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ICF-Approved Coach Training

Leading Below the Surface: A Relational Coach Training

A cohort-based training for coaches and leaders ready to work at the level of values, identity, and grounded leadership

“The competencies that make a great coach? They’re the same ones that make a great leader.”

— LaTonya Wilkins, Author of the Award-Winning Leading Below the Surface

Join the Waitlist

Request an Invitation for the next Cohort (Fall 2026)

  • ICF Approved
  • Global Cohort
  • Mentor Coaching
  • Real-Time Feedback

As Seen In

As Seen In

Also known as Coaching Below the Surface

Coach Training. Leadership Development. Identity Work

Leading Below the Surface: Relational Coach Training (also known as Coaching Below the Surface) is a 38-hour ICF-approved coach training ecosystem built on a simple truth: coaching competencies and leadership competencies are the same. Coaches learn to go deeper with their clients, going below the surface issues, into the values and identity that drive real change. Leaders learn to show up differently in the room: grounded, connected, present, and able to create the conditions where people can truly thrive.

Join the Waitlist

01

The Container
Psychological safety is the foundation. You learn in a cohort that models what grounded leadership actually feels like.

02

Global Cohort Model
Learn alongside coaches and leaders from around the world who are serious about this work, deepening your perspective through real diversity of experience.

03

Mentor Coaching + Real-Time Feedback
You don’t just study the model. We practice it in the container. Feedback happens in the room, with care and rigor. For those working toward ICF credentials, there’s also an option to add ten hours of mentor coaching through Coaching Below the Surface.

04

ICF-Approved
CBTS counts toward your ICF credential hours, so your investment serves your professional development long-term.

Who It’s For

Built for those who lead and coach with depth.

Whether you’re a leader who wants a coaching lens, or a coach ready to deepen your methodology — CBTS meets you where you are.

Leaders

  • You've realized the skills that make a great coach — deep listening, holding space, asking better questions — are the same ones that make you a better leader
  • You want a coaching lens that makes you more effective with your team, not just in formal coaching conversations
  • You're ready to lead from your values and leadership identity, not just your role
  • You want to navigate hard leadership moments with more groundedness and presence

Coaches

  • You’re a newer coach ready to go beyond surface-level techniques
  • You’re an experienced, credentialed, coach looking to deepen your methodology and add ICF hours
  • You want to hold space for identity-level change in your clients
  • You’re drawn to a model that centers psychological safety, depth, and identity in a global, diverse, container
Why Coaching Below the Surface

What makes this different.

This isn’t about performative change. It’s about deep, trust-based transformation.

Always Staying Below the Surface

Most coach training works at the level of skills and frameworks. Coaching Below the Surface works at the level of who you are: your values, your leadership identity, your groundedness under pressure. Because that’s where real change lives.

Curated Intentional Cohorts + Networking

We keep cohorts small and intentional because the people you learn with matter. You’ll practice alongside coaches and leaders who are serious about this work, and build relationships that last well beyond the container.

Where Coaching and Leadership Develop Together

This isn’t a coaching program that happens to attract leaders, or a leadership program that borrows coaching tools. It’s a space where both deepen simultaneously, because the competencies that make a great coach are the same ones that make a great leader.

Your Guide

LaTonya Wilkins

  • Executive Coach & Founder of Change Coaches
  • Experienced Keynote Speaker
  • Award-Winning Adjunct Instructor in Business and Leadership
  • Author of Leading Below the Surface™

LaTonya Wilkins is an executive coach, author of the award-winning Leading Below the Surface, keynote speaker, and founder of Coaching Below the Surface, an ICF-approved coach training program.

She built Change Coaches on a simple truth: the competencies that make a great coach and the competencies that make a great leader are the same. The most important work doesn’t happen in skill-building workshops. It happens below the surface, in how we understand ourselves, repair when things go wrong, and stay grounded when it’s hardest to lead.

Coaching Below the Surface is the training she wishes had existed when she started her journey.

Award-Winning

Author

Top 15 Coach

In Chicago, 2026

38

Hours ICF-Approved Training

The Podcast

The Leading Below the Surface™ Podcast

Go beyond the book with LaTonya Wilkins as she explores REAL leadership, empathy, and psychological safety in practice. Each episode delivers insights, stories, and strategies to help you apply Below the Surface™ principles in your daily work and life.
Watch or listen below.
YouTube
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Our Website
Watch & Learn

Below the Surface™ in Action

Watch LaTonya and guests explore what REAL leadership looks like — in conversations that go deep and stay honest.

What Our Clients are Saying

Real Leaders. Real Stories. Real Impact.

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
Get Started

Ready to go below the surface?

Coaching Below the Surface: Relational Coach Training begins Fall 2026. Request your invitation and let’s find out if it’s the right fit.

Note: Cohorts are small and curated. Every applicant has a conversation with LaTonya before enrolling.

Join the Waitlist

  • ICF-approved program
  • Global cohort community
  • Next cohort forming soon