The Academy of Work Science

Helping Professional Coaches Hone Skills, Identify Niches, and Build The Business

The rapidly changing world of work continues to shape just about all aspects of what is expected from professionals as well as what they experience at work. Organizations, business environments, and the US economy continue to grow more complex, with professional roles becoming more specialized. This new reality requires that professionals across industries not only attain higher levels of training and education, but also exhibit active ownership in applied skill areas such as autonomy, curiosity, social competence, achievement, and perseverance. Therefore, we can no longer rely on coaching and leadership approaches that assume followers/team members are passive recipients of leadership, culture, coaching, the work environment, change intentions, policies, etc. This evolution in the world of work is probably most recognized by the professional coach.

AWE’s Professional Coaching Certification prepares coaches with the tools and knowledge to develop psychological skills that are critical to leading in today’s new business realities. As the first step, participating coaches become certified in assessment and coaching techniques within the framework of 4 psychological skills that are critical to building careers and performing at high levels within today’s world of work. Participants start by completing the Psychological Skills Profile (PSP), an assessment of 16 psychological facets as they apply to 1) Mental Toughness, 2) Emotional Intelligence, 3) Intellectual Curiosity, and 4) Achievement Striving. Customized reporting provides interpretation of scores as well as detailed developmental content tailored to the individual’s assessed strengths and development gaps. Participants are then scheduled to work with one of our consultants for deeper interpretation of results and to formulate a comprehensive development plan.

From there, participants engage in self-directed, online training to become certified in the interpretation and application of the PSP and other psychometric assessments, as well as in the Cognitive Behavioral coaching techniques that are designed to develop the 4 psychological skills in coaching clients, Application will focus on helping perform within a wide range of contexts, help them understand how and why they react under various conditions, how they perceive and make attributions of themselves and their performance environment, how they come to fix their beliefs, and how to make more effective decisions. Emphasis will also be placed on the widening skills gaps observed in such soft skill areas as self-regulation (dealing with adversity, remaining adaptable, emotional management), social skills (e.g., professional communication, collaboration, understanding norms, cultural sensitivity), work ethic (e.g., being persistent, taking initiative, engaging in ongoing development), as well as critical thinking (e.g., effectively formulating problems, thinking analytically). The professional coaching certification also contains modules that cover practical solutions to help the coach build the business, including developing coaching niches, building a client base, creating additional revenue streams, and communicating ROI and positive impact to clients.

The certification process is almost entirely self-directed and can be completed after approximately 30 hours of engagement. The following table describes the courses required and available through his certification process:

Becoming Certified in the PSP Assessment (Complete all)

PSP 100: Applying the Academy of Work Science Career Success Model Extensive organizational research shows that there are 4 psychological constructs (Mental Toughness, Intellectual Curiosity, Emotional Intelligence, & Achievement Striving) that significantly support work performance and career success. Participants learn how to identify these traits in others, as well as how to begin to leverage these traits to improve the career success and performance of individuals and teams.

PSP 102: Interpreting and Applying the Psychological Skills Profile I The Psychological Skills Profile (PSP) is a psychometric assessment that measures 4 broad psychological constructs (Mental Toughness, Intellectual Curiosity, Emotional Intelligence, & Achievement Striving) that have been found to support career success across a wide range of performance domains. Participants learn how to interpret the 16 facets that underpin these psychological skills, how to provide constructive feedback, as well as career and performance coaching, based on interpretation of various combinations of facet scores.

PSP 103: Interpreting and Applying the Psychological Skills Profile II This course is a continuation of PSP 102 and focuses on application of PSP results and associated deep developmental content to a wide variety of career and performance contexts. Participants also learn how to apply the assessment results and associated tools at the team and organizational level, focusing on talent management programs such as hiring, on-boarding, team leadership, HiPo identification, leadership development, and succession.

Developing and Managing Your Coaching Business (Complete all)

COA 100: Identifying Your Coaching Niche Participants learn how to interpret PSP results with respect to identifying key coaching skills and likely preferences. Participants then learn how to combine information regarding their coaching strengths with relevant expertise, experience, and target markets to identify possible coaching niches. A number of diverse niches in which participants could add value are considered, including leadership development, sports performance, sales success, promoting wellness, reducing stress/anxiety, facilitating career transition, supporting entrepreneurship, and fostering creativity.

COA 101: Building Your Client Base I Basic techniques and strategies effective in developing coaching/consulting business are covered in this first session of a two-part course. Content in these paired courses will focus on the full sales process including clearly defining your value statement; prospecting, developing new leads, gaining referrals; getting appointments; and preparing for sales calls; Identifying most likely need; creating proposals; communicating the business impact that clients can expect as a result of engaging your services; and closing the business.

COA 102: Building You Client Base II COA 102 is designed to continue to reinforce and expand on the learning accomplished in COA 101. Participants in this second session learn to apply advance techniques in several areas including: a) using assessment results as an additional sales tool, b) navigating organizations to gain additional business, c) securing repeat business by serving as a “knowledge broker” for your clients, as well as d) creating additional revenue streams.

TMP 104: Assessing and Communicating Business Impact and ROI Participants learn how to identify and communicate the strategic link between talent management initiatives and important business outcomes. This is not a statistics course, rather it is focused on helping participants better draw a direct link from strategy to talent, how to interpret basic indices of project success, and how to effectively apply and communicate those indices to support relevant business decisions.

Applying AWS Coaching Techniques (Complete all)

COA 200: Cognitive Behavioral Techniques (CBT) for Coaching I The Cognitive Behavioral approach is a set of scientifically developed techniques used to improve individuals’ motivation, behavior, performance, outcomes and well-being. At the core, Cognitive Behavioral Techniques (CBT) challenge individuals to interrogate their own patterns of thought, how they perceive the social environment, how they come to fix their beliefs, and how they come to make decisions. While CBTs are employed in a wide range of development context, this course will focus exclusively on those techniques most consistent with needs of coaches in the professional business environment.

COA 201: Cognitive Behavioral Techniques (CBT) for Coaching II This course is a continuation of CBT for Coaching I and guides participants through the application of specialized techniques that are customized for the coaching setting. The techniques learned in CBT I will be applied more specifically to development with the context of Mental Toughness, Emotional Intelligence, Intellectual Curiosity, and Achievement Striving.

COA 202: Managing Perceptions at Work Participants learn how individuals’ perception and interpretation of the work environment trigger either the behavioral activating system or the behavioral inhibition system of the brain. Participants learn related techniques designed to enhance employee well-being, intrinsic motivation, employee retention, and engagement.

COA 203: Organizational Behavior Management Participants are introduced to the techniques of Organizational Behavior Management (OBM), which is driven by the identification and modification of the environmental variables that affect employee behavior and performance. With emphasis on observable causes of employee behavior and measurable outcomes, OBM approaches are more amenable to ROI verification.

Coaching for Mental Toughness (Select 1)

MT 101: Driving Through Obstacles and Challenges Incorporating findings across diverse performance contexts such as professional sports, sales, entrepreneurship, and the military; participants learn what it takes to persevere in overcoming difficult challenges, setbacks, and obstacles to achieve critical objectives. Participants develop and learn how to leverage psychological strengths as they apply to self-regulation, self-efficacy, and locus of control to eliminate fear of failure, avoid distraction, and reverse a “fixed mindset.”

MT 102: Building Resilience Participants learn the psychological skills required to adapt positively to significant adversity, threats, setbacks, rejection, and other sources of stress. Participants will learn and apply techniques based on the most recent advances in the science of resilience, with strong focus on factors that are amenable to targeted development.

MT 103/EI 103: Regulating Emotions This course provides insight into the science and function of emotions, with emphasis on identifying triggers, recognizing patterns of thinking, and effectively managing emotionality toward better decisions and positive performance outcomes. Participants learn to apply techniques in the three components of emotional regulation: 1) initiating actions, 2) inhibiting actions, and 3) modulating responses triggered by emotions, with basic cognitive behavioral techniques (CBT) such as cognitive reappraisal, mindful awareness, and ABC functional analysis.

MT 104: Strengthening Self-Efficacy Self-efficacy is one’s belief in their capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance levels and goal attainment. Participants learn how to identify and manage cognitive self-evaluations that influence a sense of control over one’s motivation, behavior, and social environment. Application will focus on developing self-efficacy as the basis for enhancing resilience, self-regulation, curiosity, initiative taking and communicating persuasively.

Coaching for Emotional Intelligence (Select 1)

EI 101: Becoming More Empathy and Open-Minded Participants learn to apply the techniques of active listening and fostering two-way communication. Techniques applied in specific business contexts include perception check, interpretive listening, paraphrasing, and questioning.

EI 102: Managing Others’ Emotions Participants learn to recognize and predict the response patterns of others in various contexts, with emphasis on stressful, emotional, and challenging situations. Leveraging basic behavioral cognitive techniques, participants will leave this course better able to diffuse highly charged situations, respond optimally when others react emotionally, and help others re-channel emotions in constructive ways.

EI 103/MT 103: Regulating Emotions This course provides insight into the science and function of emotions, with emphasis on identifying triggers, recognizing patterns of thinking, and effectively managing emotionality toward better decisions and positive performance outcomes. Participants learn to apply techniques in the three components of emotional regulation: 1) initiating actions, 2) inhibiting actions, and 3) modulating responses triggered by emotions, with basic cognitive behavioral techniques (CBT) such as cognitive reappraisal, mindful awareness, and ABC functional analysis.

EI 104: Influencing and Persuading The ability to win respect, influence people and cultivate cooperation is absolutely essential to career success. Participants learn to apply psychological techniques to persuade, convince, or impress others in order to get them to support a specific agenda or to take a specific course of action. Participants learn to apply techniques for both rational (central) and emotional (peripheral) appeals. Application will focus on communicating ideas, presenting proposals in a compelling way, and motivating others to take action.

Coaching for Intellectual Curiosity (Select 1)

IC 100 How We Come to Believe The process by which people fix their belief about events and the world around them is a complex coming together of cognitive, emotional, motivational, and situational factors that frame the way we perceive and think. In turn, these beliefs serve as the filter through which we continue to adjust and reinforce the interpretations we make about our environment. Participants learn how work and other performance contexts interact with personal attributes to give rise to the beliefs, perspectives, values, and personal philosophies that significantly impact just about all work and career outcomes.

IC 101: Critical Thinking for Business Participants learn to identify and formulate problems, opportunities, and challenges within the framework of the organization’s mission, prevailing business environment, relevant business model, and strategic goals. application will focus on assessing business-related threats and opportunities, building on compelling ideas, developing rational arguments with strong construction and support, and communicating proposals in a credible and persuasive manner to garner support.

IC 102 Eliciting Ideas and Opinions from Others

IC 103 Enhancing Creativity Through Paradox Mindset In this course, participants learn to leverage apparent contradictions in order to break down assumptions, spot hidden connections between diverse ideas, and discover new ways to look at business problems and opportunities. Participants learn to use contradictions and to re-frame everyday work paradoxes such as dual performance requirements (e.g., minimizing costs while maximizing innovation) and resource scarcity (i.e., having to perform at high levels under limited time or financial resources) to fuel creative and divergent thinking.

IC 104 Thinking Globally With a focus on increasing diversity of experience, perspective, and thought in organizations; participants learn how to integrate values, beliefs, and points-of-view from different cultures. Participants learn to recognize situations in which demands from both global and local factors impact organizational performance and combine an openness to and awareness of diversity across cultures and markets with a willingness and ability to synthesize across this diversity. This course is especially useful for those who are, or plan to be, working in global organizations.

Coaching for Achievement Striving (Select 1)

AS 101 Why Do We Work?: Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation Participants will learn how to leverage intrinsic motivators to encourage behavior change. this course explains the science behind internal motivation and shows how to apply these techniques to everyday motivation challenges. Application will focus on the rapidly changing jobs and performance needs, with emphasis on greater complexity, need for specialization, and related need for high level collaboration.

AS 102: Personal Values & Ethics in the Workplace Recent research has uncovered 5 intuitive systems that form the basis for how we develop our moral ethical beliefs. These intuitive systems form the basis for a number of ways in which employees perceive and interact with the organization and work environment. Participants learn techniques to identify these intuitive systems in employees, as well as coaching strategies to help those employees become more self-aware. Application focuses on how these systems relate to effective leadership communication, employee engagement, performance and organizational citizenship behaviors.

AS 103: Setting Personal Performance and Career Goals

AS 104: Creating Healthy Competition

AS 105: Achieving Flow Flow describes a motivational state in which one is so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it (Cziksentmihalyi, 2008). Leveraging the psychological nature of this active experience, participants learn techniques that support greater awareness and perceived control over one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.