Student Story: Hamid

Hamid Tavassoly has completed the Foundation, Certificate and Masters programmes, and says he has learned from some of the very best names in coaching.

Current organisation and role: civil servant including a coaching role
Organisation and role when starting the course: as above
Programme level: Foundation, Certificate then Masters
Previous education: BSc, MSc, MBA, Chartered Engineer

Commitment to learning

“What really stands out is the high standard and the rigour of the programme. The faculty really is at the forefront of coaching. If you were going to name the best 20 people to teach you from the world of coaching, you’ve got many of them here. And the programme is a testament to their commitment to learning. They won’t take you on if they don’t think it will work for you, because they are committed to offering the best coaching programme possible. Also, I chose i-coach because of the connection with a university. It was important to me that there was a university accreditation, as it is demonstrative of the rigor and depth of the course.”

Authentic coaching

“The breadth and depth of the programme which combines both theoretical and practical coaching together with reflective learning was really great. On a personal level there’s definitely a great deal of learning about yourself, and this is really important for a coach. You really need to be solid as a coach because you’re going in there and dealing with other people’s lives, so you need to be quite anchored about who you are and be very self-aware.

“One challenge is finding enough time to study, practice and reflect. For people like me who were on full-time employment, that was quite challenging. You need to put a lot of energy and yourself into it to get the most out of it.”