Spend your money on what you believe in and what is aligned to your values.

I get one or two requests a month to have a conversation on what coaching school someone should attend to become certified. These requests often come as a referral from one of my coaching clients or mentor coaching clients or coaching supervision clients. I’m always open to having conversations. And while I am a mentor coach for one program and I declare that up front. I am careful to ask questions and encourage the potential student to consider the following in making their decision:

What kind of coaching are you interested in? What’s your reason for being trained as a coach?
What association is the school accredited by and associated with?
Do you know what their reputation is and in what circles especially the one you wish to work in?
What kind of investment are you ready and willing to make?
How do they view continuous professional development and coaching supervision?

And my two new questions - 1) does the school have cultural diversity in their faculty and 2) do they integrate diversity into the program or is it an afterthought or not at all? Especially if you are considering a global practice - do they reflect your potential future clients?