Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC)
UK-based executive coach training provider founded in 1999, triple-accredited by ICF, EMCC, and AC, with 15,000+ coaches trained across 100 countries.
About
The Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC) was founded in 1999 by John Leary-Joyce in London. Leary-Joyce, a former managing director of Gestalt Centre London and a gestalt psychotherapist by background, set out to create what he described as the first advanced-level executive coach training programme, one that deliberately brought together psychological depth and business application. The organisation is headquartered at 167–169 Great Portland Street, London, and operates globally through 16 licensed delivery partners.
Over 26 years, AoEC has trained more than 15,000 professionals across 100 countries. Its programmes serve a wide range of participants: prospective coaches, experienced practitioners seeking credentials, HR and L&D professionals, senior leaders, and organisational development specialists. In 2023, AoEC became a certified B Corporation, embedding social and environmental accountability into its operating model alongside its commercial activities.
For a coach, graduating from an AoEC programme means completing training whose content and rigour has been independently evaluated, simultaneously, by three of the coaching profession's principal accrediting bodies: the ICF, EMCC, and the AC.
Training Programmes
AoEC's curriculum spans entry-level coaching skills through to advanced specialisations. Its core programmes carry the triple accreditation that distinguishes the school.
Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching
The Practitioner Diploma is AoEC's flagship qualification and is the programme on which the organisation built its reputation. It is accredited by the ICF as a Level 1 programme (64 total coach-specific education hours), meeting the requirements for the ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential. It simultaneously holds EMCC Global Quality Award (EQA) at Practitioner level, which satisfies the training requirements for EMCC Individual Accreditation (EIA) at Practitioner. It also holds Accredited Award in Coach Training status with the AC, granting eligibility for AC Accelerated Accreditation. The programme is offered in multiple formats: fully virtual, in-person, weekend, and in-house for organisations. Cohorts are capped at 20 participants.
Professional Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching
This Level 2 programme builds on the Practitioner Diploma (or equivalent prior learning of at least 60 ICF coach-specific education hours). It is accredited by the ICF for 135 total hours of coach-specific education, and graduates have met the training requirements for the ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential via the Level 2 pathway. The programme deepens coaching presence, self-as-instrument awareness, and ethical practice.
Systemic Team Coaching
In 2010, John Leary-Joyce co-developed the Systemic Team Coaching® methodology with Professor Peter Hawkins of Renewal Associates. This represents a distinct strand within AoEC's portfolio, extending individual coaching principles into the dynamics of teams and organisations. The Certificate Practitioner programme is accredited by the ICF for 19 Continuing Coach Education Units (CCEUs) and can be used towards the ICF Advanced Certification in Team Coaching (ACTC). A Diploma (Senior Practitioner) pathway continues the programme for those pursuing deeper systemic practice. Delivery operates through five global hubs: the UK, North America, Southern Africa, China, and Singapore.
Gestalt Approaches
Gestalt principles are woven throughout AoEC's programmes rather than siloed into a single track. The Advanced Coaching Skills: Gestalt Embodiment Foundation Programme offers dedicated study for coaches who want to work more explicitly with presence, embodiment, and relational field dynamics, reflecting Leary-Joyce's own formation as a gestalt psychotherapist.
Methodology
AoEC's pedagogical approach is experiential and relational. The school explicitly frames coaching as a craft requiring presence and self-awareness, something more than a set of techniques. This orientation traces directly to Leary-Joyce's background in gestalt psychotherapy, which foregrounds the relationship between coach and client (in team coaching, between coach and the group field) as the primary instrument of change.
The school uses the phrase "self as instrument" to describe what it expects graduates to develop: the capacity to bring their full awareness, body, and relational sensitivity into the coaching encounter. Faculty are working practitioners. Mentor coaching, supervision, and performance evaluation are embedded into the diploma programmes rather than added on as extras.
This methodology is most visibly expressed in the Systemic Team Coaching model, which Leary-Joyce and Hawkins designed to integrate the best of individual coaching, organisational development, and team facilitation into a single, rigorous discipline.
Triple Accreditation: ICF, EMCC, and AC
AoEC's flagship Practitioner Diploma carries simultaneous accreditation from the three principal professional bodies in the coaching world. The ICF accreditation confirms the programme meets the federation's competency framework and education-hour standards. The EMCC Quality Award reflects alignment with EMCC's European-rooted standards for reflective and developmental coaching practice. The AC accreditation, granted through the Accredited Award in Coach Training, verifies the programme satisfies the AC's standards, which include a specific emphasis on executive coaching practice.
Holding all three simultaneously is uncommon. Each body conducts its own review process, and their standards, while broadly aligned, differ in emphasis. For a graduate, this means their AoEC qualification is portable: the hours and credentials they have earned can be presented to whichever body they choose to pursue individual accreditation with.
What This Means for You
If you are considering hiring a coach who trained at AoEC, the credential signals that they completed a programme whose content and assessment were independently reviewed by the ICF, EMCC, and AC. The gestalt and systemic thread in AoEC's curriculum suggests coaches trained there are likely to work relationally, bringing attention to how you engage with others and to patterns in systems you operate within, not only to your individual goals. What the credential does not guarantee is chemistry, sector expertise, or that a given coach's style suits your situation. Ask the coach which AoEC programme they completed, what their coaching hours look like since graduation, and which professional body they hold individual accreditation with. Those details will tell you more than the school name alone.
Executive coaching is a relational craft. It asks the coach to bring their whole self, with rigour and presence, in service of something beyond the individual in the room.
Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC) coaches on Dream Coach Match
Questions about Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC)
Q.01What is the AoEC Practitioner Diploma, and what credential does it lead to?
What is the AoEC Practitioner Diploma, and what credential does it lead to?
The Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching is AoEC's flagship qualification. It is accredited by the ICF as a Level 1 programme for 64 coach-specific education hours, which satisfies the training requirements for the ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential. It also holds EMCC Global Quality Award (EQA) at Practitioner level and AC Accredited Award in Coach Training status, so graduates can pursue individual accreditation with any of the three major bodies.
Q.02Is the AoEC triple accreditation from ICF, EMCC, and AC applied to all its programmes?
Is the AoEC triple accreditation from ICF, EMCC, and AC applied to all its programmes?
The triple accreditation applies specifically to the Practitioner Diploma. The Professional Practitioner Diploma carries ICF Level 2 accreditation (135 hours, PCC pathway) and meets EMCC EQA standards. The Systemic Team Coaching Certificate holds ICF CCE accreditation for 19 CCEUs. Programmes vary, so check the specific programme page for its accreditation status.
Q.03What is Systemic Team Coaching, and how does AoEC relate to it?
What is Systemic Team Coaching, and how does AoEC relate to it?
Systemic Team Coaching® is a methodology developed in 2010 by AoEC's founder John Leary-Joyce in partnership with Professor Peter Hawkins of Renewal Associates. It applies a systemic lens to coaching teams rather than individuals. AoEC offers Certificate Practitioner and Diploma (Senior Practitioner) pathways, delivered through five global hubs. The Certificate is ICF-accredited for 19 CCEUs.
Q.04Where is AoEC based, and where does it deliver programmes?
Where is AoEC based, and where does it deliver programmes?
AoEC is headquartered in London (Great Portland Street, W1W). Programmes run in-person in the UK and virtually, and through 16 licensed global delivery partners spanning Europe, Asia, the Americas, and beyond. The Systemic Team Coaching programmes operate through dedicated hubs in the UK, North America, Southern Africa, China, and Singapore.
Q.05Who founded the AoEC, and what is their background?
Who founded the AoEC, and what is their background?
John Leary-Joyce founded AoEC in 1999. He trained as a gestalt psychotherapist and was previously managing director of Gestalt Centre London. He holds an MA in Executive Coaching, is a PCC with the ICF, and served as Past President of EMCC UK. He is co-author of the Systemic Team Coaching model alongside Peter Hawkins.
Q.06How does AoEC compare to other coach training providers?
How does AoEC compare to other coach training providers?
AoEC sits in the organisational and executive coaching segment. It targets professionals, leaders, and HR practitioners rather than the general consumer market. Its gestalt-informed, experiential pedagogy distinguishes it from more technique-centred providers. The simultaneous ICF, EMCC, and AC triple accreditation on its flagship diploma is relatively rare. Providers like Newfield, CTI, and iPEC serve overlapping markets with different methodological emphases.
Q.07What is the AoEC's connection to gestalt psychology?
What is the AoEC's connection to gestalt psychology?
Gestalt principles are foundational to AoEC's pedagogical approach. John Leary-Joyce spent his career before AoEC as a gestalt psychotherapist and grew Gestalt Centre London. AoEC programmes treat the coach's presence, body awareness, and relational sensitivity as the primary medium of change, an approach the school calls 'self as instrument'. The Advanced Coaching Skills: Gestalt Embodiment Foundation Programme offers dedicated study in this approach.
Q.08What is a B Corporation, and why does it matter for AoEC?
What is a B Corporation, and why does it matter for AoEC?
B Corp certification is awarded by B Lab and requires companies to meet independently verified standards for social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. AoEC was certified as a B Corp in 2023. For prospective students, it signals that the organisation applies the same values-driven lens to its own operations that it teaches coaches to bring to their work.
Q.09What programmes does AoEC offer for existing coaches looking to deepen their practice?
What programmes does AoEC offer for existing coaches looking to deepen their practice?
The Professional Practitioner Diploma (ICF Level 2, 135 hours) is designed for coaches who already hold a Level 1 qualification or ACC credential and want to develop toward PCC. The Systemic Team Coaching Diploma (Senior Practitioner) and the Gestalt Embodiment programme serve experienced coaches seeking specialisation. AoEC also offers CPD workshops and supervision.
Q.10How long does the Practitioner Diploma take to complete?
How long does the Practitioner Diploma take to complete?
AoEC does not publish a fixed calendar duration on its programme pages, as delivery formats vary (virtual, in-person, weekend, in-house). The programme requires a minimum of 10 hours of coaching practice with at least two clients, three group and three one-to-one mentor coaching sessions, small-group discussions after each module, and an Assessment Day. Prospective students should contact AoEC or their local AoEC partner for current schedule options.
Q.11What does an AoEC qualification tell me about a coach?
What does an AoEC qualification tell me about a coach?
It tells you the coach completed training independently reviewed by three of the profession's major accrediting bodies (ICF, EMCC, and AC) simultaneously. That triple accreditation signals the curriculum met standards from different national and philosophical traditions: ICF's competency framework, EMCC's European-rooted reflective practice standards, and AC's emphasis on executive coaching quality. The gestalt-informed, 'self as instrument' pedagogy means coaches trained at AoEC are likely to work relationally, attending to how you engage with others and to the quality of the coaching relationship itself, not only to goal-setting and action planning. The Practitioner Diploma satisfies ICF Level 1 requirements (ACC pathway); the Professional Practitioner Diploma satisfies Level 2 (PCC pathway). The more important question is whether the coach holds individual accreditation with ICF, EMCC, or AC in addition to their AoEC diploma. The diploma certifies training; individual accreditation certifies independently assessed competence. Coaching is not therapy; an AoEC-trained coach is a professional practitioner, not a licensed clinician.
Q.12What should I ask an AoEC-trained coach before hiring them?
What should I ask an AoEC-trained coach before hiring them?
Ask which AoEC programme they completed, whether the Practitioner Diploma (ICF Level 1, ACC pathway), the Professional Practitioner Diploma (ICF Level 2, PCC pathway), or a specialist programme like Systemic Team Coaching. Then ask whether they hold individual accreditation with one of the three bodies the diploma points toward: an ICF ACC or PCC, an EMCC EIA, or an AC accreditation level. The diploma is a training credential; individual body accreditation is the independently assessed mark of competence. Ask how many paid coaching hours they have logged since graduating and what kinds of clients they typically work with. AoEC's gestalt-influenced curriculum produces coaches who work relationally and with attention to systemic context. If you need a highly structured, tool-heavy approach, confirm the coach can flex toward that. Ask what they don't work with: AoEC-trained coaches are professional practitioners, not licensed therapists, and coaching is not a substitute for clinical or therapeutic support. A coach who can describe their referral practice clearly is signalling professional maturity as much as any credential does.