Through the years, we at SeattleCoach have trained hundreds of senior leaders in technology, healthcare, faith communities, real estate, and other key sectors. Each one has become fluent in the skills, behaviors, and personal presence of coaching leadership.

Along the way, as we’ve learned from hundreds of SeattleCoaches and from the demands of this time in history, we have developed two proven SeattleCoach Training and Development tracks.

Track #1: Our Professionally Credentialed “Flagship Cohorts” (for ICF Certification)

In the spring of 2008, Patty Burgin began training small cohorts of mid-career professionals. In their own ways, each person had asked her some version of, “How do I learn to do what you do?” And each person was seeking certification in this emerging old/new profession of coaching. That same year SeattleCoach became a credentialed training provider of the International Coaching Federation (ICF). Since then, hundreds of mid-career executives have pursued the rigorous preparation required for professional certification. These small cohorts of allies have become known as SeattleCoach Flagship Cohorts.

Track #2: “Coaching for Leaders” (CFL)

Then in 2015, leaders and their organizations began to ask us for executive coaching education for their veteran leaders. This track could be briefer and more customized, but very effective in helping leaders to become better bosses. We listened and began to understand that this second wave would require three things:

1. Sponsoring executives who understood the value of coaching—and who wanted to build a coaching culture;
2. Leaders and people-managers who were raising their hands; and
3. External coaches (that’s us!) who knew how to facilitate and model the learning.

In response, we co-created rich cohort experiences for organizational leaders and their teams. Rather than focusing on professional credentialing, these veteran leaders and their sponsors are aiming to increase their leadership effectiveness. They too are SeattleCoaches. And they are building world-class coaching cultures. We called this second wave Coaching for Leaders (CFL).

SeattleCoach is the "craft brewery of leadership coaching." In everything we do, our goal is to start with world-class ingredients: our content, our process, and cohorts of people like you. Along the way we stay accessible and responsive, and we leave a coaching community of “Connection, Curiosity, and Challenge” in our wake. We charge for our work, but the affection is free.

Training with SeattleCoach takes place in stages. Each is highly interactive, building on individual strengths and team learning. As mentioned, we focus on bedrock coaching skills, the realities of human change management, and on each coach’s personal presence.

We ask that applicants to our programs bring a minimum of ten years of professional, academic or executive experience. Why ten years? Through the course of those years, most people experience significant change and challenge. There are big wins and maybe a few heartbreaks. Maybe in your relationships you’ve learned about your strengths and values, when you’re brilliant, and maybe even about what can make you annoying. In our programs, we build on all of that accumulated wisdom as each of our members develops as a coach.

We start with an informational interview during which we welcome your questions, find out about your background and goals. If green lights ensue for both of us, we’ll invite you to an orientation meeting and to collaborate on the meeting schedule for an upcoming Cohort.

At SeattleCoach we place a high value on face-to-face coach development. Whether virtual or at our offices on Lake Union in Seattle, our priority is on creating the most effective environment for coaches to grow within an alliance of great peers. We choose some terrific people as members of each Cohort. Your availability to your peer coaches and to coming to our times together well-prepared are keys to our success. In light of that, we ask that all coaches agree to a few things.

1. First is the highly personalized nature of our face-to-face training. Each Cohort meets for 30 two-hour meetings. Some of our Cohorts are “blended” with some meetings in-person at our offices on Lake Union along with some virtual meetings. Some of our Cohorts are completely virtual. Our goal is always to keep the face-to-face magic that has been our hallmark since 2008. Your weekly presence in our sessions is a big deal. 

2. In addition to our regular Cohort sessions, we’ll ask you to schedule an hour in break-outs for peer-coaching and practice between each session. You will coach, be coached, and observe along the way. And when we’ve concluded, the members of your Cohort will probably continue to grow with you as allies. This too is a big deal. 

3. The third factor is the full hour between each session of independent study and reflection. We call this “RPRP”—Review and Practice / Read and Prepare Your time in independent study is also required.

At the beginning of Module II you and the members of your Cohort will be listed with the larger SeattleCoach Network where you can add a link to your website, email address, or LinkedIn profile.

From the beginning of training, we practice The ICF Code of Ethics, beginning with the group's process and with their peer coaching. In our months together, you will be equipped, and you will also be coached by your faculty coaches and by other members of your Cohort. Expect to become a good coach and a better person. As a member of this training and development Cohort, and in the partner coaching that is part of it, we ask that you join us in agreeing to maintain the confidentiality of all information that is communicated to you by other group members. Progress is enhanced when group members discuss their work with trusted colleagues and friends outside of the Cohort. Even in these discussions, we’ll expect you to be very careful not to share any specific information belonging to others in your Cohort. 

And along the way, your faculty members will be accessible and responsive. You can count on our office hours—15 minutes before each session begins. This is your time to ask us questions, tell us stories, ask for review or more clarity, stuff like that.