A Life Coach, Really?
Lately, I’ve been reading and hearing quite a bit about life coaches. There was a time when the only coaches in my universe were for sports: football, soccer, baseball, water polo, track, and all the other sports Americans are just mad for. But in recent years there has been a proliferation of coaches for every aspect of life: diet, health, exercise, executive, business, financial, dating, conflict, religious, and the big one of all: LIFE.
Friends and acquaintances talk about having life coaches and I’ve met a few interesting people who have told me they are life coaches: their words leave me speechless; I’m secretly thinking “what the F*#% is a life coach?” I mean, really…there are people out there that call themselves life coaches or do “life coaching” as a profession? Do they know something I don’t know? Have they figured out this game of life? If so, this is groundbreaking headline worthy news.
Wikipedia tells me that life coaching is a practice that helps people identify and achieve personal goals. Fair enough although the core of me, the part of me that grew up in the northeast believes we act for reasons: we go to school to be educated, we pick a field because we are interested, we apply for a job because we want to work, we work hard because we care or want to excel, we eat because we are hungry, we diet because we want to lose weight, we take care of our children because we love and want them to survive, and we work at a marriage because we love and care about our partner and are committed to the relationship. Aren’t most of us capable of figuring out and knowing how to get what we want even if we don’t always follow through? After all from what I understand, life coaches ask the questions; they don’t give the answers.
When I think of a coach, I think of someone who is an expert at a game. He or she knows the ins and outs, rules, strategies, and what it takes to be a better player, with the expertise of being a coach gained through years of experience and learning. Coaching is a skills based learning experience from a master of the sport or game whose outcome is easily measured. Life is not a game (although some people would describe it as a blood sport)…there is no clear path or rule book to tell you how to win the game of life because the measurement of a life is subjective. So, how does someone legitimately claim to be a life coach, a so-called expert at life to coach the rest of us how to play and win? They do so apparently by becoming certified as a life coach although Wikipedia claims there is no official accreditation for professional coaches in our country. There also seems to be no restrictions or independent oversight and regulation for life coaches.
Various organizations offer “accredited coach training programs” that allow people to become a “certified professional coach” in virtually anything although the programs vary greatly in scope. One organization called iPEC which stands for Professional Excellence in Coaching appears to be one of the “accredited” coach training programs that allow people to become a “certified professional coach” in 9 areas: life, health and wellness, corporate, professional, executive, sales, relationship, transitions, or small business. The website tells me that four 3-day learning modules and doing peer work, mentor coaching, telecommunication classes, required reading, and self-study assignments totaling approximately 350 hours over an 8-9 month period will result in an iPEC Coach Certificate in one of the 9 areas for $8,795. Again, how can someone be a health and wellness, corporate, professional, executive, sales, relationship, transition, small business, or a life coach with approximately 350 hours of committed time?
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