As a practicing executive coach and a professor of leadership coaching, I am often asked, “How does one get a traditional manager to rely less on power and control and become more of a coaching leader?” This is a tough question, because it sounds like the coach is being asked to change the heart and soul of another human being. And as we all know, the only heart and soul we can really change is our own! And yet, the most powerful coaching is when real transformation occurs in our coaching clients — when they realize they have learned something powerful or new about themselves. With that transformative learning, the coaching client begins to behave and relate to the world around them in an entirely different way.
In our book, Leading from the Inside Out: a Coaching Model (Bianco, Nabors, & Roman, 2002), we define coaching leadership as “…a way of being based on the commitment to align beliefs with actions. Coaching leaders communicate powerfully, help others to create desired outcomes, and hold relationships based on honesty, acceptance and accountability.”
Is there a shortcut to stimulating this kind of learning in the leader of an organization? Over the last twenty years of working with leaders from all types of organizations, my business partners and I have observed a phenomenon discussed in any basic psychology textbook — people will repeat a behavior that gets them the outcome they desire. So, there are two relevant questions: 1) what are the outcomes the leader is striving to achieve? and 2) what behaviors are most likely to achieve those outcomes?
The outcomes that most leaders expect from employees today haven’t changed much over the last fifty years. They want their employees to be accountable for their performance. What has changed is the realization that the traditional management methods of directing, advising, coercing and controlling only work in the short-term to produce desired performance. Long-term performance accountability requires coaching behaviors: influencing, teaching, questioning and enabling.
Use Inquiry and Advocacy to Communicate Skillfully as a Leader
These coaching behaviors of influencing, teaching, questioning and enabling can be seen in the conversations a coaching leader holds with others. Coaching leaders communicate to understand, not to convince; test their assumptions; ask powerful questions; question organizational and team discrepancies between behavior and outcomes; and reach agreements that lead to higher levels of performance. These leaders communicate quite differently from traditional managers. They share their reasoning, perceptions and beliefs with openness, and change their points of view if presented with new reasoning or data. They ask their employees to back up their points of view with facts and defensible reasoning.
Let’s return to the original question. “How does one get a traditional manager to rely less on power and control and become more of a coaching leader?” As a coach, a good place to start is to focus on behaviors. Such “advocacy” and “inquiry” skills can be learned, practiced and reinforced in the coaching relationship. Following is a chart of short “recipes” that coaches can help their clients to start using in staff meetings, performance discussions, planning meetings, and countless other settings.
| Advocacy | Inquiry |
|---|---|
| I came to this conclusion because… | How did you come to that conclusion? Or Why do you say that? |
| I’m making the following assumptions when I make this statement. | What assumptions are you making when you say that? |
| The following facts lead me to believe that… | What information did you consider when you came to that conclusion? |
| I think…because…I assumed…because… | Help me to understand your reasoning/thinking here. |
| I see the situation as… | How do you see this situation? |
| Testing Your Reasoning | |
| Here’s the data I looked at. | What other data would be important to look at? |
| I infer that you mean… | Am I making an accurate inference? |
| I assumed that… because… | What other assumptions could I make? |
| I came to this conclusion because… | What conclusion would you come to? Have I missed anything? |
The Results of Skillful Communication
Coaching leaders communicate skillfully by balancing advocacy and inquiry. Results can be astounding. At the individual level, employees feel more valued and they are able to contribute their ideas more fully. At the team level, the promise of synergistic team problem-solving is more fully realized. At the organizational level, higher levels of performance are achieved in the bottom line. At the heart of the skills of advocacy and inquiry is the insistence on learning instead of judging. As leaders begin to focus on the behaviors of coaching leadership, they may begin to change their heart and soul and truly become a coaching leader.
This article first appeared in Business Coaching Worldwide (Summer Issue 2005, Volume 1, Issue 2).
Cynthia Roman, Ed.D, PCC, is an Executive Coach and Partner with Strategic Performance Group and a Professor of Leadership Coaching at The George Washington University. She also teaches Leadership at University of Maryland, University College. She is co-author of Leading From the Inside Out: A Coaching Model (2002, Sage Publications). Read more about Cynthia’s work at http://www.strategicperformance.net.
We offer four WABC Accredited levels for maximum impact. WABC Accredited signifies that your offering is among the world’s most elite and rigorous business coaching training programs. For those seeking training that readies them for real-world business challenges, no other program distinction compares.
WABC knows that business coaching training must meet the rapidly changing demands facing businesses and organizations of all kinds around the world. To meet this need, WABC offers program accreditation at four levels.
The four WABC Accredited levels cover the full breadth and depth of development and professional offering in business coaching—practitioner, advanced, master and elite.
To earn any of the four levels, programs must be delivered at a professional level of engagement and must meet our professional standards and rigorous assessment process.
WABC Accredited is only available to training programs that offer business coaching as the main focus of their curriculum. This means over 75% of the learning hours within the program must be focused on the practice, theory and/or research of business coaching.
We accept applications from trainers who offer either:
Even if your program is brand new, or requires significant changes to meet WABC’s standards, you may still be eligible to register in our WABC program accreditation process.
Every applicant program must:
Level 1 programs develop practitioner business coaches. Such programs focus on the practical elements of business coaching for participants with limited previous experience in formal focused coaching skills training, or with some experience that they wish to consolidate fully with best practice.
Level 2 programs develop advanced business coaches. Such programs focus on consolidating technical skills and also encouraging the development of a sound theoretical underpinning to enable their participants to provide a full professional scope of practice and to work to more diverse agendas.
Level 3 programs develop master business coaches who may also choose to specialize. Such programs fully explore, and provide critical engagement with, current approaches, methodologies and theories underpinning the work of business coaches to enable their participants to work to an open agenda that may have a more indirect impact on business outcomes.
Level 4 programs develop elite business coaches who represent the highest level of professional practice. Such programs provide an in-depth process that facilitates an intensive examination based on advanced robust methodologies to enable their participants to demonstrate their senior expertise in operating at this level.
Prepare business coaches, leaders or other professionals to solve practical, real-world business challenges and drive new opportunities with the WABC Accredited® global mark, a program accreditation distinction that ensures you’re offering the most comprehensive and robust business coaching training available in the world.
The global business landscape is evolving at an accelerating pace. The demand for confident, competent leadership and ethical, sustainable business models has never been more pressing and necessary for success.
As a discipline that challenges leaders, teams and individuals to think more critically about clarifying and activating their strategy, business coaching is essential to sustaining organizational achievement.
As a powerful intervention, business coaching is a discipline harnessed by tens of thousands of organizations and businesses worldwide, including many Fortune 500 leaders.
It’s no wonder that such a wide array of business coach training programs are available worldwide, whether through internal corporate solutions, or through open programs offered by universities and training institutions. With such strong market growth, there’s a clear demand and abundance of choice.
Yet the global community of business coaching stakeholders—coaches themselves, their trainers, those thinking about becoming a business coach or the organizations interested in applying their skills—must discern the quality of the training they seek and they put into practice every day.
As an unregulated industry, the challenge is a lack of clarity and consistency on what defines excellence in business coaching. WABC has met this challenge through rigorous self-regulatory initiatives focused on raising the quality, credibility and profile of business coaching worldwide.
As the leader since 1997, WABC leads the business coaching industry in identifying the qualities, actions and skills of the effective business coach.
Our insights have allowed us to deeply understand the link between the quality of an individual business coach’s training and the quality of business coaching services they can deliver.
The WABC Accredited global mark was developed in direct response to this crucial need for clarity, reliable standards and quality service delivery within the industry.
As a program accreditation distinction, WABC Accredited:
WABC Accredited programs equip individuals with the evidence-based competencies that leaders, organizations, individuals and teams need to realize their potential, backed by the latest theoretical and practical knowledge designed to deliver results.
For training programs dedicated to offering the best training and education in business coaching, the route to achieve the WABC Accredited mark is through our WABC program accreditation process.
Our process optimizes your program for success by ensuring your training is grounded in the business coaching best practices shaping the industry today.
Whether you represent an open enrollment program offered by a training provider, university or educational institution, or you represent an internal business coaching training program offered by a corporation, business or other type of organization, the depth and breadth of our program accreditation process ensures your program is built on research-informed best practice.
You’ll learn much more about our program accreditation process when you explore all our WABC Accredited levels.
WABC’s rigorous program accreditation process engages successful providers in a continuous lifecycle—from initial accreditation to annual monitoring to re-accreditation every five years to ensure they deliver the highest, most relevant training to business coaches today and tomorrow.
The WABC Accredited mark means:
WABC Accredited is a testament to the excellence of your program and sets you apart from other training providers. Participants know that WABC prepares them for the practical challenges of business coaching in organizational and business-specific settings.
Because it is based on best practice for both business coaching and program accreditation processes, WABC Accredited broadcasts your program meets the highest global standards and is specifically tailored to business coaching, not coaching in general.
Whether your training is available to the open market or to employees within your organization, effective business coaching training can transform how people perform their role, no matter their career stage or level of seniority.
With four levels of accreditation to suit your needs, you’ll be able to build a relevant program that brings out the best in your participants.
WABC Accredited applications are evaluated by fully qualified, independent assessors. They assess the competencies your program addresses and the quality systems it adheres to, ensuring your training meets WABC’s robust criteria.
Our transparent program accreditation process also offers providers access to fully qualified, independent advisers who provide personalized advisory support and feedback designed to make you think more critically, creatively and strategically about your program offer.
Earning WABC Accredited for your program means your graduates are eligible to receive their own individual WABC credential, a distinction available to graduates of WABC Accredited programs.
WABC credentials signal that your graduates are equipped with the evidence-based knowledge and skills to solve real-world organizational challenges and deliver excellence in business coaching.
Carrying the WABC Accredited distinction means you get to build your program’s brand with the support of a global organization committed to excellence.
You will gain the right to leverage the WABC Accredited brand in your marketing, program and training materials.
You will also have access to exclusive opportunities with WABC to build your thought leadership profile, promote your services and access a global community of business coaches and clients.
The WABC program accreditation process includes demonstrating the success of your program’s standards, approaches and learning models.
By sharing this information with WABC, you build the global body of knowledge about business coaching as an evolving, innovative practice.
Your program accreditation shapes business coaching practice, development and self-regulation around the world, to create even greater efficacy and impacts.
The program accreditation process leading to the WABC Accredited mark enables you to learn an enormous amount about effective business coaching, as your curriculum is measured against WABC’s expansive, detailed knowledge base.
Fine-tune your program for success with helpful, personalized feedback during the accreditation process, so you can offer best-in-class training built on research informed standards and best practice in business coaching and training alike.
Earning WABC Accredited for your program also means your program participants and graduates can also enjoy being part of WABC’s membership community, where they can expand their thinking with access to cutting edge knowledge and build their professional network with like-minded colleagues across the globe.
Prepare business coaches, leaders or other professionals to solve practical, real world business challenges and drive new opportunities with the WABC Accredited® global mark, a program accreditation distinction that ensures you’re offering the most comprehensive and robust business coaching training available in the world.
Whether you are a business coach trainer, a coaching organization, or an institution solidifying your existing offering, building a new program or looking to offer your participants a premium business coaching training experience, WABC Accredited distinguishes you apart from the competition.
Having your program WABC Accredited® means that your graduates are eligible to receive their own individual credential from WABC. This is an exceptional professional development opportunity that will help raise your value as a trainer.
Gain credibility that demonstrates your training is rooted in research-informed best practice. Align your program with a globally recognized distinction, and equip yourself with the confidence of knowledge and expertise from an established association, backed by research.
Align with the global standard for standards, skills and competencies that ensures continued business coaching success. Build your reputation with a specialized program accreditation, designed for business coaches, leaders, managers, directors and teams practicing in business and organizational applications.
Signify that your program is rooted in evidence-informed best practice and robust research, and incorporate thinking from adjacent disciplines, such as neuroscience and psychology, to complement your programs.
Offering a WABC Accredited internal training program builds an engine of business coaches, leaders and other employees that are dedicated to the continued success of your people, your strategies and your performance as an organization.
By supporting your leaders, managers, directors and teams with the knowledge and skills to better identify opportunities, unblock challenges, and work together towards shared objectives and priorities, there’s no limit to how far your organization can go.
Having your program WABC Accredited means that your leaders and employees are able to access high-quality training from you and receive their own individual credential from WABC. Taken together, this is an exceptional professional development opportunity that will help raise your value as an employer.
Clarify your leadership purpose and vision, and engage employees more effectively in achieving your priorities. Establish strategic destinations that strengthen your organization’s alignment and integrate diverse stakeholder and market requirements. Build trust and loyalty with teams and clients more quickly by improving your relationship building and persuasive skills.
Guide your team with clarity and communicate strategic intent to create clearer project asks. Build more trusted relationships with colleagues and reports alike, built on sound advice and authentic leadership. Develop strategic roadmaps and benchmarks that address challenges realistically, to ensure your team can reach them.
Foster a positive work environment that outlines clear expectations and drives more focused mindsets. Build a culture of support, respect and collaboration that is aligned with your core values, expertise and business objectives. Unify teams with diverse perspectives and attract and retain top performers. Operate with integrity and discretion to drive trust across your organization.
Fully engage team members to drive top performance and innovation. Improve each individual’s level of confidence, emotional intelligence and communication skills to motivate collaboration and accountability. Equip your teams with the empathy skills needed to build relationships with diverse stakeholders across the organization.
Build customer experiences that are distinct and increase loyalty and reputation in the market. Enhance your service by building a culture focused on active listening, effective communication and customer satisfaction.
PeopleDynamics Learning Group specializes in developing leaders and those who support leaders in an organizational context. With over two decades of experience in training and developing coaches, WABC was the obvious accreditation partner for our Business Coaching Advantage Program™.
We committed to creating a program with quality and depth, but compact enough that busy leaders can gain proficiency and their Registered Corporate Coach™ (RCC™) credential in a four- to six-month period. Working with WABC’s high standards helped us become clearer about the program’s intentions, and be very concrete about the mindset and skill-set shifts participants can make by completing our program.
In 2013, we were proud to be the first Canadian company to gain the WABC Accredited (Level 1 – RCC)® credential for our program. Our program achieved another significant milestone through achieving re-accreditation with WABC. We are grateful for the support that we received from WABC throughout both the accreditation and re-accreditation processes.
As a pioneer in business coaching in Asia since 2002, Progress-U has developed professional coaches since 2005. Having two programs accredited by WABC allows us to give new, aspiring coaches to understand what it means to be a business coach through the WABC Accredited (Level 1 – RCC)® program or to go for a more extensive route by directly enrolling in the WABC Accredited (Level 2 – CBC)® program.
Going through the rigorous WABC accreditation processes for our two programs has helped us create one of the most comprehensive and demanding professional business coach training curriculums in Asia today.
We chose to work with WABC because of its focus on business coaching and its more rigorous and sound approach to accreditation compared with other major coach certification bodies. The continuous support of the adviser assigned to us was very helpful in giving us a deeper understanding of WABC’s requirements for each level.
The highest quality of WABC Accredited® programs meant that in 2011, Progress-U launched the Asia Innovative Coaching Institute (AICI) to focus its professional business coach development activities and ensure continued training excellence in various locations, including Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai and Singapore.
Our affiliation with WABC began in 2009 when building a coaching culture at a Fortune 100 company. We partnered with WABC due to the strict adherence to standards for evidence-based competencies, strong academic affiliation, and willingness of leadership to engage with clients. While we chose WABC because of its focus on business coaching, what we also discovered in the program accreditation process was WABC’s passion for coaching and commitment to coaching excellence.
When it was time for our own organization, the Global Institute of Organizational Coaching, to create its own line-up of business coaching programs, we just knew they needed to be accredited by WABC.
As with all programs that WABC accredits, evidence-based competencies are the foundation to program design. Philosophically, the Global IOC believes that we must bridge scholarship to practice and back to scholarship in developing coaches who move beyond models and processes to become thinking partners for clients. WABC guides that bridging through its accreditation process and academic affiliations. With its pulse on global connections and needs, WABC also creates opportunities for development that integrates cultures and communities at an international level.
If your desire is to build a first-class coach training program, WABC is the organization for you.
We needed to shift our company’s culture towards a more collaborative, coaching environment. The primary driver for this shift is a vastly changing workforce. Within five years, our workforce will require a new level of leader engagement and to find even greater efficiencies. These realities made the case to build effective, relational leaders using business coaching.
We wanted to create an in-house business coaching program that would align our leader development with our values, business needs and priorities. By leveraging the deep coaching expertise already on our team, we asked Trish Candler, a WABC credentialed coach, to lead and develop our new program. Her first-hand knowledge of our business priorities informed her recommendation that our program become accredited by WABC, the leading global authority on business coaching.
Through the WABC program accreditation process, what we discovered was a new approach for envisioning business coaching in the company. The WABC Program Accreditation Team provided ongoing encouragement and supportive guidance. Their passion for ensuring we understood all aspects of the accreditation requirements and process and their responsiveness to our questions and feedback inspired diligence and perspective in our content development. WABC’s global evidence-based standards, rooted in the real-world needs of organizations just like ours, provided a broad and deep competencies framework and quality assurance that seamlessly aligned with our needs and priorities.
Achieving the WABC Accredited® mark for our program has brought more value than we could have imagined, and we are already reaping the benefits of our program. We’re experiencing a more focused, disciplined and consistent business coaching approach. Our leaders now enjoy increased opportunities within our company to learn business coaching and gain their Registered Corporate Coach credentials, demonstrating greater capacity to meet client needs and expanding their roles with cross-functional coaching opportunities, minimizing organizational silos. Additionally, our leaders are expanding their thinking with enhanced curiosity, leading to greater innovation, accountability and impact.
Our company is proud to have learned so much from the depth of knowledge and commitment exuded by WABC. With our accreditation, we will continue to support our leaders’ development goals with a flexible yet solid framework that drives our workforce today and into the future.
Weplusnetwork Ltd is an Italian association of executive consultants and coaches, experts in developing leaders, managers and other talented professionals within organizations. We have solid experience in designing and delivering business coach training programs, and many of our faculty trainers hold WABC credentials and memberships.
With companies’ growing interest in reinforcing coaching competencies for managers, HR professionals and entrepreneurs, we designed a short but intensive program for senior professionals and managers interested in gaining a better understanding of how business coaching can improve effectiveness within their organizations.
We have operated as a Business Coaching Training School since 2013, and received the WABC Accredited (Level 1 – RCC)® credential in 2015. WABC recognition has been a distinctive mark for our training offers, and our alumni have enjoyed being part of an international cohort that acknowledges WABC evidence-based competencies and professional standards for business coaching.
Many HR professionals and managers of large, multinational or Italian companies have chosen our school because we could offer a credentialing path with special attention to organizational and business needs for people development paths.
In 2020 we successfully achieved the “re-accreditation” of our Business Coaching Lab program. We also plan to additionally pursue the WABC Accredited (Level 2 – CBC)® distinction in 2021. This choice is not rooted only in market issues, but also in the “professional growth” that WABC can offer to WABC Accredited® programs. The WABC re-accreditation process allowed us to systematize and enrich training content offered to delegates, and to confer with senior WABC Accredited® advisers during the process. WABC proves very helpful to keep our programs up to date, distinctive and reinforced with global best practices.
We can attest to the value WABC provides for both training participants and training providers.
WABC’s clear focus on business coaching is the reason why we decided to choose them as our accreditor for our Shift Corporate Coach Program. Our clients are business leaders, corporate coaches and HR professionals who appreciate the merit and significant credibility that the WABC Accredited® mark brings to our program. Our clients value the extremely high standards WABC sets to ensure that our program is top notch. WABC’s founder, Wendy Johnson, and the WABC Program Accreditation Team have continually supported us as we grow. Their guidance and support have been invaluable and exceeded all expectations.
WABC builds excellence at every level of business coaching. From creating robust evidence-informed standards to ensuring that program providers offer exceptional business coaching training, we continually find new ways to support business coaching achievement. Take the next step to build a better training program.
Are you a champion of business coaching within your organization and want to introduce WABC to your employer to see what’s possible?
Whether your organization has a business coaching program or is interested in building one, WABC accredits in-house programs to ensure that your employees are trained to coach using the latest research-informed best practice and global standards.
With WABC, program providers can expect a program accreditation process unlike any other in the coaching industry.
In fact, the path to earn the WABC Accredited mark is an important professional and business developmental opportunity in its own right. By design, you will move through our process of progressive stages and steps that enable you to showcase your program offering for evaluation.
Many training providers and organizations want to enhance their credibility and build WABC Accredited programs that drive tangible business results, but aren’t sure where to start.
WABC helps providers develop WABC Accredited training programs, and offers a range of consulting and business services to identify opportunities and improve coaching within organizations.
We invite experts and researchers worldwide to apply their expertise to the subjects impacting business coaching, which integrates the work of many adjacent disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, behavioral science, ethnography, among others.
WABC applies the highest possible standards to business coaching. Extensive research on the topics currently shaping both coaching and business more broadly enhances our knowledge on subjects influencing business coaching standards, programs and practices.
As part of our goal to apply the highest standards, WABC constantly seeks robust research to enhance our evidence base on “what works” or “what is promising” in contemporary business coaching worldwide, while also considering the professional expertise/expert opinion of business coaching professionals.
We invite experts and researchers worldwide to apply their expertise to the subjects impacting business coaching, which integrates the work of many adjacent disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, behavioral science, ethnography, among others.
Organizations and businesses of all kinds have new challenges to face in our quickly changing global environments. Success today requires advancing on many fronts simultaneously, including facing new industry entrants and disruptors, adapting to customer demands, competing to attract and retain top talent, and establishing clarity of vision through tumultuous times. Leading organizations know business coaching is essential to support the alignment between organizational goals and the leaders, teams and individuals responsible for driving their success.
Organizations have new challenges to face in our quickly changing global environments. Success today requires advancing on many fronts simultaneously, including facing new industry entrants and disruptors, adapting to customer demands, competing to attract and retain top talent, and establishing clarity of vision through tumultuous times.
As these challenges grow increasingly intertwined, traditional siloed thinking lacks the relevance to operate effectively in this new context. It takes enduring commitment to continuously focus on the right business initiatives at the right time, find the precise balance of objectives, resources and timing, and build transparency and accountability at all levels of an organization to realize sustained success.
This shift requires new knowledge and skills. Developing a learning mindset, building resilience and adopting adaptability are key to driving growth, innovation and peak performance from leaders, teams and individuals alike. Achieving organizational goals requires alignment and accountability at every level of an organization.
As organizations rise to meet these demands and realize their strategic intents, business coaching can support the alignment between organizational goals and the leaders, teams and individuals responsible for driving their success.
Business coaching impacts individuals, teams and the organizations they work within. A business coach will leverage their expertise to build on the current state of both the organization and the individuals within it, to enhance performance and leadership potential. It is a role that is, by nature, supportive, disruptive and progressive.
Business coaching is distinct in that it addresses the needs of both the individual and the organization they work within. This distinction makes business coaching a unique discipline within the world of coaching more broadly. Business coaches can go by many names—including executive coach, organizational coach, leadership coach, or corporate coach—yet each one focuses on the shared business goals and objectives of both the client and the organization. This dual focus separates business coaching as a distinct practice from all other kinds of coaching.
Business coaches support organizational goals and objectives, at an individual or team level, by identifying opportunities and supporting clients in their actions to achieve results. The business coach’s role can take on many forms—it can be supportive, disruptive and progressive to encourage insights, development, change and growth.
Business coaching is industry agnostic, meaning the competencies of an effective business coach can be applied to any sectors or industries. Some business coaches may choose to specialize and offer their services in a particular industry. This is especially true with WABC business coaches, as they are required to have business and organizational experience before earning their WABC credentials.
Business coaches are strategic partners who build your business and operational success. Among the broad array of service offerings, business coaches may help:
Business coaching engagements can be initiated for many reasons—ultimately, the goal is to remove roadblocks or challenges or to stimulate new insights or pathways so a business, company or organization can achieve its full potential and sustain or grow its market position.
Business coaching helps leaders, individuals and teams respond more effectively to change and accept greater accountability. It is often used to help high-performers reach even greater success as they engage with new opportunities for growth, at both a professional and organizational level.
An internal manager is taking over a new team and wants to understand how to integrate into an existing dynamic and build trust.
A business coach can help facilitate a smooth transition and provide the leader with clarity on how to build a vision and engage their team effectively.
An organization is going through a business transformation related to their goals, processes or technologies.
A business coach can help manage change effectively by implementing strategies to support the transition and adoption of the new priorities.
A president or CEO is ready to step down and is looking to build a succession plan to ready the organization for a significant leadership change.
A business coach can help the leader transition their expertise and knowledge effectively, and build clarity of vision while navigating a complex leadership handover.
If a team isn’t working well together, performance challenges and missed targets are common symptoms of underlying tension and lack of trust.
Business coaches can work with both individuals and teams to improve their dynamic, build trust with one another and find new ways to collaborate to increase productivity.
Supporting mental health is instrumental in retaining top performers and building an optimal, innovative work environment.
A business coach can improve employees’ understanding of how they contribute to an organization’s priorities, how to maintain an appropriate work/life balance, and how to be more authentic and open within the workplace.
The Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC) leads the business coaching industry in identifying the qualities, actions and skills you need to drive leading business outcomes and harness emerging opportunities.
As the industry leader since 1997, WABC has elevated business coaching practices worldwide and helped countless coaches, clients and companies successfully navigate complexity and achieve tangible business results.
Our global community spans more than 125 countries, and includes business coaches who work with entrepreneurs, managers, CEOs, presidents and professionals from all industries, all sectors, and all organizational sizes.
Enhance your customer service experience and build trust and loyalty with clients. Business coaching can help improve relationships and align individuals’ actions more closely with performance goals.
Drive performance with your team by strengthening internal engagement to drive greater innovation and more insightful decision-making. Improve the confidence, emotional intelligence and communication skills to motivate team members towards better performance.
Improve your organization’s ability to more effectively deliver on your mission to the communities you serve. Boost creativity, innovation and accountability for your programs, and more clearly articulate the need in ways that resonate with the public.
Increase the efficacy of your program delivery by thinking more strategically and spotting opportunities that drive greater results. Build support more effectively, both within your organization and with external partners and stakeholders.
Gather the right information from clients by asking more insightful questions and tailoring your approach more effectively. Guide your clients towards clarity by offering clear, strategic intent.
Build trusted partnerships founded on advice, authenticity and a sense of being in your client’s corner. Enhance your strategic deliverables with solutions that address clients’ challenges realistically and effectively.
Strengthen the ability to identify client needs and get to the root cause of operational challenges more effectively. Gain a wider strategic view on how technology infrastructure supports business and operational strategy.
Build organizational roadmaps that take into account the diverse requirements across departments. Equip teams with the relationship-building skills and empathy needed to drive stakeholder satisfaction.
Increase employee focus by fostering a positive working environment through setting clear expectations of organizational priorities and safety. Align business objectives and team priorities more closely by equipping leaders with the skills to manage their teams more effectively.
Improve your customer service experience with increased loyalty and customer satisfaction. Build a supportive and respectful culture that takes into account the importance of a team member’s overall wellbeing, including their mental health.
Business coaching offers many ways to achieve your business objectives and build a business coaching culture within your organization. Take the next step towards achieving sustainable performance improvement with WABC.
Search the WABC Business Coach Locator to find your qualified coaching partner in accelerating your professional or organizational achievement.
Are you a champion of business coaching within your organization and want to introduce WABC to your employer to see what’s possible?
Whether your organization has a business coaching program or is interested in building one, WABC accredits in-house programs to ensure that your employees are trained to coach using the latest research-informed best practice and global standards.
Many organizations see the value in using business coaching to unlock the potential within their organization, but don’t know where to start.
WABC offers a range of consulting and business services to identify opportunities and improve business coaching within organizations.
Whether you are a business coach, client, training provider or member of the public, WABC enhances business coaching confidence by delivering relevant, robust and reliable academic and professional principles and standards. Our best-in-class benchmarks reward excellence and build discipline in the business coaching industry towards research and sound practice.
Monday–Friday
8am–5pm PT (UTC-8)
WABC’s working language is English, therefore membership benefits and assistance is offered in English. Select programs may be available in various languages, and will be identified in the listing.
Worldwide Association of Business Coaches
c/o WABC Coaches Inc.
Box 215
Saanichton, BC V8M 2C3 Canada
In 2025, our offices will be closed on the following dates:
