CMBC is an evidence-based WABC credential held by professionals around the world. As a highly esteemed, world-class distinction, CMBC positions you at the leading edge of your field in both expertise and training. CMBC enables you to confidently tackle complex goals that may impact broader business and organizational outcomes.
Expand your expertise and tackle a broader range of business and organizational challenges and contribute findings to the business coaching field. Set your extensive experience and skills apart as a master business coach who can serve senior-level clients in a variety of industries.
WABC Certified Master Business Coach (CMBC) is a highly esteemed, world-class distinction that tells the industry you are at the leading edge of your field in both expertise and training. CMBC enables you to confidently tackle complex goals with non-fixed outcomes that may impact broader business and organizational outcomes. CMBC also affords you the opportunity to contribute your knowledge and research to the business coaching profession and establish yourself as a leader in the business coaching community.
Regardless of what professional role you have (e.g., leader, manager, internal or external business coach, external consultant), if you’re doing business coaching, WABC offers different training options via WABC Accredited (Level 3 – CMBC)® programs to become a CMBC, based on your level of experience.
Once you earn CMBC, you will also become part of our global community, where professional business coaches from across the globe come together to enhance their skills, expand their professional networks and influence the business coaching industry more broadly.
CMBC gives you a distinct competitive edge, and tells the market you’ve progressed beyond general coach training to build master-level specialized business coaching skills that support a broad range of non-fixed business-oriented and organizational goals and objectives.
The CMBC credential is for individuals who are very experienced in business coaching, who want to achieve mastery and possibly specialize, and who want to position themselves as a business coaching leader in their field.
Because WABC credentials specifically prepare you for coaching to support businesses or organizations, an appropriate professional background from working within businesses and organizations is essential to ground your training in real-world situations. Your professional experience is the foundation for pursuing a WABC credential.
On average, CMBCs have a minimum of 10-15 years of business coaching experience, and a minimum of 15-20 years of business and organizational experience.
As a CMBC, you can fully explore and contribute to the business coaching dialogue by engaging with current approaches, methodologies and research-informed theories and best practice of business coaching, including that of related disciplines. You will also engage critically with research and design your own evidence-seeking project.
By engaging your master-level skills and expertise, you may be accountable for critical analysis, diagnosis, design, planning, execution and evaluation of business coaching activities and you may also choose to specialize.
You’ll also be able to provide business coaching to an open client agenda that may have a more indirect impact on business and organizational outcomes.
The credential you choose will be based on your previous coaching experience, skill level, ambition, professional development goals and your client needs. Not sure if CMBC is right for you? See Compare Credentials for further guidance.
WABC Accredited (Level 3 – CMBC)® programs and options are available for you to earn CMBC. The WABC Accredited program provider will determine your eligibility and suitable program option during an initial screening interview.
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To earn CMBC, you must meet these requirements:
To provide ethically sound and expert guidance, professionals in all areas of practice must keep up to date on the latest research, evidence and opinion on how to effectively serve their clients’ needs.
A clear professional development strategy allows business coaches to stay relevant and innovative in providing the best possible expertise to their clients.
As a professional certification credential, you have a few ongoing requirements to maintain your credential that are designed to complement your coaching practice as an opportunity for learning and growth.
As a CMBC, you must:
Earning your CMBC involves the following fees:
*These fees may be included in the training program pricing. Otherwise, you can find the WABC fees in JOIN WABC.
Maintaining your CMBC:
Please see “Maintaining Your Credential” below.
Each WABC credential is intended to be a stand-alone credential, which enables business coaches to pursue the credential that is right for their ambition, professional goals and client needs at any point in their careers.
Our non-linear training approach is purposefully designed to suit the diverse needs of business coaches with flexible and responsive learning options and credentials.
Your program will offer you a range of options to meet the research project requirements (e.g., a small literature review, a collaborative inquiry or action research, a case study, or an in-depth research project).
You may either:
For your previous research project to be accepted, it must meet the following criteria:
While enrolled in your program, you will have access to full guidelines for how to meet the research project requirements.
If your WABC Accredited (Level 3 – CMBC) program was recently accredited by WABC, check with your program instructor on your eligibility for CMBC.
You have five years from your graduation date to become a WABC member, as long as you meet the minimum WABC membership requirements for CMBC.
If you were already a WABC member while taking an WABC Accredited (Level 3 – CMBC) program but allowed your membership to lapse prior to program completion, you’ll be required to rejoin WABC and pay the associated fees before receiving your CMBC.
Certification is a voluntary process by which a nongovernmental body recognizes an individual who has successfully met predetermined qualifications. As an advanced, evidence-based credential, CMBC falls within this type of qualification.
It is the most rigorous level of professional credentialing available for individuals. Professional certification credentials that follow industry best practice require validation, carry re-certification requirements and are subject to revocation. CMBC adheres to these best practices.
CMBC is a professional certification which means it is a “working or applied” credential. Unlike certificates and degrees which transfer knowledge and skills, professional certifications measure how an individual uses knowledge and skills in real-life situations. By certifying that the holder is able to currently practice at a certain level, certification maintains public trust in the delivery of service.
For a professional certification credential to remain valid, the holder must stay relevant with current practice and theories. That’s why it’s a certification best practice for holders to meet ongoing requirements, such as continuing professional development, to maintain their certified credentials.
In order to maintain your CMBC credential, there are two ongoing requirements which both require fees:
As a CMBC, you must:
Taking a sabbatical during your career may affect your CMBC credential.
Yes, your CMBC credential can be revoked under certain circumstances.
CMBC may be listed in several ways. Please log in to your dashboard for further guidance and access to applicable WABC logos.
After you become a CMBC, you’ll get access to a digital badge to easily verify and promote your credential on websites, email signatures and other marketing materials.
Each WABC credential is intended to be a stand-alone credential. The credential you choose will be based on your previous coaching experience, skill level, ambition, professional development goals and your client needs.
| PRACTITIONER RCC™ | ADVANCED CBC™ | MASTER CMBC® | ELITE ChBC® |
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| Level of Credential | Level of Credential | Level of Credential | Level of Credential |
| RCC is an evidence-based WABC credential held by professionals around the world. As a highly respected global credential, RCC raises your credibility and positions you as a practitioner business coach with specialized business coaching skills. RCC enables you to support a range of business-oriented and organizational goals and objectives. | CBC is an evidence-based WABC credential held by professionals around the world. As a highly respected global credential, CBC positions you as an advanced business coach with specialized business coaching skills. CBC enables you to support a wider range of business-oriented and organizational goals and objectives. | CMBC is an evidence-based WABC credential held by professionals around the world. As a highly esteemed, world-class distinction, CMBC positions you at the leading edge of your field in both expertise and training. CMBC enables you to confidently tackle complex goals that may impact broader business and organizational outcomes. | ChBC is an evidence-based WABC credential held by professionals around the world. As a highly coveted, world-class distinction, ChBC positions you as being among the best of the best in the business coaching profession worldwide. ChBC demonstrates your significant impact and influence with your senior expertise, specialized knowledge and professional competence to take on the most challenging business coaching engagements. |
| Eligible Candidates | Eligible Candidates | Eligible Candidates | Eligible Candidates |
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| Program Duration & Hours (approx.) | Program Duration & Hours (approx.) | Program Duration & Hours (approx.) | Program Duration & Hours (approx.) |
| DURATION 1.5–3 months HOURS Up to 75–150 total learning hours | DURATION 4.5–9 months HOURS Up to 300–600 total learning hours | DURATION 12–24 months HOURS Up to 1200–1800 total learning hours | DURATION 3–12 months HOURS Up to 900 total learning hours |
| Program Options Available | Program Options Available | Program Options Available | Program Options Available |
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| Program Modes Available | Program Modes Available | Program Modes Available | Program Modes Available |
| Many modes available depending on program enrolled in (e.g. in-person, virtual, blended) | Many modes available depending on program enrolled in (e.g. in-person, virtual, blended) | Many modes available depending on program enrolled in (e.g. in-person, virtual, blended) | Many modes available depending on program enrolled in (e.g. in-person, virtual, blended) |
| Program Supervision | Program Supervision | Program Supervision | Program Supervision |
| Appropriate supervision is provided | Appropriate supervision is provided | Appropriate supervision is provided | Appropriate supervision is provided |
| Program Completion Deliverables | Program Completion Deliverables | Program Completion Deliverables | Program Completion Deliverables |
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| Re-certification Requirements | Re-certification Requirements | Re-certification Requirements | Re-certification Requirements |
| There are no requirements to maintain your RCC credential |
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| WABC Standards | WABC Standards | WABC Standards | WABC Standards |
| Legal | Legal | Legal | Legal |
| WABC reserves all rights in connection with the Registered Corporate Coach (RCC) credential, including the right to change the requirements of RCC credential, and to replace RCC credential. | WABC reserves all rights in connection with the WABC Certified Business Coach (CBC) credential, including the right to change the requirements of CBC credential, and to replace CBC credential. | WABC reserves all rights in connection with the WABC Certified Master Business Coach (CMBC) credential, including the right to change the requirements of CMBC credential, and to replace CMBC credential. | WABC reserves all rights in connection with the Chartered Business Coach (ChBC) credential, including the right to change the requirements of ChBC credential, and to replace ChBC credential. |
When you earn any of WABC’s credentials for business coaches—RCC™, CBC™, CMBC® or ChBC®—you will enroll in a WABC Accredited program. All WABC Accredited programs undergo rigorous independent initial assessment, and providers are regularly reviewed to ensure they continue to meet our standards of excellence. This ensures their programs continue to be relevant to the market and meet our exacting global standards for business coach training programs.
Over the course of my career I have continued my education with numerous credential and professional licenses within the financial services industry, including with a Fortune 100 company. WABC is a rigorous association that keeps high standards on the same level as Investment and Wealth Institute, which offers the CIMA.
I appreciate the in-depth knowledge required to attain the WABC Certified Business Coach™ (CBC™) and the WABC Certified Master Business Coach® (CMBC®) credentials, as the WABC Accredited® programs that lead to these credentials are structured to develop participants into excellent business coaches. WABC’s exclusivity and high standards set the bar for meaningful credentials which can help others through coaching.
My credentials have been extremely rewarding to me and my career. The training and continued focus on business coaching has benefited the teams I have led and their overall success. With the processes and structure of coaching, I have helped individuals identify goals and action plans that help them accomplish more than they thought they could ever accomplish. Coaching has enabled me to communicate more effectively, enhance my recruiting and retention of top talent and increase overall engagement from my teams.
There are many associations that offer credentials for a few hour or weekend course and provide a certificate or credential. This “weekend designation” is detrimental to the industry, as clients may not be certain of the level of knowledge achieved. WABC does a great job on sharing the value, knowledge and overall worth of the credentials that so many great coaches have achieved.
The WABC Certified Business Coach™ (CBC™) and especially the WABC Certified Master Business Coach® (CMBC®) have set my coaching practice on a much higher plane of professionalism and utility. WABC holds their members to a very high level of standards, education and development that differentiate them in the business coaching industry.
I am fortunate to be employed by a Fortune 100 company that places a high value on coaching. The Worldwide Association of Business Coaches provides our leaders who hold the Registered Corporate Coach™ (RCC™), WABC Certified Business Coach™ (CBC™) and WABC Certified Master Business Coach® (CMBC®) credentials with a standard of excellence and credibility in the coaching industry. The CMBC® credential has brought value to my own coaching practice as well as to the customers I support. Intrinsic to that value is the five-year re-certification requirement because it holds me accountable for continuous learning and professional development.
CMBC® positions you at the leading edge of your field in both expertise and training.
Let’s get started!
Find a listing of our programs below or reach out to us if you’d like some further guidance.
If CMBC® isn’t quite the right fit for you, we’ll have a WABC credential that is.
Whether you are beginning your coaching journey (RCC™), enhancing your professional services (CBC™), mastering coaching specialties (CMBC®) or taking on the most demanding coaching assignments in the market (ChBC®), WABC has a credential to suit your ambition, professional goals and client needs.
