ILM Level 7 Certificate and Diploma in Executive and Senior Level Coaches & Mentors

The ILM Level 7 Certificate and Diploma for Executive and Senior Level Coaches & Mentors are ILM’s most senior coaching qualifications.

They are designed for senior managers or Human Resources / Organisational Development professionals who want to develop their expertise in the fields of coaching and mentoring, or to establish coaching on an organisational level.

They are also ideal for professional coaches and mentors seeking to enhance and accredit their experience with a nationally recognised qualification

The programmes consists of three, flexible mandatory units that allow students to critically review the role and contribution of coaching and mentoring at a senior level.

Tools and techniques are provided to improve the student’s own practice and understand how the client’s organisational culture and structure affects the coaching and mentoring relationship.

For the Certificate, students are also required to demonstrate their ability to plan, deliver and review at least 20 hours of coaching and mentoring in the workplace with 2-3 coachees.

For the Diploma, this unit is extended to 60 hours of coaching and mentoring with 4-9 coachees and there is an added focus on assessing their work against best practice standards and benchmarks.

Each course is delivered through a unique blend of executive coaching / supervision, work based learning and coaching practice. Students define a set of objectives designed to have a real impact on their individual coaching practice.

As they progress through the course, supported by their executive coach / supervisor, their work will focus on achieving high levels of impact for themselves, their clients and their organisation. Their learning will evolve as they progress, drawing on their monthly coaching / supervision sessions, structured on- line learning and a large library of materials.

Programme content

The Certificate consists of three ‘themes’. The Diploma consists of four ‘themes’.

All are designed around the learning outcomes of the ILM units.

Induction

Here we ensure you familiarise yourself with the structure and flow of the programme, the learning resources and overview the writing of the Reflective Reviews, which form the accreditation part of the programme.

• 1-to-1 Induction
• Reflective Review

Theme 1: Principles and practice of effective coaching and mentoring

This part of the programme is concerned with getting you ready to start your formal coaching.

This theme enables students to develop a critical understanding of how executive coaching and mentoring can contribute to effective practice and performance at a senior and strategic level.

It will challenge learners to examine the two different disciplines of coaching and mentoring and to consider how they can be integrated into the context of an organisation’s strategy, culture and processes.

Students will also form a proposal for how they will deliver a programme of supervised executive coaching and/or mentoring and contract with their client organisations.

By the end of this theme, you should be able to:

• know how to contextualise coaching or mentoring practice at an executive or senior level
• understand the principles and practices required for effective coaching or mentoring at an executive or senior level
• know how to agree a contract to coach or mentor clients at a senior and strategic level

Theme 1 Assessment

You will complete one assessment in Theme One where you will develop a Strategic Report on the business rationale for introducing coaching or mentoring.

This can be for your own organisation or a client. Alternatively, if your practice does not provide such a case study, you could do this related to a situation of which you have prior knowledge. It is also possible to complete this exercise for a hypothetical client, although the other options are preferable.

Theme 2: Undertaking senior level coaching and mentoring

This theme enables students to develop a critical understanding of the skills and practice of a high performing coach or mentor working with senior and strategic level clients.

It will challenge learners to review and develop their own skills and abilities in coaching and mentoring. Students will also keep records of their own practice as they deliver a programme of supervised executive coaching and/or mentoring.

It is expected that you will spend much of your time on this theme in coaching or mentoring two or three clients and recording the outcomes, in preparation for the submission of your Portfolio, which will normally happen at the end of the Theme.

By the end of this theme, you should be able to:

• Plan, deliver and review 20 hours of coaching or mentoring at an executive or senior level with a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 3 individuals (Certificate)

Theme 2 Assessment

You will complete one assignment during Theme Two where you will provide contributions to the content of a Coaching and Mentoring Handbook that can act as a guide for the practice of coaches or mentors acting in a senior or executive level capacity.

As with the assignment in Theme One, this can be for your own organisation or a client, related to a situation of which you have prior knowledge or, if these scenarios are not possible, for a hypothetical client.

You will also be expected to complete your Portfolio during Theme Two. This will involve compiling records and reflections of your work with two or three clients, from contracting to evaluation stages.

During this theme, you will have coaching supervision sessions which will enable you to review your learning and move into the next theme where you will reflect critically on your practice as an executive or senior level coach or mentor.

THEME 3: Reflecting on your practice as a coach or mentor

This part of the programme is concerned with drawing together your learning.

• What kind of a coach are you becoming?
• What are your strengths and areas of development,
• Beyond the programme, how might you want to develop as a coach,
• What do you want your coaching practice to look like
• How do you describe yourself as a coach (your written profile) – your coaching signature style.

This theme enables students to critically evaluate the contribution of coaching or mentoring from the perspective of their senior and strategic level clients.

It will challenge learners to review their ability to build coaching and/or mentoring relationship through reflective practice. It will also encourage them to build their professional profile as a coach or mentor.

This theme will also enable you to critically reflect on your own practice and critically evaluate its effectiveness and contribution to the impacts achieved by your clients, for both themselves and their organisations or situations.

It will challenge you to appraise your skills and abilities in coaching and mentoring and look at the impacts these might have in future.

Theme Three culminates in a plan for your ongoing development and a Professional Profile, for use with current and prospective clients. You will also keep records of your own practice as you complete your programme of supervised executive coaching and/or mentoring.

This theme is largely reflective and evaluative in nature.

Theme Three Assessments

There are three assignments associated with the theme: an evaluative report on the usefulness of coaching or mentoring to a client, a personal analysis and Personal Development Plan (PDP) and the development of a Professional Profile.

By the end of this theme, you should be able to:

• Understand methods for evaluating coaching or mentoring at an executive or senior level
• Review your ability to perform effectively as a coach or mentor at an executive or senior level
• Plan your future professional development activities
• Construct a profile and position yourself as a coach or mentor at an executive or senior level 

During Theme Three, you will have coaching supervision sessions which will enable you to review your learning and either complete your work, if you are working on the certificate, or move on to the final theme, for the diploma.

Theme 4: Professional practice Diploma only

This theme will enable you to deepen your critical understanding of the skills and practice of a high performing coach or mentor working with senior and strategic level clients.

It will further challenge you to review and develop your own skills and abilities in coaching and mentoring. As before, you will be required to keep records of your own practice as you continue to deliver a programme of supervised executive coaching and/or mentoring.

This theme is largely practical in nature. It is expected that you will spend much of your time coaching or mentoring more clients, so that you can bring the total number you have coached to between seven and nine, in accordance with the standard, and recording the outcomes.

You will add to your Portfolio, which will already contain some of the evidence for the part of the Quest – some of the practical evidence used for the certificate can be transferred to the diploma.

This part of the programme is designed to take up to six months, although it may be that you can complete it in a shorter timescale.

By the end of this theme, you should be able to:

• Plan, deliver and review 60 hours of coaching or mentoring at an executive or senior level with a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 9 individuals.

The 20 hours of coaching or mentoring and the 2 or 3 individuals you have already coached count towards these totals. You will therefore be required to complete a further 40 hours of coaching or mentoring with an additional coachees.

You will also be expected to add to the Portfolio that you submitted during Theme Two. This will involve compiling further records and reflections of your work, from contracting to evaluation stages.

During theme four, you will have further coaching supervision sessions which will enable you to review your learning.

Benefits for individuals

• Know how to review and build the context, strategy, culture and processes for coaching and mentoring at a senior and strategic level
• Understand and analyse different coaching and mentoring models and their impact
• Learn how to evaluate the effectiveness of coaching and mentoring in an organisation
• Critically review your own communication skills, emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills and values, to assess your competence as a coach or mentor
• Plan, deliver and review coaching and mentoring contact with clients at a senior and strategic level.

Benefits for employers

• Implement coaching in complex working environments or at a senior and strategic level in your organisation
• Ensure your organisation’s coaches and mentors are properly equipped with the skills, knowledge and ethical understanding they need
• Benchmark your organisation’s approach against the latest and best industry practice
• Create a coaching and mentoring culture in which senior managers and leaders demonstrate their commitment to supporting their own and others’ development and performance improvement.

What’s next?

The ILM Level 7 Certificate and Diploma are prestigious qualifications in their own right and are amongst ILM’s most senior awards. They can provide students with up to 37 credits at Level 7. These credits are at postgraduate level. For comparison, a Master’s degree is 180 credits.

The qualifications also provide progression opportunities to other senior level qualifications such as the ILM Level 7 Certificate or Diploma in Coaching Supervision >find out more.

Successful completion of these qualifications, combined with relevant experience, may also provide eligibility for Fellowship of the Institute of Leadership & Management and membership of the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC).