At the moment Udemy is running ads on Facebook for a life coaching course — a course directed at “anyone aspiring to be a life coach, you’ll learn how the primary concepts, principles and practices to getting your life coaching certification. Along the way you’ll learn easy, yet powerful, techniques to help you build the motivation, confidence and expertise to help others achieve their dream goals.” Sounds great right? And all for the low low price of under $20!!

And it’s getting comments like this:

Now, I’m not knocking Udemy. Courses like this have a place. I view this as comparable to studying for your learner’s permit.

Before you can get behind the wheel, you have to sit down and study the concepts, the theory, and the rules. You get the gist of how it works, the best practices, and what to expect. It’s a very thorough introduction.

However, knowing intellectually that the brake pedal is the one on the left, and that you should stay out of the “no-zone” does nothing for you if you get behind the wheel and try to navigate city traffic during rush hour. That would be mega-dangerous for yourself and everyone around you.

Take a poll of people you know and I’m willing to bet that exactly NO ONE will think that that would be a good idea.

There’s good reason for requiring everyone to log a ton of hours of practicewith an experienced mentor right next to you in the passenger’s seat.

In this analogy, taking the quick & dirty learn-to-be-a-coach online course is like studying to get your learners permit.

The problem is that that’s where many people stop.

They get just enough training to dip their toe in, then they hang up their shingle and start taking clients, without any guidance or oversight whatsoever.

What that creates is CHAOS!

I’ve talked to many people whose first experience interacting with a coach was a BAD experience with one of these learner’s-permit “coaches”. Because these “coaches” have no actual practice or guidance, they often are making huge mistakes all over the place, and leaving a bad taste in the mouths of the muggles they try to work with who don’t know any better. Your average person on the street or at the networking event will just accept that this first (bad) experience is what coaching must be like, develop fear and skepticism, and steer clear of life coaching forever more. It creates a damaging dynamic where you get comments like this:

While there is no actual mandatory oversight for the coaching profession, the International Coach Federation (ICF) is the voluntary governing board that provides ethical guidelines and credentialing. Every credible well-trained coach affiliates themselves with the ICF in some way or another.

If you’re looking for a cheap, accessible, comfortable way to learn more about coaching, by all means, please take advantage of offers like Udemy’s. But if you actually want to BECOME a coach — a good one, who is ethical and makes a huge impact on clients’ lives — PLEASE consider it to be just the learners permit and go get more training from real live credentialed coaches who give you one-on-one attention.

There are many ICF-Accredited Coach Training Programs to choose from. If you’re considering them, call them up and talk to one of their coaches. Sit in on an observation. Just DO NOT STOP at what’s comfortable. (For the record, coaching is about getting your clients out of their comfort zone so they can move their lives forward, so you’d better be willing to do it, too.)

And if you’ve had an experience of coaching that did not knock your socks off, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GIVE IT ANOTHER TRY WITH ANOTHER COACH! I don’t even care if it’s not me!! (Obviously though I’d love to coach you) The truth is, EVERYONE, yes even you, can have their world rocked with coaching.

To learn more about the confusing world of coaching, coaching regulations, and credentials, read my entertaining yet informative article,WTF is Coaching, Anyway!?

To learn more about the world’s finest coach training program,Accomplishment Coaching, visit their website, or just send me a message!