Janet Harvey: Hello! My name is Janet Harvey. I am a professional coach and a member of the International Coach Federation.

Have you ever thought about becoming a professional coach? It can certainly be a very rewarding career. Becoming a professional coach opens many pathways. It could be a first, a second, or even a third career. There is no age limit on coaching. You can launch your own coaching business and be an entrepreneur. You can work inside an organization as an internal coach and you can incorporate coaching skills into many other roles such as consulting, training, or human recourses.

I've been working as an executive leadership and team coach for 16 years. After gaining a foundation in both the ethics and practices of coaching, professional coaches can make the decision to focus on a variety of niches including executive coaching, career coaching, live coaching, leadership coaching and many more that you can imagine. A professional coach partners with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. There are several important steps to take on your journey on becoming a professional coach. It's valuable to research the profession in order to have a solid understanding of how professional coaches interact with their clients and to see if you have a good personality for coaching. Finding a coach for a sample session where you will be the client is also important to do early in the process. This step will give you firsthand experience with how you'll need to interact with clients and it will help you decide if being a professional coach is something that you will enjoy.

When you are ready to move forward, select and complete a coach training program. Coaching draws for many disciplines and it is a standalone profession. It is important to learn the skills specific to coaching before starting. You might want to visit coachfederation.

org to review training offerings from several independent providers. Join a professional membership organization as well. The benefits of being part of such a group like the International Coach Federation includes having access to a community of professional coaches around the globe, educational resources, research and so much more. Following the completion of your coach training, it's important to earn an independent credential. Research demonstrates several benefits of holding one including higher client satisfaction. In order to sustain your credential, continued training is required after starting your professional coaching career. Our development as professional coaches never stops. I hope you found these tips useful. Best of luck to you on your journey to become a professional coach!