The Performance Evaluation is part of the ICF Credentialing process and is the final step of Certified Life Coach Institute's Level 1 Program. Participants will submit a recorded coaching session and transcript to be reviewed by a CLCI assessor to ensure that the participant's coaching session is aligned with ICF's Core Competencies and meets the coaching skill requirements of an ACC level coach.

If you intend on applying for an ICF then yes! If not, then a performance evaluation is not required, but is still a great tool in making sure your coaching sessions are of the highest quality that meet ACC standards.

Initial Credentialing

Credentialing candidates are required to pass a performance evaluation of a recorded coaching session + transcript with a client

The recorded session must last between 30-45 minutes and MUST be with a regular client who has hired you as a coach and not in any other capacity.

ACC Renewal

Coaches who are renewing their ACC credential are NOT required to submit a performance evaluation.

When applying for a Performance Evaluation, CLCI will need to review several documents before the recorded session & transcript can be evaluated.

Completion of at least 60 Hours of ICF approved education (excluding CCEs)

Coaches are required to submit evidence of their education hours. This can be your CLCI Coaching 101 & 102 certificates or your certification of training from another ICF accredited institution. The total number of training hours must be at least 60 hours.

Under no circumstance will ICF CCE hours be counted towards the 60-hour total.

10 Hours of Mentor Coaching

Coaches are required to submit evidence that they have completed 10 hours of mentor coaching over a minimum of 3 months with an ICF approved mentor coach.

A minimum of three (3) of the 10 required mentor coaching hours must be one-to-one coaching with a mentor coach. Group coaching may count for a maximum of seven (7) hours toward the mentoring requirement. The group being mentored may not consist of more than 10 participants.

You will be required to include the following information:

1. Mentor Coach Name

2. Mentor Start Date

3. Mentor End Date

4. Total Mentor Hours

5. How many hours of the above hours are group coaching?

CLCI Mentor Coaching participants will receive an official document showing all the required information and can be uploaded when you apply for a performance evaluation.

If an applicant has completed Mentor Coaching outside CLCI, they will be required to provide the Mentor's contact info.

100 Logged Coaching Hours

Coaches are required to have a minimum of 100 hours of client coaching experience with at least eight (8) clients following the start of coach training.

Of the total 100 hours required, at least 75 hours must be paid coaching experience, and at least 25 hours must occur within the 18 months prior to submitting your application for a performance evaluation and the ICF ACC credential.

The individuals listed on the coaching log must consent to being contacted by CLCI and have the following information listed:

1. Full Name

2. Contact Information

3. Start/End Dates of Coaching Relationship

4. Number of Paid and Pro Bono Coaching Hours

If an applicant does not already have a coaching log, one may be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/2/d/151Q5KC1_4aCNgpa-JKGSZxYv6E1o0XBzaLmYf0pIwe4/copy

Upon submission, CLCI will audit the coaching log and may contact client's listed to confirm coaching hours.

The best way to prepare for a performance evaluation is having your recording reviewed by your mentor coach!

10 hours of mentor coaching is a prerequisite for an evaluation, and the purpose of mentor coaching is to review your recorded sessions and to coach you on how to improve your skills. *Your mentor coach can review a recorded submission you want to submit and give you critical feedback on whether the recording might pass an evaluation.

*Important note - While a mentor coach is an ICF credentialed coach, this does not guarantee that their approval or review of the recorded session will result in it becoming a passing evaluation. Assessors are trained specifically to review performance evaluations and may observe things in the coaching session that were not observed by the mentor coach. In either case of a Pass/No Pass, CLCI will send the assessment results along with feedback for the applicant.

There are a variety of transcription services available. Follow the link for a good article on what services are available:

https://zapier.com/blog/best-transcription-apps/

After an applicant submits the initial application and pays the application fee, their certifications will be reviewed, and their coaching log will be audited. Once our staff has completed this audit, the applicant will be sent a link to where they can upload both the recorded session and transcript.

A full guideline for the submission call can be found here:

To summarize...

Session Guidelines:

• The performance evaluation must be a complete coaching session (not edited) lasting between 30 and 45 minutes.

• The performance evaluation must be from an actual coaching session between you and a paid or pro bono client (not part of coach training). The client may not be a coach unless they are a regular client.

• The recording must include the client verbally consenting to being recorded and having the coaching session shared with CLCI for review.

Audio Guidelines:

• The recording must be a single audio only file (no video) - MP3, WMA, MP4 or M4A (audio) format. Other formats will not be accepted.

• The audio file must be 95 megabytes or fewer. Use a lower bit rate to decrease file size, if needed.

• You must upload the actual audio file. Providing a URL to download or stream audio recordings will not be accepted.

Transcript Guidelines:

• Transcript must be a verbatim, written word-for-word record of the coaching session submitted.

• Transcript must indicate who is speaking—the coach or the client—at any time in the conversation.

• List the coach’s statements and the client’s statements on separate lines of the transcript.

• Transcript must include timestamps at every change in speaker (coach and client).

• Transcript must be submitted as a (.pdf, .doc, .docx) file. No other file formats will be accepted.

• When naming your file, ensure that you use only letters and numbers. Please be sure there are no special characters in your document name (ie. ? / | \ ! @ # = $ % +) in order to avoid issues when uploading your file.

Congratulations! You will have completed your final step of Level 1 and are now ready to apply for your ACC credential with the International Coaching Federation.

Participants will receive a certificate and digital badge denoting the full completion of Level 1.

Participants will also receive the full results of the performance evaluation that include strengths observed, areas for development, and core competencies observed.

If a participant does not pass their evaluation, they will be notified and the full assessment results will be shared as a document. This document will include observed strengths, areas for development, and what core competencies were/were not observed.

These results will be your guide on what you should focus on to improve your coaching skills and what you should include in your retake submission.

Retake Submission

CLCI offers a retake process for applicants who do not pass their initial performance evaluation. Participants can submit a new recording and transcript without having to reapply.

To submit a retake submission, participants must do so within six months from the date they received their initial results. The fee to process this additional recording and transcript is a non-refundable $250.

Should the participant continue to fail their performance evaluations, they may continue the retake process indefinitely. CLCI highly recommends participants check in with a mentor coach to review their calls to ensure a passing submission.

The current available languages for Level 1 performance evaluations are English. Transcripts need to be in the same language used in your recording. Use of an interpreter is not permitted.

There are no refunds for applicants who pay their initial fee or and fee for the retake process.