WAYFINDER LIFE COACH TRAINING OVERVIEW & SCHEDULE

For a complete weekly schedule, see below.

Wayfinder Life Coach Training OVERVIEW

Your Wayfinder Life Coach Training (WLCT) has three distinct components:

• Live classes (with recordings available for anyone who can’t make it live)
• A robust online learning space, including the interactive forums and your library of multimedia resources
• In depth mentoring (see below for details)

Finding Your Feet – The First Month
In the first few weeks of your training, you’ll tune into the overview call and Martha’s first class. These are always lots of fun! You’ll be invited into the forums on your online learning space, where you can introduce yourself and start getting to know your instructors and peers. You’ll also gain access to the library of resources for explanations of the tools and coaching demonstrations.

Then you will join your Coach-the-Coach group — a small group of about ten fellow Wayfinders who will be a huge part of your training experience. Coach-the-Coach classes include regular opportunities for observed coaching sessions with feedback from an instructor (see below).

Coach-the-Coach Classes
These interactive and hands-on classes comprise the bulk of your training. With your small class group you’ll have the chance to work with the tools you’re learning from every angle: as “coach,” as “client,” and as the observer of your peers’ learning.

Your instructor in these classes will be a seasoned Master Coach with extensive experience using the tools in real-life contexts. Your instructor and group will create a welcoming space where you’ll feel empowered to practice coaching and receive constructive feedback.

Mentoring
Since our coaching methodology is so hands-on, guidance from experienced mentors is a key part of your training. These group and individual sessions are interspersed throughout the training, giving you the opportunity to steadily build confidence in your craft and the coaching business you may wish to establish. Your mentors are experienced coaches who have built their own coaching practices and have been using Martha’s tools effectively for years.

Mentoring sessions are your chance to ask any and every question you may have about coaching—from the nitty-gritty of the coaching tools to larger concerns about business and  entrepreneurship.

If you want to become a certified Wayfinder Life Coach or receive certification from the International Coaching Federation (ICF), these mentoring sessions will be particularly important to review the core competencies required for these assessments.

There are two types of mentoring in Wayfinder Life Coach Training:

• Group mentoring. You will have nine of these sessions during your training program. They will cover aspects of effective coaching, ethical decision making, and other ICF core competencies, as well as give you ample opportunity to ask questions.
• Individual (one-on-one) mentoring. All trainees are offered three individual mentoring sessions over the course of the training. You can use these sessions as you wish; some common topics include:
  • Questions about using the Martha Beck coaching tools
  • Workshopping ideas and strategies for setting up a coaching business
  • Identifying and finding your ideal clients
  • “Nuts and bolts” questions about the process of facilitating a coaching session

Note: If you aren’t interested in certification (WLCT or ICF), you are most welcome to use your individual mentoring sessions for personal or professional coaching from your mentor.

Business for Wayfinders classes
Start creating a way of living and working that makes your heart sing! The WLCT business classes are full of exercises and processes to help you create clarity around your unique practice, whether you coach for a living or use your Wayfinder tools in another way. The ethics materials and the workbook of ideas you will have at the end will be worth their weight in gold.

Between each of the business classes, you will have Coach-the-Coach calls with your small group to practice and integrate all the coaching tools you learned in the training. This is an ideal opportunity to coach and be coached around the business class exercises and how you wish to employ your Wayfinder tools after the training has concluded.

Evaluation and Certification
Many trainees choose to be certified as a Wayfinder Life Coach, though this process is optional. It is generally seen to lend legitimacy to your status as a life coach: a “seal of approval” and confirmation that you have mastered the Wayfinder tools and are ready to launch your practice as a full-fledged coach.

Completing the Wayfinder Life Coach certification process includes the following:

• Complete all of the objectives in the Ethics module and pass a corresponding quiz.
• Coach at least six times in class during training.
• Attend at least seven group mentoring sessions during the training.
• Coach at least 75 hours outside of class (paid or unpaid).
• Pass a multiple-choice and a long-answer written review.
• Schedule and complete three one-on-one mentoring sessions with your assigned Wayfinder Master Coach Mentor between the end of Coach-the-Coach Practicum Three and no later than six months after the conclusion of WLCT.
• Record at least one 30-minute coaching session and review the recorded session(s) with your assigned Wayfinder Master Coach Mentor during your mentoring sessions.
• If your Wayfinder Master Coach Mentor determines that your written reviews and coaching recordings meet the required quality standards, you will become certified.

For more information about becoming certified, visit the Certification page.