What do you need to do to become a parenting coach? A great niche market. There are a lot of parents out there, and anyone who has watched any of those nanny shows can see there are a lot of parents who need help. Perhaps “Super Nanny” is the British version of the accountability coach. What does it take to become a parenting coach? Anyone who has ever had kids, or taken care of them for extended periods of time has at least some instant credibility. If you are a certified accountability coach, or have coaching training in accountability…even better.

The first thing to do to become a parenting coach to your client? You need to teach the parent to ‘model integrity’. The parents need to understand that what they value most…perhaps a more peaceful home, kids that follow instructions and have good manners, is directly related to their own ability to honor their word and their commitments. Children get a lot of certainty and security knowing that their parents are actually in control, rather than circumstances. Children may try to get their parents to back down from what they just said, but they actually thrive on having limits placed on them, as long as the limits are consistent. Give them a little accountability coaching training lesson.

How do you teach parents to model integrity? Think coaching training…

You’re really just training your clients to become coaches themselves!

• Awareness. If you have decided to become a parenting coach, you need to lead the client into an awareness of how they are being powerful with their commitments, and where they are breaking their commitments. This can be the “tough love” phase. Don’t step over anything, yet don’t go out of your way to make them feel punished. You are the role model for their behavior as well.

• Impact. To become a parenting coach you need the skills to get the client to connect their word with what they value most, and connect breaking their commitments with what they want most to avoid. This is really coaching training 101. For example, if they are not following through with what they say they will do, their children will pick up on that and use that as an excuse to do the same. Also, children will not take their parents seriously when parents don’t walk their talk. It’s a little like the gambling mentality. If a parent folds or gives in, even if it’s only 1 out of 10 times…the child will see that as an opportunity. “If I push the issue, it might just work.” The resultant behavior can be subtle sulking to tantrums on the floor of the store.

•  The Leadership Converstation. To become a parenting coach…a good one…this is the moment of truth. This is where your coaching training pays off.
  • Are you able to become a parenting coach who can empower parents to make a true possibility-based (rather than past-based) choice in terms of their commitments and being their word?
  • Are you able to become a parenting coach who can train the parent in creating a powerful relationship of integrity between their words and their actions?
  • Are you able to become a parenting coach who is able to help set up positive conditioning and reinforcement systems for the new relationship that the client has with their promises?

Once a parent has begun to have power with their word, they will start seeing amazing results with their children. Integrity is NOT natural or easy, but it can be trained. And who better qualified to give them the coaching training they need?

Colette Seymann

Accountability Coach, JTS Advisors