Coaching Below the Surface

A coaching experience for real connection in a world that needs it more than ever.

Coaching Below the Surface is a coaching experience designed for a world that’s rapidly changing. In an era of uncertainty, division, and growing reliance on AI, real human connection is becoming the most essential leadership skill. This program helps coaches and leaders build the presence, emotional strength, and trust needed to support themselves and others at a deeper level.
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This is coaching. This is leadership. This is about investing in yourself and doing the work to lead below the surface. I’m so honored to be part of a cohort led by the amazing and talented LaTonya Wilkins. Highly recommend!
ShayleeSenior Leader
Shaylee

Experience the Difference of Going Below the Surface

Coaching Below the Surface isn’t about more frameworks or clever questions. Here, you’ll experience:

Guidance from an expert you can trust
Learn from and be mentor coached directly by LaTonya Wilkins, award-winning coach, author, and facilitator, whose grounded presence helps people grow with clarity and confidence.
A safe space to show up fully
Lead and coach authentically, without pressure to perform or fit into a standard. This is where you can be real, reflect deeply, and evolve.
Deeper human connection in an AI-driven world
Strengthen your ability to build trust, navigate differences, and create relationships where people genuinely feel seen and understood.
Emotional strength for uncertain times
Develop the presence, resilience, and steadiness needed to support yourself and others in a world that feels increasingly unstable.
Clarity and insight below the surface
Learn to notice what’s really happening in a conversation so you can respond with confidence, curiosity, and skill.
Transformation you can feel and sustain
Walk away with tools, practices, and experiences that change how you listen, lead, coach, and connect long after the program ends.

See What Happens When You Go Below the Surface

Tamarra, Master Certified Coach (MCC), shares how Coaching Below the Surface shifted the way she connects, coaches, and leads. Her story shows what happens when you build trust, deepen your presence, and grow in a way you can actually feel, not just study. Watch her journey.

Blythe, an acclaimed coach, founder of a grief-to-purpose program, and a dually mastered LCSW/MSW and M.Ed., shares why she joined Coaching Below the Surface—not to learn how to coach, but to strengthen how she leads. As a leader of a 12-person team, Blythe reflects on the real outcomes she experienced: deeper trust, clearer leadership presence, and a stronger foundation for developing leaders—not just managing people.

See Coaching Below the Surface™ in Action

Join LaTonya Wilkins, founder of Change Coaches and author of Leading Below the Surface™, for an interactive, live demo of the Coaching Below the Surface methodology, giving you a hands-on preview of the skills and insights offered in our full program, including how to coach with presence, build psychological safety, and hold richer, more attuned coaching conversations.

During the demo, you’ll:

  • Experience Coaching Below the Surface™ in action
  • Explore tools to deepen your coaching impact
  • Engage with other leaders and coaches curious about next-level coaching

Attend Demo

How Coaching Below the Surface Works

Coaching Below the Surface blends reflection, practice, and real human connection in a supportive cohort environment. You’ll learn alongside others who care about meaningful change, deep trust, and coaching in a way that actually makes people feel seen.
Cohort-based learning
Small groups create the trust, psychological safety, and authentic connection needed to coach at a deeper level.
Interactive sessions
Workshops, live coaching demonstrations, and hands-on practice help you move from concepts to real skill and real presence.
Practical tools for real conversations
Walk away with strategies you can use immediately in your coaching and leadership, especially in moments of difference, tension, or uncertainty.
Flexible pacing
A structure that supports your life and work while still giving you the depth, reflection, and practice required to grow meaningfully.
Guided practice and mentor coaching

Practice coaching with real-time guidance and support, so learning actually sticks.

Who This Program is For

Coaching Below the Surface is for coaches, leaders, and professionals who want to move beyond surface-level interactions and build real human connections. It’s designed for people who want to coach and lead with presence, courage, and emotional strength, especially in a world where uncertainty, difference, and disconnection are the norm.
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Outcomes You’ll Walk Away With

Greater confidence built through practice
Feel more grounded and capable in real conversations, especially the complex, emotionally charged ones.
Stronger relationships built on trust and real presence
Develop the capacity to connect authentically, listen deeply, and make others feel seen and supported.
Clear insight into yourself and your impact
Understand what’s happening below the surface, in you and in others, so you can respond with clarity, not reactivity.
Practical skills for leading and coaching with courage and empathy

Learn approaches you can use immediately to navigate differences, hold space, and support people in a changing and uncertain world.

Coaching Below the Surface for Organizations

Looking to strengthen trust, presence, and psychological safety across your team or organization? Coaching Below the Surface for Organizations is available as a dedicated cohort for your leaders or teams, tailored to your goals and culture. Explore a small group or full-team experience designed to create lasting impact.

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The coaching landscape is quickly shifting.⁠

As AI evolves, the most valuable skill won’t be information or frameworks.⁠ ⁠It will be the ability to build real safety, emotional depth, and human connection—the kind that creates clarity, courage, and transformation.⁠

That’s the core of Coaching Below the Surface, our ICF-approved certification that blends evidence-based practice with human-centered leadership.

Great coaching is about knowing your audience, asking the right questions, and unlocking people's potential to achieve their goals. That's why I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to join the first #LeadingBelowtheSurface Coaching Cohort led by the amazing LaTonya. For anyone wanting to improve their coaching skills, I'd highly recommend taking this program. And I loved building these skills with an incredible cohort.
MarthaFounder & Strategic Advisor
Martha
She is a gifted coach and visionary who is out to change the face and feel of coaching. LaTonya is passionate about creating spaces where people can feel safe to show up - coach and client alike. And where who we are is truly seen and valued - in all the diversity that this brings. The cohort she assembled for Coaching Beneath the Surface was such a stellar group of people. Looking forward to staying connected, LaTonya, and watching as you transform coaching.
AnnemarieLeadership Consultant & Speaker
Annemarie
This is coaching. This is leadership. This is about investing in yourself and doing the work to lead below the surface. I’m so honored to be part of a cohort led by the amazing and talented LaTonya Wilkins. Highly recommend!
ShayleeSenior Leader
Shaylee
So grateful to be in this cohort of practitioners. Thank you LaTonya Wilkins for creating a space where we can learn, connect, and thrive together. Looking forward to the rest of our sessions!
Certified Coach for Senior Leaders
Certified Coach for Senior Leaders
What a blessing! Not only to be learning something new, but to witness the ways we can support each other, and therefore create connection. Safety is clearly an important component, and that was definitely part of this experience. But so is thoughtful interaction - created through thoughtful planning of the agenda and the reflection prompts, and paying attention throughout the process for ways and opportunities to bring us into conversation and into connection. Thanks LaTonya Wilkins!
Facilitator & Best-Selling Author
Facilitator & Best-Selling Author
Intention + Presence + REAL conversation = GOLD. The experience was amazing. Looking forward to the next one!
Senior Consultant
Senior Consultant

Your Coach & Strategic Partner

LaTonya Wilkins is an award-winning executive coach, founder of Change Coaches, and author of Leading Below the Surface. She helps leaders and teams build trust-centered cultures, deepen relationships, and navigate change with clarity and connection. LaTonya is the creator of the widely recognized Coaching Below the Surface™ approach: an ICF-approved development experience for leaders and coaches, and host of the Leading Below the Surface podcast. Named a LinkedIn Top Voice, she has coached and spoken for organizations including Google, The New York Times, and Kellogg School of Management. The second edition of her book was released in 2025.

See LaTonya in action through these podcast episodes on coaching, leadership, and transformation.

Ready to Go Below the Surface?

Step into an experience where you can coach, lead, and grow with real courage, presence, and connection.
Get Started Today

Program Description

Format

  • Virtual with hybrid opportunities

Program Schedule

  • 10 interactive, cohort-based live modules
  • Structured pre-work and applied learning between sessions
  • Coaching demos
  • Guided development of your personalized Coaching Action Plan
  • Opportunities to receive feedback from instructors and peers
See the Sample Schedule

ICF Continuing Coach Education (CCE) Credits

This program provides 38 ICF CCE credits, allocated as follows:
  • 33 Core Competency credits
  • 5 Resource Development credits

Mentor Coaching Below the Surface™

Prefer 1:1 coaching? Our personalized mentor-coaching experience supports ICF credentialing or renewal while helping you grow into your authentic coaching presence. Go beyond checking the boxes — explore who you are as a coach.

Learn More

Helping People and Cultures Evolve by Going Below the Surface

Backed by the award-winning Leading Below the Surface™ (5,000+ copies sold, top 10% of business books), Change Coaches partners with organizations to transform individuals, teams, and cultures through coaching, training, and facilitated experiences. From our ICF-accredited Coaching Below the Surface™ program to executive coaching and team trust-building, our methodology strengthens psychological safety, uncovers root causes, and fosters real connection—so leaders and teams can thrive in today’s complexity.

Meet Our Team

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Trusted by bold leaders at top companies, universities, and nonprofits worldwide.

Use the code SAVE10 at checkout for 10% off through May 28.

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Sign Up For a Demo

This demo is for coaches, consultants, and leaders who want to build psychologically safe, human-centered coaching cultures — not surface-level quick fixes.
Feb 3, 6pm CTFeb 6, 10am CT

Discover More with the Leading Below the Surface Podcast

The Leading Below the Surface Podcast dives into leadership development, empathy, and psychological safety in today’s diverse and dynamic workplace. Inspired by LaTonya Wilkins’ acclaimed book, the podcast provides actionable insights for navigating cultural and generational differences, fostering authentic relationships, and embracing DEIB in real-world scenarios.

Hosted by LaTonya herself, this podcast offers a deeper look into the transformative topics she explores in her keynotes and workshops. Tune in to discover how her expertise can help your organization thrive.

Listen now and explore topics that resonate with your team.