Smeal To Host Executive Coaching Skills And Certification Programs

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (August 8, 2006)—Penn State Executive Programs, a division of the Smeal College of Business, has added two new executive education programs to its list of 2006-2007 offerings, both of which rely on published experts to teach executive coaching skills to managers and executives.

Judith Colemon and Brenda Corbett, founders of Sherpa Coaching LLC, a Cincinnati-based consulting firm, will lead both programs. They have coached and/or certified executives for General Electric, FedEx, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, and Toyota, among others.

"There's a demand for a more formal educational process in executive coaching," says Pat Cataldo, associate dean for executive education at Smeal. "We are pleased to be partnering with Sherpa to provide an exclusive set of coaching programs both for skills improvement and certification."

Both programs will cover key aspects of executive coaching, such as the leader's role as coach, communicating expectations and setting direction, accountability as a positive factor, coaching styles, action plans, and the path to coaching certification.

In "Executive Coaching Certification," the authors will aid participants in mastering the six-phase Sherpa coaching process and will teach the skills and techniques necessary to enable others to achieve professional success. Upon successful completion of the program, which includes a four-week practicum, participants will receive their Sherpa Executive Coaching certification.

The two-week certificate program is offered three times in the coming year:

• Oct 15 - 20 and Dec 3 - 7
• Feb 18 - 23 and Apr 1 - 5
• Apr 29 - May 4 and Jun 17 - 21

In "Coaching Skills for Managers and Executives," Colemon and Corbett will provide participants with the skills to develop leadership practices that facilitate better business results and increased individual and team productivity. The 2½-day program is offered three times in the coming year:

• Oct 22 - 25
• Mar 11 - 14
• Jun 24 - 27

Both programs will be held in Smeal’s facilities on the Penn State campus in University Park, Pa.

Colemon and Corbett are the authors of The Sherpa Guide: Process-Driven Executive Coaching. The Sherpa Guide sets the standard for "how to coach" books and for the field of executive coaching itself. It is written for both leaders within organizations who must coach teams for greater performance and for human resource professionals and consultants who provide executive coaching.

Corbett says that partnering with a university such as Penn State brings structure to efforts to train executive coaches. "Teaching people how to be management and executive coaches is a growing trend," she says. "We have seen a 37 percent increase this year in executive education programs teaching people how to be better coaches. Many companies expect their HR, line and staff professionals to do more internal coaching for improved engagement and performance. That requires training and certification."

More information on the programs can be found online at www.smeal.psu.edu/psep/ecc.html and www.smeal.psu.edu/psep/csme.html, or by calling Penn State Executive Programs at 814-865-3435.

About Penn State Executive Programs

Penn State Executive Programs has been serving the development needs of the world’s business leaders since 1954, providing both open-enrollment and custom programs. Nearly 36,000 executives from 43 different nations have participated in programs on topics ranging from strategic leadership to supply chain management. Throughout the past year, Penn State has been recognized by being ranked No. 1 for supply chain education in Supply Chain Management Review, ranked No. 2 among public universities in open-enrollment programs by The Economist, and ranked in the top 10 internationally by BusinessWeek for custom education.