

Pros of Investing in a Coaching Certification

1. Credibility and Recognition: Accomplishment Coaching is a very legit organization with many of the leaders being coaches I've worked with during my time at Fortune Magazine, LinkedIn, CoachHub, and beyond. Mark Hunter and Christine Sachs were my two leaders when I did the program. It certainly matters a lot who the leaders were, and I was lucky to have both people of color leading the program. This opened my eyes, that it was possible to make it to the top. Both are incredible human beings whom I admire and respect so much. They've taught me so much I know about coaching and leading by example.
2. Skill Development: The skills that you learn are going to be lifelong skills. Being able to have self-awareness and knowing what triggers you is extremely valuable. I never said it would be easy, but it will be so worth it.
3. Networking Opportunities: The quality of people you meet in the coaching world is terrific. You will meet mission-driven people who care about making a difference. I'm so grateful for the relationships I've built along the way. Antonio Brasse, CPA, CIA, CFSA, CISA, CAMS , @nicole bagnoli, @jeff Zacharski, Sue Dant, @jason dukes, Mark Hunter, MCC
4. Personal Growth: You will literally be a different person when you graduate from this program. That's good and bad, depending on how you view it. You will get a glimpse of what's possible and when that happens. You won't be able to rest.

Cons of Investing in a Coaching Certification

1. Cost: It's certainly not the cheapest investment, but with anything, you get what you pay for. In my controversial opinion. I think that this coaching program has been more impactful for me than an EMBA, and that's probably because sales is very emotional/ people driven, so having self-awareness and understanding others is a very important skill vs more of the technical aspect of getting your MBA.
2. Time Commitment: If you want to Maximize your returns, you will have to dedicate a significant amount of time outside of the 9 to 5 to work on assignments, reading books, getting coaching clients, getting the reps necessary to get yourself good enough at active listening, goal setting, and helping your goals. Confidentiality is important because you will be speaking about very intimate details with people.
3. Varying Quality: Only some coaching programs have this much in-person training, which I found to be more connected. I've done a ton of virtual training and programs, and I don't regret those, but the in-person events are so much more memorable.

Personal Takeaways and Breakthroughs

1. Having a better relationship with Yourself and Others: Coaching is interesting because all of your breakthroughs your clients will also get. I've helped my clients get married, have clients, and let them their guard and start to love themselves more. I cried 180 out of the 365 days this year, but it was healing and cathartic to process everything. It's a lot, and only for some people, if you are in touch with your emotions and have much to process in life.
2. Breaking in Money: Our relationship to money is interesting. Money can be our master or our slave. I think about money more than the average person, probably because not having money led to my parent's divorce. During this program, you dive pretty deep into your relationship with money. I wouldn't say my relationship with money is the best, but it certainly has improved during this program because of the intentionality of focusing on it, talking about it, and being coached around it.
3. Resilience and Adaptability: I was able to reflect on the past a lot. There were moments that I presented that everything happens for a reason. I used to blame circumstances and still do to this day, but now I have a lot more self-awareness, and I am able to acknowledge the good that happened, experiencing many setbacks, from getting laid off from work to not having a father around most of my life. I am able to relate it to building resilience and growing my adaptability skills.

Questions to Consider Before Investing

1. What are your goals for obtaining a coaching certification? Is your attention to being a better manager who actively listens? Is it to start a coaching practice one day or do it on the side to make some passive income(if you are making courses or using it for paid public speaking)? It's important to dig deeper into your why because it's going to be very intense, similar to getting your MBA.
2. Can you commit the necessary time and financial resources? I didn't have the money, so I threw it on a credit card, luckily, there was the flexibility to be able to space it monthly, so it didn't feel as much of a financial burden. Investing in yourself could be scary, especially if you come from a scarcity context like I have a good majority of my life. But this felt like the right thing to do, and I'm so glad I did. I never realized it would lead me down such a beautiful journey.
3. Have you researched the program thoroughly? Yes, conceptually, you will probably say I will commit to it, but ultimately, life happens, and things come up. As I had weddings, birthday parties, and family drama come up. There were a few days when I had to leave the training early, and I was being a victim of it. It felt like a either or context, after being trained I realized it was about Who I was being about the context? Was I being resentful, I can enroll others or I can be a victim and feel like I have no choice. At the end of the day, we all have a choice.
4. Are you prepared for the personal growth aspect? It's going to be super confronting, and I cannot stress this enough. I didn't realize that I was going to go that deep into all of my insecurities about money, family, and relationships. Am I enough? Confronting these daily was interesting because, on some days, I felt like I was doing the right thing. Some days, I felt like it was selfish to talk about my past so much. Coaching is supposed to be more future-focused, but there will be many times to dig deeper into the past to look for reoccurring patterns and see where these insecurities stem from.
5. What is the potential return on investment? Yes, it's a significant financial investment, but ask yourself. Do I have the capacity and the energy to take on more? Your logical mind might say no, but like with everything. Please don't make the same mistake I did. I never enrolled my now wife into this program, and what can it do for our marriage. Honestly, this was the first step in healing myself and loving myself so that I can be enough instead of using the marriage as the thing that fixes me. It helped create a space for healing, love, and, ultimately, vulnerability.

Final Thoughts

Investing in a coaching certification is a significant decision that can profoundly impact your career and personal development. My experience with Accomplishment Coaching was transformative, equipping me with skills, knowledge, and insights that continue to serve me well. As you consider this path, carefully weigh the pros and cons and reflect on your goals and readiness.

I am wishing you success and fulfillment in your coaching journey. I'm going to be doing a series reviewing all of the coaching programs I've done. Let me know if you are curious to learn more. Reach out to me if you want to discuss this further and if you want to hire a coach I have a pretty big network of coaches so depending on our conversation I can point you in the right direction if I'm not a good fit.