WABC Full Membership—advancing business coaching excellence and professional practice—is designed for experienced active professional business coaches.
WABC Full Membership—advancing business coaching excellence and professional practice—is designed for experienced active professional business coaches.
WABC Full Membership is our advanced-level for experienced active professional business coaches who represent many professional roles (e.g., leader, manager, internal or external business coach, external consultant).
Professional business coaches at this level have an appropriate professional background, training in evidence-based business coaching and a minimum of 3 years of business coaching experience. And, virtually all hold at least one WABC business coaching credential (RCC™, CBC™, CMBC®, ChBC®) based on meeting eligibility requirements.
Once you become a WABC Full Member, you’re part of our global community, where professional business coaches from across the world come together to enhance their skills, expand their professional networks and influence our business coaching profession more broadly.
WABC Full Membership is our advanced-level for active professional business coaches.
Because WABC membership at the appropriate level is required for all WABC business coaching credentials, and because our credentials specifically prepare you for business coaching in any kind of business or organization across sectors and industries, an appropriate professional background is essential to ground your coaching in real-world situations.
Mastery comes over time and diverse experiences—simply counting coaching hours doesn’t accurately measure impact.
No matter your business or organizational context, your professional experience is the foundation for pursuing this membership level and any WABC business coaching credential.
As the business coaching industry has evolved, having an evidence-based business coaching credential is often expected by diverse clients in markets around the world. Virtually all current WABC members hold at least one WABC credential because our clients understand that our work is specialized and requires the right experience, knowledge and skills. Currently WABC offers two levels of membership for active professional business coaches at various stages in their careers.
WABC seeks to have an inclusive member community, and base our requirements on business experience, coaching experience and references. We highly prefer that you have successfully completed a WABC Accredited® Program or WABC Portfolio Pathway and earned a WABC credential(s), or are currently enrolled in a WABC Accredited Program or WABC Portfolio Pathway to earn a WABC credential commensurate with your level of business coaching experience. If you wish to be considered for membership and do not hold, or are seeking to earn, a WABC credential, you must have successfully completed an appropriate formal evidence-based business coaching training program or assessment from another organization.
Yes. Your WABC Membership is connected to you as an individual, not your organization. So even if your employer paid for your membership, it is fully portable should your employment change and you continue to meet WABC’s eligibility requirements.
The membership term is valid for one year from the date your application is approved and your full payment is processed.
Memberships are required to be renewed on an annual basis.
As a WABC Member, you’ll receive your personalized WABC Member Promo Package (digital package including a letter, certificate, badge and personalized verification page) enabling you to promote your membership on websites, email signatures and other marketing materials.
For WABC Accredited Programs: Learn about the best time to join in the Applying & Fees section.
For WABC Portfolio Pathway: Yes, as you’ll be required to join WABC before registering in the Portfolio Pathway.
Choosing your membership level will be based on your business coaching experience
Let’s ensure WABC Full Membership is right for you:
Timing is everything – when you join depends on your professional goals and if you’re currently pursuing a WABC credential through a WABC Accredited® Program or Portfolio Pathway
Let’s find the best time for you …
You have successfully completed an appropriate formal evidence-based business coaching training program or assessment and are actively providing business coaching services.
It’s time to join – proceed to step 3!
You have enrolled in a WABC Accredited Program.
Pause: See Enrolled in a WABC Accredited Program?
If joining now is right for you, proceed to step 3!
You have completed WABC’s exploratory stage and have been invited to enroll in the WABC Portfolio Pathway pending your acceptance as a WABC Full Member.
It’s time to join – proceed to step 3!
Applying to become a WABC Full Member is very straightforward – you’ll submit an application and make your payment
Application: We’ll first ask you some pre-qualifying questions to ensure this membership level is right for you. If it is, the application will ask you about your business coaching activities and other related information. Your application will be supplemented by an appropriate résumé or CV and five references*.
Are you enrolled in, or have graduated from, a WABC Accredited Program?
If yes, you are exempted from providing a résumé or CV and exempted from providing five verifiable references.
Are you a pre-approved applicant in the WABC Portfolio Pathway?
You have completed WABC’s exploratory stage and have been invited to enroll in the WABC Portfolio Pathway pending your acceptance as a WABC Full Member.
If yes, you are exempted from providing a résumé or CV and exempted from providing five verifiable references.
Payment: We offer a variety of ways to make payment (e.g., credit or debit cards). (Check if payment already made)
When enrolled in a WABC Accredited Program to earn RCC™ , CBC™ or CMBC®:
Please ask your training provider if a WABC Membership and WABC Credential Promo Package were included in their program fee.
NOTE: It’s also possible that your employer has made joining arrangements on your behalf. Please inquire with them before proceeding.
Don’t hesitate to contact WABC if you’d like further guidance at this early stage and before you start the application process.
Our review commences once all required information (e.g., application, résumé or CV (if applicable), five references (if applicable)) and payment is received. The full review generally takes 1 – 2 business days unless additional information is required and/or WABC is observing a bank holiday or scheduled break.
As the world’s leading business coaching association, sharing your affiliation with WABC can build your professional reputation. Our new membership and promo packages are designed to enhance your credibility, verify the authenticity of your affiliation, and share your accomplishment with your network.
Available to graduates of WABC Accredited (Level 1 – RCC) Programs only
OPTION1:
US$540
WABC Full Membership
+ NEW Member Promo Package
+ NEW RCC Promo Package
OPTION 2:
US$505
WABC Full Membership
+ NEW RCC Promo Package
Available to graduates of WABC Accredited (Level 2 – CBC) Programs only
OPTION 1:
US$540
WABC Full Membership
+ NEW Member Promo Package
+ NEW CBC Promo Package
OPTION 2:
US$505
WABC Full Membership
+ NEW CBC Promo Package
Available to graduates of WABC Accredited (Level 3 – CMBC) Programs only
OPTION 1:
US$540
WABC Full Membership
+ NEW Member Promo Package
+ NEW CMBC Promo Package
OPTION 2:
US$505
WABC Full Membership
+ NEW CMBC Promo Package
Available to new members, re-joining members and pre-approved applicants in the WABC Portfolio Pathway (RCC, CBC, CMBC or ChBC)
OPTION 1:
US$505
WABC Full Membership
+ NEW Member Promo Package
Available to current WABC Full Members who successfully completed the WABC Portfolio Pathway (RCC) – US$35
Available to current WABC Full Members who successfully completed the WABC Portfolio Pathway (CBC) – US$35
Available to current WABC Full Members who successfully completed the WABC Portfolio Pathway (CMBC) – US$35
Available to current WABC Full Members who successfully completed the WABC Portfolio Pathway (ChBC) – US$35
New Members
Individuals may request a refund of their membership fee, less the applicable promo package(s) and administrative fees, within the first 30 days of membership at any level with these exceptions and conditions:
Since WABC has historically had an extremely low rate of new member withdrawal, members requesting refunds are asked to participate in a short exit survey.
Renewing Members
No refunds are available.
Please review the Terms of Membership for more details.
I have been a member of many professional associations of the years, and none have made as strong of an impression as the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches.
What impressed me the most about the WABC is the level and quality of interaction from leadership. A website inquiry led to a personal call from the WABC founder, Wendy Johnson. She took a personal interest and gave sound guidance regarding membership options, as well as credentialing suggestions and explained the unique value of business coaching, which had been my focal point. This personal touch was a fresh and welcome approach, instantly making me feel a sense of belonging. There are a myriad of coaching avenues, but it was divine intervention and a fellow Registered Corporate Coach™ (RCC™) who led me to WABC.
As a member of WABC, I truly feel part of a family of exceptional highly professional colleagues dedicated to delivering the highest standards in Business Coaching. I have expanded on my prior experience and knowledge, incorporating models, processes and understanding using evidence-based standards that are sound, reputable, relevant and, especially in these times, critical for organizations and leaders.
WABC offers a wealth of business coaching support, through networks, directory exposure, resources, along with foundational tools for coach development, executive education, and coaching selling platforms, but the personal touch is what is by far the most unique in the industry.
I am honored to be WABC credentialed and vetted. Yes, membership requires a precise verification of all third-party credentials, which adds tremendous credibility and value to WABC’s Business Coach Locator directory. After years of confusion around certification and affiliation, I am forever grateful to WABC for the challenge, knowledge, and opportunity to obtain a greater depth of neuroscience and evidence-based methodologies that allows me to grow my passion for coaching and to serve clients alongside a sophisticated coaching community.
Having been in the coaching business for nearly 20 years, I have seen the coaching sector grow exponentially and witnessed the rise of many professional bodies. I am an advocate for WABC as there is a beautiful clarity that sits at the essence of all they do—they serve the needs of business coaches. This is in a large part to the clarity of leadership provided by Wendy Johnson, unwavering in her vision and boundaries about WABC’s place in the coaching world.
As a professional business coach, I can tell my clients that I am a member of a credible business coach professional body which acknowledges and recognizes the needs of coaches working in their sector. I have found the experience of re-certification a rigorous and provocative activity which has had me reflect meaningfully on my coaching practice. The benefit of this is being able to tell my clients, with integrity, that I have earned the right and provided the evidence to retain my WABC certification which is additive to my business coaching credentials.
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.
and professional practice with exclusive credentials, thought leadership and resources
and access our global community
to your clients, employer and organizations
WABC Affiliate Membership—advancing business coaching excellence and professional practice—is designed for newer and part-time active professional business coaches.
WABC Affiliate Membership—advancing business coaching excellence and professional practice—is designed for newer and part-time active professional business coaches.
WABC Affiliate Membership is our entry-level for newer and part-time active professional business coaches who represent many professional roles (e.g., leader, manager, internal or external business coach, external consultant).
Professional business coaches at this level have an appropriate professional background, training in evidence-based business coaching and less than 3 years of business coaching experience (although they could have more). And, virtually all hold at least one WABC business coaching credential available to them (RCC™, CBC™) based on meeting eligibility requirements.
Once you become a WABC Affiliate Member, you’re part of our global community, where professional business coaches from across the world come together to enhance their skills, expand their professional networks and influence our business coaching profession more broadly.
WABC Affiliate Membership is our entry-level for active professional business coaches.
Because WABC membership at the appropriate level is required for all WABC business coaching credentials, and because our credentials specifically prepare you for business coaching in any kind of business or organization across sectors and industries, an appropriate professional background is essential to ground your coaching in real-world situations.
Mastery comes over time and diverse experiences—simply counting coaching hours doesn’t accurately measure impact.
No matter your business or organizational context, your professional experience is the foundation for pursuing this membership level and any WABC business coaching credential.
As the business coaching industry has evolved, having an evidence-based business coaching credential is often expected by diverse clients in markets around the world. Virtually all current WABC members hold at least one WABC credential because our clients understand that our work is specialized and requires the right experience, knowledge and skills. Currently WABC offers two levels of membership for active professional business coaches at various stages in their careers.
WABC seeks to have an inclusive member community, and base our requirements on business experience, coaching experience and references. We highly prefer that you have successfully completed a WABC Accredited® Program or WABC Portfolio Pathway and earned a WABC credential(s), or are currently enrolled in a WABC Accredited Program or WABC Portfolio Pathway to earn a WABC credential commensurate with your level of business coaching experience. If you wish to be considered for membership and do not hold, or are seeking to earn, a WABC credential, you must have successfully completed an appropriate formal evidence-based business coaching training program or assessment from another organization.
Yes. Your WABC Membership is connected to you as an individual, not your organization. So even if your employer paid for your membership, it is fully portable should your employment change and you continue to meet WABC’s eligibility requirements.
The membership term is valid for one year from the date your application is approved and your full payment is processed.
Memberships are required to be renewed on an annual basis.
As a WABC Member, you’ll receive your personalized WABC Member Promo Package (digital package including a letter, certificate, badge and personalized verification page) enabling you to promote your membership on websites, email signatures and other marketing materials.
For WABC Accredited Programs: Learn about the best time to join in the Applying & Fees section.
For WABC Portfolio Pathway: Yes, as you’ll be required to join WABC before registering in the Portfolio Pathway.
Choosing your membership level will be based on your business coaching experience
Let’s ensure WABC Affiliate Membership is right for you:
Timing is everything – when you join depends on your professional goals and if you’re currently pursuing a WABC credential through a WABC Accredited® Program or Portfolio Pathway
Let’s find the best time for you …
You have successfully completed an appropriate formal evidence-based business coaching training program or assessment and are transitioning into or actively providing business coaching services.
It’s time to join – proceed to step 3!
You are new, with no formal business coaching experience and have enrolled in a WABC Accredited Program with the intention of providing business coaching services over the next year.
Pause: See Enrolled in a WABC Accredited Program?
If joining now is right for you, proceed to step 3!
You are new, with no formal business coaching experience and have not yet enrolled in a WABC Accredited Program with the intention of providing business coaching services over the next year.
Pause: See RCC to enroll in a WABC Accredited Program
You have completed WABC’s exploratory stage and have been invited to enroll in the WABC Portfolio Pathway pending your acceptance as a WABC Affiliate Member.
It’s time to join – proceed to step 3!
Applying to become a WABC Affiliate Member is very straightforward – you’ll submit an application and make your payment
Application: We’ll first ask you some pre-qualifying questions to ensure this membership level is right for you. If it is, the application will ask you about your business coaching activities and other related information. Your application will be supplemented by an appropriate résumé or CV*.
Are you enrolled in, or have graduated from, a WABC Accredited Program?
If yes, you are exempted from providing a résumé or CV.
Are you a pre-approved applicant in the WABC Portfolio Pathway?
You have completed WABC’s exploratory stage and have been invited to enroll in the WABC Portfolio Pathway pending your acceptance as a WABC Affiliate Member.
If yes, you are exempted from providing a résumé or CV.
Payment: We offer a variety of ways to make payment (e.g., credit or debit cards). (Check if payment already made)
When enrolled in a WABC Accredited Program to earn either RCC™ or CBC™:
Please ask your training provider if a WABC Membership and WABC Credential Promo Package were included in their program fee.
NOTE: It’s also possible that your employer has made joining arrangements on your behalf. Please inquire with them before proceeding.
When enrolled in a WABC Accredited Program to earn CMBC®:
You’ll join us as a WABC Full Member.
Don’t hesitate to contact WABC if you’d like further guidance at this early stage and before you start the application process.
Our review commences once all required information (e.g., application, résumé or CV (if applicable)) and payment is received. The full review generally takes 1 – 2 business days unless additional information is required and/or WABC is observing a bank holiday or scheduled break.
As the world’s leading business coaching association, sharing your affiliation with WABC can build your professional reputation. Our new membership and promo packages are designed to enhance your credibility, verify the authenticity of your affiliation, and share your accomplishment with your network.
Available to graduates of WABC Accredited (Level 1 – RCC) Programs only
OPTION 1:
US$340
WABC Affiliate Membership
+ NEW Member Promo Package
+ NEW RCC Promo Package
OPTION 2:
US$305
WABC Affiliate Membership
+ NEW RCC Promo Package
Available to graduates of WABC Accredited (Level 2 – CBC) Programs only
OPTION 1:
US$340
WABC Affiliate Membership
+ NEW Member Promo Package
+ NEW CBC Promo Package
OPTION 2:
US$305
WABC Affiliate Membership
+ NEW CBC Promo Package
Available to new members, re-joining members and pre-approved applicants in the WABC Portfolio Pathway (RCC or CBC)
OPTION 1:
US$305
WABC Affiliate Membership
+ NEW Member Promo Package
Available to current WABC Affiliate Members who successfully completed the WABC Portfolio Pathway (RCC) – US$35
Available to current WABC Affiliate Members who successfully completed the WABC Portfolio Pathway (CBC) – US$35
New Members
Individuals may request a refund of their membership fee, less the applicable promo package(s) and administrative fees, within the first 30 days of membership at any level with these exceptions and conditions:
Since WABC has historically had an extremely low rate of new member withdrawal, members requesting refunds are asked to participate in a short exit survey.
Renewing Members
No refunds are available.
Please review the Terms of Membership for more details.
I have been a member of many professional associations of the years, and none have made as strong of an impression as the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches.
What impressed me the most about the WABC is the level and quality of interaction from leadership. A website inquiry led to a personal call from the WABC founder, Wendy Johnson. She took a personal interest and gave sound guidance regarding membership options, as well as credentialing suggestions and explained the unique value of business coaching, which had been my focal point. This personal touch was a fresh and welcome approach, instantly making me feel a sense of belonging. There are a myriad of coaching avenues, but it was divine intervention and a fellow Registered Corporate Coach™ (RCC™) who led me to WABC.
As a member of WABC, I truly feel part of a family of exceptional highly professional colleagues dedicated to delivering the highest standards in Business Coaching. I have expanded on my prior experience and knowledge, incorporating models, processes and understanding using evidence-based standards that are sound, reputable, relevant and, especially in these times, critical for organizations and leaders.
WABC offers a wealth of business coaching support, through networks, directory exposure, resources, along with foundational tools for coach development, executive education, and coaching selling platforms, but the personal touch is what is by far the most unique in the industry.
I am honored to be WABC credentialed and vetted. Yes, membership requires a precise verification of all third-party credentials, which adds tremendous credibility and value to WABC’s Business Coach Locator directory. After years of confusion around certification and affiliation, I am forever grateful to WABC for the challenge, knowledge, and opportunity to obtain a greater depth of neuroscience and evidence-based methodologies that allows me to grow my passion for coaching and to serve clients alongside a sophisticated coaching community.
Having been in the coaching business for nearly 20 years, I have seen the coaching sector grow exponentially and witnessed the rise of many professional bodies. I am an advocate for WABC as there is a beautiful clarity that sits at the essence of all they do—they serve the needs of business coaches. This is in a large part to the clarity of leadership provided by Wendy Johnson, unwavering in her vision and boundaries about WABC’s place in the coaching world.
As a professional business coach, I can tell my clients that I am a member of a credible business coach professional body which acknowledges and recognizes the needs of coaches working in their sector. I have found the experience of re-certification a rigorous and provocative activity which has had me reflect meaningfully on my coaching practice. The benefit of this is being able to tell my clients, with integrity, that I have earned the right and provided the evidence to retain my WABC certification which is additive to my business coaching credentials.
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.
and professional practice with exclusive credentials, thought leadership and resources
and access our global community
to your clients, employer and organizations
We offer many WABC Accredited levels for maximum impact. WABC Accredited signifies that your offering is among the world’s most elite and rigorous business coach and leader-as-coach training programs. For those seeking training that readies them for real-world business and organizational challenges, no other program distinction compares.
WABC knows that coaching training must meet the rapidly changing demands facing businesses and organizations of all kinds around the world. To meet this need, WABC offers the prestigious WABC Accredited qualification at many levels to support the development of independent professional business coaches and leaders-as-coaches.
To earn any of the levels, programs must offer either business coach or leader-as-coach training as the main focus of their curriculum, be delivered at a professional level of engagement and meet our professional standards and rigorous assessment process.
Our WABC Accredited levels – rooted in real-world organizational and business needs – cover a wide breadth and depth of development in professional business coaching and leader-as-coach coaching. Becoming WABC Accredited will take your open enrollment program to the next level or enhance your internal program’s relevance.
LEADERS-AS-COACHES
If you’re offering a training program focused on developing leaders-as-coaches who represent many professional roles (e.g., leader, manager, supervisor) and who wish to integrate core leader-as-coach coaching skills within their leadership skill set for greater impact, we offer two levels of program accreditation. If you offer our Level 2, your graduates are eligible to earn a WABC credential.
PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS COACHES
If you’re offering a training program focused on developing professional business coaches who represent many professional roles (e.g., leader, manager, internal or external business coach, external consultant), we offer three levels of program accreditation to match their progressive development from practitioner, to advanced, to master. Your graduates are eligible to earn a WABC credential.
Level 1
If your training develops professional business coaches at practitioner-level, this is the level for your program. Level 1 focuses on developing the practice elements of business coaching and is for participants who either have had little or no previous business coaching experience, or who already have some business coaching experience that they now wish to consolidate fully with best practice. Your graduates are eligible to earn the RCC credential.
Level 2
If your training develops professional business coaches at advanced-level, this is the level for your program. Level 2 focuses on consolidating technical skills and advanced development to enable participants with more business coaching experience to provide a fuller professional scope of practice and to work to more diverse agendas. Your graduates are eligible to earn the CBC credential.
Level 3
If your training develops professional business coaches at master-level, this is the level for your program. Level 3 focuses on fully exploring current approaches, methodologies and theories to enable participants with significant business coaching experience to provide a significant professional scope of practice and to work to open agendas. Your graduates are eligible to earn the CMBC credential.
Level 1
If your training program develops leaders-as-coaches, this is the level for your program. Level 1 focuses on developing core coaching skills within the context of a leadership role and is for participants who either have had little or no previous experience with coaching, or who already have some leader-as-coach coaching experience that they now wish to consolidate fully with best practice.
Level 2
If your training program develops leaders-as-coaches at certified-level, this is the level for your program. Level 2 focuses on developing core coaching skills within the context of a leadership role and is for participants who either have had little or no previous experience with coaching, or who already have some leader-as-coach coaching experience that they now wish to consolidate fully with best practice. Your graduates are eligible to earn the CLAC credential.
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.
The Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC) drives business coaching excellence as the global leader in robust, evidence-based practices. We support leaders, coaches, clients and companies with the knowledge, skills and resources to successfully navigate complexity and improve individual and operational performance alike. Our global community elevates all types of organizations, industries, and sectors using business coaching to achieve their strategic organizational and business objectives.
Leading Business Excellence™
WABC is a self-regulating body that behaves as though it is regulated. We set professional standards, a code of ethics and integrity, definitions and competencies that our organization, representatives, members and providers are committed to upholding.
A consistent global standard for business coaching as a distinct discipline is critical to the evolution of our profession and industry.
As the first organization to create evidence-based business coaching standards, we strive to build public trust in WABC business coaches as a reliable and ethical community, committed to upholding rigorous standards and acting in our clients’ best interests.
Our purpose is the ambition underpinning why we exist. As the core philosophy to who we are and why our work matters, our purpose is the foundation that grounds and guides the broader impact we strive to achieve.
WABC understands that to lead is not simply to act, but that the intention of our actions matters most. Leaders must be accountable to those we serve, and our values, ethics and integrity must align with the impact we want to create—for people, for the planet and for the common good.
At WABC, we are committed to unifying business leadership by establishing the highest global standards for business coaches and business coaching training providers available today.
Our purpose is brought to life through our values, which guide how we remain actively committed and accountable to our clients, to one another and to ourselves.
We adapt to key stakeholder and market demands by developing great business coaching services and products. We stay on the leading edge by continually seeking feedback and improving practical value to business coaches, clients, members, providers and other key stakeholders.
We lead the business coaching market with new services and products by actively experimenting and researching new approaches. We continually set bold, new goals that are both strategic and evolutionary to nurture renewal, innovation and high quality.
We celebrate the diverse skills, talents, experiences and cultures of our global community, including business coaches, clients, members, program providers, committees, partners, alliances, executives, advisers and support team. We nurture, develop and grow socially responsible leaders at every level of our association to help realize our purpose in action.
We believe that our business coaching community can achieve anything with the right support behind them. We challenge ourselves to deliver service that is:
We believe that business is a potent force for solving social problems, and that leading with intention demands broad and deep corporate integrity. We strive to conduct our business in ethically, socially and environmentally responsible ways.
Our achievements are only possible when we commit to see them through together. We are loyal partners who commit with respect and gratitude. We stay true to our purpose and values, and do what is right to uphold these values as we navigate both adversity and success.
At WABC, our mission and vision focus our core philosophies of purpose and values into what we aim to achieve, for the business coaches we serve and the distinct industry we represent.
Our mission is to develop, advance and promote the business coaching profession worldwide.
We are committed to enhancing business coaching as a distinct discipline and building awareness, credibility and trust in business coaches everywhere.
We envision a world with a business coach working within every organization, business and government worldwide.
We believe business coaching makes for better leadership, strategic thinking and organizational management. Our goal is to raise the profile of business coaching to become standard best practice for high-performing businesses and organizations.
At WABC, we believe that business is a potent force for solving social problems, and we are committed to building public trust and credibility in business coaching as a global industry.
Business coaches often work with those in a position of leadership, who can greatly influence the business decisions and culture of the organizations they represent. Especially when facing complex dilemmas, business coaches must have the courage to challenge their clients’ perspective and guide them towards ethical choices. Business coaches also need to know when they themselves may be encountering ethical dilemmas and how to reconcile competing interests and agendas.
The unique nature of our role makes it clear that each of us needs to possess a strong ethical orientation as we carry out this important work. It is for this very reason that WABC invested in developing a Code that could match to the challenges we, and our clients, can sometimes face.
The current WABC Code of Business Coaching Ethics and Integrity embodies the highest ethical standards and includes our Principles and our Safe Harbor Conciliation and Adjudication Process. It’s one of the most advanced and comprehensive codes of its kind in the world today, and is one of the key differences that set WABC business coaches apart from other kinds of coaches.
Our Code is reviewed regularly to be relevant to the latest in best practice. It serves to guide not only our day-to-day business interactions and decision making, but also provides direction during uncertain times to help us think deeply about how to conduct all our coaching across business contexts and cultures.
WABC is committed to unifying continued excellence—of bringing business coaches, members, providers, and partners together to share expertise and support colleagues, clients and organizations across the world.
We work alongside businesses and organizations both big and small, and WABC business coaches are united by the principles, philosophies and ideas that give us a common foundation and elevate our practice
Our members represent everything from Fortune 100s to not-for-profits, entrepreneurs and enterprises, start-ups and small businesses. WABC business coaches drive transformations, both big and small, in organizations across sectors, industries and business size, and can support the success of your business too.
Our WABC Accredited program providers voluntarily hold themselves up for ongoing scrutiny against the highest business coaching standards in the world. Fewer than 1% of the world’s business coaching programs have met our standard of accreditation.
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At the heart of WABC is a team of passionate individuals who commit their breadth and depth of their experience and expertise to supporting this vibrant association. We are also supported by committees, task forces and other working groups as needed to further our organizational goals and objectives.
“At WABC, we lead the best by committing to be the best—the best in high standards, quality service, and evidence-based thinking.”
Wendy Johnson is guided by an ethics-based ambitious vision: to have a business coach working within every organization, business and government worldwide.
Leading WABC is the ideal way for Johnson to leverage her passion and precision for the benefit of business coaches worldwide. Since 2002, WABC has become the leading global voice for business coaches, their training providers and their clients.
Under Johnson’s leadership, WABC has:
As a global thought leader in business coaching, Johnson continuously contributes to our community through a wide range of activities including coaching, mentoring, supervising, speaking, writing and reviewing of business coaching books and articles.
Johnson’s background is diverse, with expertise in business coaching, human dynamics, behavioral science and criminal justice. Before building her successful business coaching practice, Johnson ExeC Group, she served as a high-profile investigator, a law enforcement officer and a mental health therapist. These positions deepened Johnson’s commitment to public service, social responsibility and ethical behavior, traits that have defined her work at WABC.
Johnson holds several academic degrees including an MA in Counseling Psychology from the Adler School of Professional Psychology, as well as certifications in mediation, negotiation, conflict analysis, management, interrogation and investigation and business coaching.
“WABC’s steadfast commitment to business coaches, corporate ethics, integrity and evidence-based standards/practices is exactly what organizations worldwide need today.”
Doug Abrahamson brings broad and deep strategic management skills gleaned over decades of experience across multiple organizations and fields of practice.
For over 25 years, Doug has passionately championed the need to improve strategic management and planning skills within the field of public safety and security in Canada, the United States, Australia and the United Arab Emirates. Simultaneously, he has conducted research, authored numerous articles and book chapters, and presented on the need for evidence-based policy and practice, stakeholder engagement, good governance and business coaching within both the public and private sectors.
Doug’s work has given him an opportunity to collaborate with organizations such as Charles Sturt University (AU), the Justice Institute of British Columbia (CA), Rabdan Academy (AE), Saskatchewan Global Transportation Hub Authority (CA), Police Executive Research Forum (US) and the Victoria Police Department (CA).
Doug has an MBA from Royal Roads University (RRU) and a Doctorate of Public Policy from Charles Sturt University (CSU). He maintains his academic standing through his continued role as adjunct faculty with CSU, Honorary Research Associate with the Justice Institute of British Columbia, journal and book/chapter authorship and role as independent peer reviewer for three international academic journals.
“Excellence in business coaching is essential in today’s rapidly evolving landscape. WABC’s best-in-class professional standards ensure that businesses and leaders receive coaching that is rigorous, evidence-based, ethical and transformative.“
Caroline Assalian is an internationally respected performance expert whose career spans elite sport, corporate leadership, executive coaching and leadership development training. As the Founder of KasKor Business Coaching, she leverages her expertise in high-performance leadership to empower leaders and organizations to achieve enduring success by focusing on the human side of performance.
For over 25 years, Caroline held senior executive roles in complex, high-stakes environments, transforming organizations and leading high-performing teams in globally competitive settings. Her relentless pursuit of excellence, paired with an unwavering commitment to people and performance, has established her as a trusted advisor to leaders navigating change, complexity and breaking barriers to success.
Caroline is a WABC Certified Master Business Coach® who believes every leader benefits from working with a business coach equipped with training and expertise tailored to the complexities of business leadership.
“WABC’s content is developed from a deep understanding of the business coaching domain, the evolving needs of members, and its deep commitment to standards. WABC is positioned to be the go-to source for business coaches around the world.”
Michele Ann Jenkins has been working in web content management since people first realized web content should be managed. She got her start programming medical vocabulary management tools, then joined the San Francisco dotcom frenzy to work on Open Source web content management systems for the burgeoning online publication industry.
With 20 years of web development experience and a strong background in information science, Michele quickly analyzes client and user needs to translate them into actionable strategies that drive user engagement. Focusing in information architecture (IA), usability and content strategy, she finds creative ways to apply IA best practice and builds frameworks that are useful, solid and beautiful.
After many years of travel and working for UN organizations in Europe, she settled down in Montreal, Quebec to focus on information architecture and taxonomy.
Michele has a BA and an MLIS from McGill University, where she has taught courses in Online Community Development and Knowledge Taxonomies.
Steve Lanning and Hal Wright of the United States founded the National Association of Business Coaches (NABC) in 1997. NABC experienced steady growth within the first five years while the business coaching industry became one of the fastest growing professions in North America. NABC was positioned as “the association of choice” for business-focused coaches and the international business market.
To further global growth, NABC sought out a visionary leader to elevate the organization into a prestigious international association. Wendy Johnson of Canada shared the same vision—of an organization who could elevate excellence in business coaching, and unify business leadership throughout the world.
On May 31, 2002, Wendy Johnson transformed NABC into a new privately held federal corporation in Canada, and became WABC Coaches Inc.
WABC Coaches Inc. conducts business as the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC), and serves and develops business coaching markets around the world.
Elevate your professional development and your reputation with the support of WABC’s global community. WABC offers different levels of professional membership to meet the needs of business coaches and leaders in their fields throughout their careers.
Elevate your professional development and your reputation with the support of WABC’s global community. WABC offers different levels of professional level membership to meet the needs of professional business coaches and leaders in their fields throughout their careers.
Champion your continued development and industry awareness with access to exclusive thought leadership and research. Connect with professional business coaches from all over the world and amplify your voice as a leader in our industry.
With members from all around the world, our members are committed to business coaching as a distinct profession, with the experience it takes to achieve your coaching potential.
Our members represent everything from Fortune 100s to not-for-profits, entrepreneurs and enterprises, start-ups and small businesses.
Although we work alongside every kind of business and organization, WABC professional business coaches are united by a commitment to excellence, an ethical compass, and the desire to learn and grow.
Entry Level
Our professional entry-level membership is for newer and part-time active professional business coaches who represent many roles (e.g., leader, manager, internal or external business coach, external consultant).
ADVANCED LEVEL
Our professional advanced-level membership is for experienced and active professional business coaches who represent many roles (e.g., leader, manager, internal or external business coach, external consultant).
