Coaching Academy

The intention of the RIHEL Coaching Academy is to develop confident and capable coaches who support others with maximizing their personal and professional potential. Through a comprehensive training experience, participants are prepared to effectively practice professional coaching.
The RIHEL Coaching Academy provides a robust six-month coach training experience that prepares participants with the skills and practices essential to providing an effective and valuable coaching experience. The program is open to graduates of RIHEL’s comprehensive leadership programs and is limited to 12 participants per class.
Our Coaching Philosophy
At the Regional Institute for Health & Environmental Leadership (RIHEL), we believe that Coaching is the art of being a strategic thinking partner. It is both a communication skill and a development tool for oneself or others.
One of the basic philosophical underpinnings of coaching is that individuals are creative, resourceful and whole. They don’t need fixing. In fact, more often than not, they have the answers to the challenges they face within them. A good coach can help individuals evoke those answers and become aware of possibilities, working alongside them to set goals and craft action plans. Coaching is a collaborative effort that expands a person’s capacity to take effective action.
The context for coaching is a dialogue. It is an ongoing partnership or a sustained alliance between a coach and a person being coached to enhance learning, growth and effectiveness. It is a one-to-one relationship in which the focus is on developing the individual, challenging and supporting that person to become more effective, and to reach his/her own highest levels of competence and ability. Coaching is about unlocking a person’s potential in order to reach new levels of performance. It’s about helping people learn, rather than teaching them.
It is important to note that coaches don’t develop people per se; rather, they guide individuals to develop themselves. Coaches serve as a catalyst for development. A coach is a respectful yet truthful listener, and an unbiased accountability partner. A major role for a coach is to ask good questions that elicit knowledge, wisdom or strategy from the person being coached.

Key Elements
- 76 hours of coach-specific training
- 5 two-day in-person training sessions
- A small class size (max 12 participants!) with individualized guidance and instruction
- Interterm assignments, including 5 observed coaching sessions with personal feedback
- An online learning management and learning community platform
- Coaching tools and resources
- Optional Coaching Practicum

Curriculum
The program is delivered through a combination of in-person, video-conference and telephonic sessions. All program sessions are presented in English.
The Coaching Academy curriculum develops the coach in the following areas:
- Setting the foundation for the coach (roles, ethics, and competencies)
- Knowing yourself, working with others, and being your best self as coach
- Core coaching skills and competencies
- The framework of a coaching conversation
- Setting the foundation with the client
- Essential practices for effectively managing coaching
- Introducing others to coaching
- Bringing closure to a coaching relationship
Learn more about the specific curriculum modules here (PDF).
Schedule
The program consists of five two-day training sessions. Participants must attend ALL five sessions.
- August 2-3, 2019
- August 23-24, 2019
- September 13-14, 2019
- October 11-12, 2019
- December 6-7, 2019
Location: RIHEL, 2400 S. Gaylord St., Denver, CO
Hours: Approximately 9:00am – 5:00pm each day

Requirements
RIHEL Graduate. The Coaching Academy is only open to graduates of RIHEL’s comprehensive leadership programs:
- Advanced Leadership Training Program (ALTP)
- Advanced Physicians Leadership Program (APLP)
- Leadership for Healthy Community Design (LHCD)
- Primary Care Movers and Changers (PCMAC) program
Time Commitment. Participants must commit the time required to complete assignments and participate in all five two-day training sessions.
- The in-person sessions take place at the RIHEL office in Denver, and will held in August, September, October, and December (see program schedule above).
- Assignments between sessions include readings, self-assessments, on-line discussions, and observed practice coaching labs.
Technology Resources. Participants must have access to the hardware and software to participate in distance learning. The program cannot assume any costs for the computer and communication systems used by participants.
Tuition
Tuition for the 2019 Coaching Academy is $3,000*. This covers:
- program instruction
- program materials*
- access to Zoom video conferencing
- snacks and lunch
*Most program materials will be provided by RIHEL with the exception of three books, which participants are responsible for acquiring themselves:
- Coaching for Commitment (third edition) by Amy Zehnder, Cindy Coe, and Dennis Kinlaw. Publisher: Pfeiffer (2007).
- The Extraordinary Coach: How the Best Leaders Help Others Grow< by John H. Zenger and Kathleen Stinnett. Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (2010).
- Coaching Questions: A Coach’s Guide to Powerful Asking Skills by Tony Stoltzfus. Publisher: Coach22 Bookstore LLC (2008).
Transportation expenses to and from the events are the responsibility of the partcipant. The tuition must be paid by July 31, 2019. Arrangements can be made for an individual payment schedule, if necessary. No refunds will be processed after July 12, 2019.
Faculty

Leanne Jeffers, MPH, ACC, CMC

Armando Herald, CMC

Judy Baxter, MA

Curt Drennen, PhD

Franco Marini, MA, CNL