Welcome to the Institute's Executive Coach Training Program

The context for our training program is illustrated by a story from 15th Century England about three stonemasons who were asked what they were doing. One said he was chiselling granite to carve blocks of stone; another that he was building a wall. The third said he was building a cathedral to celebrate the glory of the universe. These three responses are a metaphor for learning to coach at the Institute.

In Level One the focus is on how to chisel the granite and shape the building block. This means learning and practicing the foundational skills of coaching, including coaching tools and their application, the framework for a coaching conversation and the structure of a series of coaching sessions. At the end of Level One you will have a grasp of the tools and skills as well as comprehensive practice in their use.

The starting point for Level Two is to recognise that the building blocks form part of a system that fit into a bigger picture - the wall. Attention moves from the skills of coaching to the application of coaching skills in a broader context. This includes the landscape of the coaching endeavour and one's place within it, as well as how the building blocks can make something bigger when placed and positioned together. Level Two therefore focuses on the quality of the relationship between coach and coaching counterpart, that is, the connection between attention and intention and how this is expressed through the coaching encounter.

Level Three builds on Levels One and Two to manifest intention into a form (a cathedral) that takes the coaching into a synthesis that is greater than its elements. It teaches people to hone and refine their skills and metaskills - the building blocks and walls - and to fit them together into a whole picture that is expressed through the coaching relationship. In Level Three coaching has been applied and practiced to the point of an unconscious skill that powerfully enables others to reach their potential in their chosen field.

We look forward to accompanying those of you who choose to embark on this fascinating journey.

Yours sincerely,

Hilary

Dr Hilary Armstrong
Training Director, Institute of Executive Coaching