What would make 2027 a year you’ll remember?
We remember some years for a distinct event: a graduation, a wedding, the year we moved to another state or country, the year we quit something, met someone special, or the year we started our favorite job.
What if we chose something to remember the coming year by?
A year of cooking. A year of Spanish. A year of working toward three respectable, unassisted pull-ups.
I borrowed this idea from a podcast that discussed taking on a difficult challenge that helps you see you’re capable of more than you thought, and giving it a year. You may not master the activity in a year, but you can get much better at it and immerse yourself in its world. Start in January, and by December 2027, you’ll have more than a new skill. You’ll have experiences and stories that would not have happened otherwise.
For me, 2027 will be the year I launch the Academy of Human-Led Coaching. It is a program for teaching professionals to become coaches. If 2027 is the year you want to become a credentialed coach, come with me.
Do others turn to you with difficult questions?
I have a feeling your colleagues and friends come to you often when weighing a consequential decision, struggling with a relationship, or questioning a direction that once made sense. With practiced coaching skills, you will be better equipped to help them think through a question and to support them in implementing their own ideas. The Academy of Human-Led Coaching program can develop your ability to coach with depth, care, and skill.
Why focus on “human-led” if AI can produce coaching questions and feedback in seconds, you may ask? Knowing which question the client needs now, when not to take the client’s inputs for granted, when to challenge, and when to stay quiet takes human judgment. Developing this judgment is the focus of the Academy. Dr. Leni Wildflower originally designed the program years ago. I came to her as a student when I was ready to pursue my ICF coaching credential. Now I’m honored to continue her legacy of rigorous, no-nonsense coach education as Director of Education, with Leni as Faculty Advisor and Alex Yaroslavsky joining our faculty.
Ten seats for professionals who already help others grow
The Academy’s ICF-accredited Level 2 program launches on January 10, 2027, for professionals bringing coaching into leadership, HR, consulting, education, and other settings, or building a coaching practice.
The program at a glance
135 hours over 14 weeks, virtually, with up to 10 participants per cohort.
Tuesday and Thursday meetings at noon–2 p.m. OR 7–9 p.m. ET. You choose the time that works best for you.
Three Sunday intensives and approximately 4.5 hours of independent work each week.
Weekly Coaching Labs
Six or more observed coaching sessions with personalized feedback.
Ten hours of mentor coaching, a PCC-level performance assessment, ICF exam preparation, and guidance on setting up a practice.
Inaugural cohort tuition: $6,178.
What makes the Academy of Human-Led Coaching unique?
Designed for experienced professionals. Build coaching skills you can use in the work you already do.
No bells and whistles. Just straight-up coaching skills and a great deal of practice with feedback.
Academic rigor without academic rigidity. The program is designed by academics who are also coaching practitioners. We connect research with the situations you face at work.
All-inclusive. Your tuition covers the coach education, mentor coaching, and performance assessment required for the ICF Level 2 pathway.
A small cohort means faculty really get to know you and your coaching, and give plenty of personal attention and feedback.
A focused 14-week program. Many coach education programs run 6 to 18 months, with a price tag to match; our program covers the full ICF Level 2 pathway in 14 weeks, while maintaining high rigor and quality.
Unique content. Alongside the ICF Core Competencies, we’ll explore how to coach people making decisions and shaping strategy under uncertainty (the topic of my PhD research), how intuition informs coaching and decisions and whether it should, where AI fits into coaching, and what to expect in the executive coaching industry.
There will be serious learning, plenty of practice, and room to bond, network, and even play.
Let's schedule a 1:1 exploratory call to talk about what you want to do with coaching and whether the program fits your goals. You can also email me with a question (after the global Outlook outage is over) or explore the full program on the website.
Know someone who has been thinking about becoming a coach? Please forward this invitation with a personal note. Perhaps this is something you’d enjoy learning together, making 2027 a year to remember for both of you.
With gratitude,
Alina
Dr. Alina Bas, PCC, MCS
Founder and Director of Education, Academy of Human-Led Coaching
https://AlinaBas.com/Academy
Executive Coach & Adjunct Professor of Organizational Psychology, NYU GSAS
NEWS & UPDATES
Serious work doesn't always look serious. As an executive coach, I recently facilitated a day-long retreat for a high-tech leadership team, where we did serious work on trust and collaboration, though the modeling-clay monsters might suggest otherwise. Sensory-based activities can help keep ideas in soft focus and let intellectual brilliance bubble up.
Currently on my reading shelf: Feeling & Knowing by Antonio Damasio, Why We Click by Kate Murphy, How to Know a Person by David Brooks, and Better in Every Sense by Norman Farb and Zindel Segal. These books connect with questions that matter deeply in my work and honestly, in my life as well: How do we come to know another person? What do we notice through our senses that we might miss when we’re focused on thinking about an answer? And how can we become better at paying attention to both?
If you need clarity in making a high-stakes decision that you can stand by and live with while facing uncertainty, please reach out for a Strategic Planning session .
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