Top Tips For Completing Your Diploma

Top Tips for your coaching journey from those that have been there and done that!

We thought that you might be interested to hear some top tips from coaches that have been there and done that with their coaching qualification. Read on to see what words of wisdom students past and present have for you, knowing what they know now! 

Jane Drapkin says; Enjoy the ride! Grasp whatever learning you can – it can come from many directions. And practice what you preach! Give all the exercises a go, have a coach yourself, set yourself goals, explore your limiting beliefs, get out of that comfort zone.

I would certainly recommend coaches to attend all the accelerator days where possible to learn further skills. I would suggest practicing the tools you learn on as many clients to build your confidence. Anita Dhanjal

Keep yourself focussed. Don’t give up when it gets tough. Set yourself those small bite size steps to move yourself forward. Believe in yourself. Diana Smitham

Don’t be afraid to get out there and practice. Remember we all have to start somewhere. Don’t spend too much time worrying if you have a challenging session or you feel it didn’t go as well as you thought. You never know what your client is thinking. It’s largely possible that they have had some big light bulb moments and have taken a great deal from the session. Glen Roughead

Ask questions! The more you ask, the more you will understand and the more confident you will become. Edel O’Mahony

Use the support offered by The Coaching Academy as much as possible and join or start a local coaches community. Julie Talbot Dunn

If you are training, nearing qualifications or qualified, I would say the most important aspect is be keep your CPD up to date whether it is through coaching, meeting colleagues, reading manuals and attending more training. Keep all the tools and models in a central place and review them regularly so that it becomes second nature. Arifa Chakera

Have different type of practice clients so that you can practice various styles and techniques suitable for each practice client. Write the record sheets immediately after finishing a module or a coaching session, it will help you later on. And have the practical pre-assessment as soon as you can because it will give you confidence and you will learn a lot. Martina Blazkova

Relax into it. If it feels right, go with it. This can be applied to your coaching sessions too. Trust that the right next question will come and focus instead on really listening to your client. Sarah Fraser

Trust that you have made the right decision. Never give up. Set backs are opportunities for learning and reframing. Seek out and spend time with people who are like you. They are out there -all over the world. Barbara Friend

My top tip for someone on their coaching journey is to get your first practical assessment complete as soon as possible. It will give you a massive amount of positive feedback and increase your confidence that you are on the right track. Dionne Lewis Reid

If you are already in your training with the coaching academy then make the most of the time. Complete all documentation as you go along – don’t try to do it retrospectively – too hard! Read as much and as varied as you can. Keep a tool box – you find great tools all over the place and they are so valuable when presented with an unusual client, or someone who is a bit stuck. Chloe Tasch

I’d encourage you to take all opportunities to be coached, get over any fears and anxieties you have and continue to use coaching to move you forward. This means you can reap the benefits and show others how much it can do for them, as it does for you. Take advice and support from wherever you can get it and follow those who inspire you. Sign up to their newsletters, blogs and follow them on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to keep you motivated, always positive and growing. Wendy Ager

Get coaching fast-find a coaching buddy, find some practice clients and get into your sessions with a goal of having your first practical assessment ASAP. Billy Rae

Make sure that the experience you acquire is wholly relevant to the path you will be taking as a coach. Set yourself specific career goals that are within your area of control. Walk the talk! Talk to those who have already done it. David Finney

Be part of a community. Join like minded individuals at practice groups and share what you do. I also think it’s important to have your own coach and of course supervision. Sarah Mackay

My top tip is to get coaching yourself, the more you know about yourself is the better coach you can be for someone else. Believe in yourself, get practice and never stop learning as they say "readers are leaders". Careeta Robert-Green

Take time to read everything carefully, make notes and digest the information fully, before moving on. Virgina Taylor

Decide on a niche and test it whilst training. Genevieve Knight

If I had to give just one piece of advice to new coaches it’d be: use your qualifying process as a learning tool. It is not red tape. It rocks. Carlos Ventura

I would say never stop believing in yourself – you can make a difference! I-Lan Hamilton

Join a coaching group to develop confidence and ideas. Keep up with the CPD. Don’t put yourself under too much pressure and keep learning as you go along. Dee Wilkinson

Revisit earlier accelerator day modules, DVDs, notes, etc. You will always learn new things when you go back and read/listen to something that you have already gone through. Swati Pradhan

I would wholeheartedly encourage new coaches to realise that this amazing skill of coaching can be applied in any situation and with any client group. Keep your mind open and the opportunities will follow. Carol Brown

If you are currently training, keep your focus. Maintain your records consistently. This is a constant ‘tough area’ for most trainees, with everything that was going on in their working lives. However, it makes things so much easier by the time you want to submit all your records and qualify. Hormoz Ahmadzadeh

Do something every day if you can towards your study. Read a chapter from a coaching book or listen to an audio or teleclass seminar. Keep in the 'coaching zone' as much as possible. Lara Williams

For those who are training I say the best learning I had was with experimenting and working with clients and following my intuition in the process. Christine Francis Asmar

Keep at it and don’t lose sight of why you are doing it. Trust yourself, you do have all the resources and answers with you. Anita Mattu

Know what motivates you. Are you a carrot or stick person? Build in some motivational aspects to keep you on track. Nicki Wild

For coaches in training I would recommend getting your coaching sessions started as soon as possible. I found my last few accelerator days particularly relevant and I think that was because I was coaching regularly so could combine theoretical work with experiential coaching sessions. Lildonia Lawrence

Make the practice coaching sessions absolutely sacrosanct. It’s the best and most important skill building platform. Nandu Menon

Have a Coach or Mentor of your own (preferably paid) to help you focus, build your coaching and business skills. Also, be open to collaboration with others. Veronica Broom

Be organised enough that as you read through each section, you have your final paper sitting right there too. This will save having to re read each section. Nikki Warnes

Pace yourself! Enjoy the journey, take time over doing things well and learn from any challenges or little detours along the way! Lisa Young

Our very own Coaching Academy tips would be:

Merete Langler – Trust the process – It works!

Kris Robertson – Get a coach.

Jan Lonnen – Understand the requirements for the final assessment paper now, for whichever Diploma you are completing. Keep these requirements close to hand to jot down any notes that you feel may come in handy when pulling together the final document.

Thank you to all those coaches out there for sharing we know you have made a difference.