Last updated on July 29, 2024
Innovation is what drives companies forward and inspires growth. With the consistent shifts in the business playing field, if companies want to keep up with competitors, they need to consistently adapt and innovate. When they need help with stimulating progress and new ways of thinking, businesses turn to an innovation coach.
Do you want to make changes in the corporate world and stimulate progress? Then this list of the best innovation coach certification programs is for you! Find out all about innovation coach training and how to start your career in this field.
Here are the programs we’ll look at:
- The Painted Sky – Best for Beginners
- Innovation Coach Institute – Best for Practical Learning
- Values Centered Innovation – Best for Professional Development
Table of Contents
What Is an Innovation Coach?
Innovation coaches work with clients to improve their innovation abilities and enhance processes within an organization through guidance, tools, and resources that support the set business goals. They can work with clients individually or come into the company and inspire out-of-the-box thinking within a team.
Innovation coaches help with innovation by applying the following practices:
- Creating an innovative company culture
- Introducing innovative techniques
- Helping employees realize their creative potential
- Investing in knowledge management structure
- Focusing on skills rather than products
- Creating employee personas
- Encouraging effective feedback
Innovation Coach vs Innovation Trainer vs Innovation Workshop
Innovation coaching, training, and workshops can assist in expanding the company’s innovation capabilities—but what’s the difference?
An innovation workshop is a short-form learning session that mainly focuses on theoretical knowledge rather than practical application.
An innovation coach provides long-term guidance and offers practical tools and templates for creating innovative results. If the company needs someone to drive the change, it can hire a coach to make that process seamless and more effective.
However, if they are already in the midst of an innovation process, they can hire a trainer as they can build on their skills and give them new ideas about reaching their already established goals.
How Do I Become an Innovation Coach?
Even though getting certified is not a requirement for building an innovation coaching business, it is a huge asset. Through a training program, you’ll get coaching and innovation information and tools that you can employ with your clients. You’ll also learn from experts in this field and have a certification as proof of your expertise.
In addition to knowledge and techniques, the following skills are also needed for becoming a successful innovation coach:
- Motivation
- Communication skills
- Knowledge of new processes and technology in the market
- Out-of-the-box thinking
- The ability to identify creative minds
- Challenging traditional ways of thinking
- Listening skills
- Questioning skills
- Ability to provide useful feedback
Factors to Consider When Choosing an Innovation Coaching Certification
Find your way to the best program for your career by considering these factors when browsing for an innovation certification.
Program Cost
Certification programs can be expensive, even reaching over $10,000. Setting a budget that you can spend on certification can help you filter your options.
Course Length
Course duration varies from a few days to over a year. If you have a specific timeline in mind for developing your coaching business, that will significantly affect your choice. For more learning flexibility, you can choose a self-paced course.
Accreditation
A certification program doesn’t need to be accredited to be valid or recognized. However, if you want assurance that the program respects and follows standards by a reputable accrediting body, that’s when you can prioritize accreditation. The most famous accrediting entity in the coaching industry is the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
Best Innovation Coaching Programs
Beginner Option: The Painted Sky
The Painted Sky’s Innovation Coaching Certification program is the first ICF-accredited Innovation and Leadership Development program in the world. Their program is focused both on developing your innovation mindset and coaching competencies.
Through their 4 modules, you’ll learn about the most advanced innovation processes and principles, develop attitudes and skills for innovation coaching, master design thinking, and many more useful lessons.
What we like about this course is they dive deep into coaching, from explaining the difference between coaching and counseling to setting expectations for clients to understanding group coaching. This can be an amazing program for beginners, as you’ll learn the ins and outs of innovation and coaching, and you’ll also get practical experience through 10 hours of group coaching practice labs.
- Course Length: 4 months
- Program Cost: Available upon request
- Accreditation: ICF
- Mode of Delivery: Online
Practical Option: Innovation Coach Institute
The Innovation Coach program by Innovation Coach Institute is very comprehensive, and it includes an integrated practical phase. Their innovation coach training is categorized into 4 levels:
- Innovation Professional
- Innovation Master
- Innovation Facilitator
- Practical project work
Innovation Professional is a 4-day workshop that provides you with the essentials for developing an innovation coach career. The second module, Innovation Master, will uncover innovation culture and develop new business models. Lastly, the Innovation Facilitator module will expand your innovation facilitation knowledge.
To ensure that you can apply what you’ve learned, there’s a practical phase of the training where you’ll accompany the participants in an innovation project. You’ll be supervised by the founders, Benno van Aerssen and Christian Buchholz, and you’ll have 12 months to finish it.
- Course Length: Up to 12 months
- Program Cost: €10.800 + VAT
- Accreditation: None
- Mode of Delivery: Online
Professional Development Option: Values Centered Innovation
If you want to become a certified coach using the Innovation Styles® method, the Values Centered Innovation (VCI) Innovative Thinking – Coach Certification can be for you. This is a great choice for career advancement and for those who want to enhance their list of innovation techniques.
To qualify for the program, you must have a minimum of 10 years of professional experience as a talent developer, general manager, and/or project leader. If you have a graduate degree in a relevant field, that counts as 1 year of professional experience.
Through the program, you’ll master the 4 Innovation Styles®, learn to conduct 7 different coaching sessions, and engage in numerous practical exercises. Your instructors will be the co-founders and Directors of Values Centered Innovation, William and Debra Miller.
- Course Length: 6 hours of learning plus practice time
- Program Cost: Available upon request
- Accreditation: None
- Mode of Delivery: Online
Alternatives (non-niche)
Your coaching experiences and skills don’t need to be limited to innovation coaching. You can learn a lot and grow professionally through other coaching life coaching programs.
Whether you want to enhance general life coaching capabilities or gain expertise in high-performance coaching, transition, empowerment, or a similar niche, you can find affordable and reputable programs on Transformation Academy and Coach Training Alliance. These are our top choice programs because they have the best price-quality ratio, a wide variety of courses, and accreditation from reputable entities.
Learn more about them in our TA review and CTA review.
Special Offer: Get 50% off all certification programs at Transformation Academy by clicking our link or entering code LIFECOACHMAG at checkout.
FAQs
- How much does an innovation coach make?
According to Comparably, an average innovation coach’s salary in the US is $125,000.
- Do you need a certification to be an innovation coach?
A simple answer is no, a certification isn’t required. But, a more complete answer is that certification is a huge asset for building credibility and attracting clients.
- How much does an innovation coach certification cost?
The cost depends on numerous factors, and it can exceed $10,000.
- Does accreditation matter in an innovation coach certification program?
Whether you choose an accredited program depends on your personal choice. Accreditation matters in terms of recognition and validation that the curriculum and practices respect the standards of that accrediting entity.
- What is the most recognized coaching certification?
If your goal is to obtain the most recognized certification, it’s better to concentrate on accreditation instead of focusing on the name of the certification program. ICF is the most well-known organization that provides accreditation for coaching training, so an ICF-accredited program is a good option if you are seeking a training program with recognized credentials.
Conclusion
If you have a mind designed for visionary thinking and aspiration for boosting companies’ success, innovation coaching can be a tailor-made profession for you. With these certification programs, your path toward an innovation coach career can be streamlined and supported by the most recognized experts in this field. Since the best coaches have a never-ending thirst for knowledge, you can always turn to Transformation Academy and Coach Training Alliance for additional professional growth.
Take the Coach Certification Quiz
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