Some students arrive with twenty years of coaching behind them. Others arrive from Agile, from managing a team, or from a career they’re leaving. Below is verified feedback from both — starting with the mentor coaches who trained with us most recently.
Verified feedback from recent graduates of our ICF certification and mentor-coaching courses.
“The calibration and hearing how other coaches considered evidence from the recorded or live group sessions.”
“Cherie is incredibly patient and was so helpful supporting me in learning new and comprehensive curriculum. The coursework has clearly been thoughtfully put together and works to ensure you leave the course fully prepared to mentor.”
“I found the module highly practical and immediately applicable. The combination of clear guidance, structured observation tools and detailed competency markers helped me sharpen my ability to distinguish between ACC- and PCC-level coaching behaviours and assess coaching with greater precision. As a result, I am now a much better coach myself. I particularly valued the emphasis on evidence-based observation rather than interpretation. The module has strengthened both my confidence and capability as a mentor coach, and I can see myself returning to these tools regularly in my practice.”
“I appreciated the content and activities that helped deepen my mentor coaching practice and prepare me for the MCS requirements. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who has mentor experience and wants to review and deepen their understanding.”
“This module was very practical and helpful, and I believe I will be able to apply what I learned immediately in my future mentor coaching sessions.”
“Very well prepared training. The mentor coaching qualifications content and seeing the whole picture helped me a lot. Especially the presentations are very useful.”
“This course provided an exceptional learning experience, allowing me to gain a deep and thorough understanding of mentor coaching and the ICF Core Competencies down to the finer details. The feedback on assignments was always prompt, specific, and actionable, which helped me clearly understand my areas of growth and bridge the gap between theory and practice. Thank you for such a well-structured and supportive program.”
“This module provided very clear guidance on how to be ICF compliant as a Mentor Coach under their new MC specialization. It demonstrated how to gather evidence, provide clean evidence-based feedback, and manage formative assessment records and processes.”
“The training provided me with structure to support my many years of practical mentor coach experience. This will enable me to confidently apply all the mentor coaching competencies in support of the 2027 ICF mentor coaching requirements.”
“This is a high-quality course, thanks to its content, and highly practical due to its asynchronous format. I really appreciated the frameworks, templates, and variety of exercises across the six modules. It was a great opportunity to receive feedback from an MCC on my assignments.”
“I found the experience in this module to be extremely clear and practical. Everything in mentor coaching was modeled and presented in a way that I can easily reference and apply in my actual practice.”
“This module gave more insight and learning to my coaching, mentoring, and supervision.”
“Clear outlines of expectations for MCS and practical examples.”
“This course was great. I realise we were part of the first cohort, so there were tweaks along the way. Cherie and the team took the time to explain some of the confusing or not yet confirmed aspects of the ICF requirements in line with the course requirements, and they were very responsive to any changes or updates from the ICF. I have every confidence that I will be an effective mentor coach off the back of completing this course, and it has set me up for success — the MC is now being offered as a service in my own business and for other coaching schools that require this service.”
“The Mentor Coaching Foundation course is an exceptionally comprehensive, rigorous, and highly practical program. What stands out most is how seamlessly it translates ICF's complex standards into actionable, step-by-step guidance that any mentor coach can immediately apply in real-world practice.Rather than remaining at an abstract theoretical level, the course equips practitioners with a complete operational toolkit: from mastering four-level critical listening and timestamp-anchored competency identification to structuring non-judgmental, formative feedback. The detailed walkthroughs of session observation templates, cumulative review forms, and group facilitation frameworks provide a clear roadmap for mentoring coaches across credential levels. The practical distinction between coaching skill and coaching style, alongside concrete tools to calibrate against PCC and MCC markers, allows mentor coaches to illuminate client blind spots with precision and empathy.This program serves as an indispensable compass for anyone committed to elevating their mentor coaching practice and preparing thoroughly for the ICF Mentor Coach Specialization (MCS). Highly recommended for coaches seeking actionable mastery.”
“At a time when mentor coaching is going through confusing changes as we move toward the MCS, this course was clear, thorough, and enjoyable.”
“I appreciated the practical exercises and frameworks that I can bring back to my practice. I really appreciated the theory mixed with application.”
“The bias awareness information was incredibly helpful and I am glad we started with it.”
“The course content is thorough and valuable, with lots of helpful resources and downloads. It was somewhat difficult to navigate and required a significant time commitment, and I feel I'll need to revisit the material to fully integrate it; opportunities to learn with a partner or discuss the content with others would be a helpful addition.”
“The most useful part for me was being able to message an actual person with questions and receive a response the same day. Having that access to real-time clarification made a big difference when I was working through the material and assignments.”
“This module significantly strengthened my confidence in facilitating group mentor coaching. I particularly appreciated the practical structure, the emphasis on evidence-based developmental feedback, and the focus on creating learning opportunities for every participant. The assignments and instructor feedback helped me translate the ICF Mentor Coaching competencies into real facilitation practice. Highly valuable and immediately applicable.”
“The most useful part of this module was learning how to facilitate group mentor coaching while keeping every participant actively engaged. I especially valued the structured approach to evidence-based feedback, managing different group dynamics, and helping participants calibrate their observations against the ICF competencies rather than personal coaching preferences. These are practical skills that I can immediately apply in my own mentor coaching practice.”
“This module dove deeper into the heart, and it was super valuable to learn that "emotions are the most efficient path to a solution.”
“Alex's feedback on assignments was thorough and very useful. I appreciate the detail given on what was well done as well as what could have been improved.”
“A good balance of practical learning and self-paced progression.”
“The tools specific to the ICF changes in Mentor Coaching were clear and incredibly helpful in how I need to align my practice moving forward.”
“The module gives us a strong foundation to understand the expectations of a mentor coach according to ICF mentor coaching competencies. The six modules are well designed, with each module focusing on a specific section of the ICF competency.”
“The exercises and the framework provided are extremely useful. The feedback from Alex Kudinov was excellent and has helped me to sharpen my role as mentor coach.”
“The practical ideas and the clear statements about what is mandatory.”
“This module gave me valuable insights, not only for my role as a mentor but also for my professional practice in general. It helped me reflect on my approach and broaden my perspective.”
“Well-structured documentation made it easy to revisit key concepts whenever needed. I also found Alex's feedback incredibly valuable. Thank you!”
“This training gave me a thorough grounding aligned with the new ICF Mentor Coaching Competencies, and I'm leaving with a solid understanding and high-quality tools to support my mentoring with clients. Feedback was prompt and thorough. Easy to navigate and much appreciated. Tremendous value.”
“Immediately applicable frameworks.”
“This module significantly strengthened my mentor coaching skills. The practical assignments and detailed feedback helped me distinguish coaching style from coaching skill and provide more evidence-based observations aligned with the ICF Core Competencies.”
“The personalized feedback on each assignment was the most valuable part.”
“I appreciated the timely and thorough feedback, as well as the opportunity to retry.”
“Pairing a practical framework alongside the competencies.”
“I loved this program. The modules were easy to follow and I learned a lot. I feel prepared to step into my role as a certified mentor coach.”
“The videos were excellent. The speaker was passionate and I felt her excitement for the topic.”
“Helped me understand how to choose different approaches based on the group's stage of development.”
“The most helpful part was the structured participation methods, such as turn-taking, written reflection before speaking, and assigned observation focuses.”
“I liked the way the whole topic was broken down into bite-sized pieces that could be digested.”
“The assignments were well written and the development feedback was modeled in the feedback I received.”
“Modules were well-paced and short videos effectively presented content.”
“This module gave me practical frameworks and the confidence to use them right away in my mentor coaching practice. — Dr. Deborah Gries Zawislan, PCC, NBC-HWC”
“This course was incredibly valuable as I continue to grow my mentor coaching practice. It provided practical strategies, thoughtful insights, and countless ideas that I can immediately apply, along with an outstanding collection of resources that I know I'll return to often. I now feel confident and well prepared to begin offering ACC mentor coaching, thanks to the knowledge, structure, and feedback I gained through this course.”
“The videos were concise, engaging, and easy to incorporate into a busy schedule, which I greatly appreciated. The reflection exercises provided in each section encouraged me to pause and thoughtfully integrate what I was learning. The accompanying resources were practical, well-organized, and provided valuable tools that I will continue to reference.”
“I found the videos and supporting materials extremely well done, relevant, and useful. Alex's feedback was specific, comprehensive, and timely!”
“This was a very useful training. I felt like I learned more than I thought possible in a 10-hour program, and I particularly appreciated the thoroughness required from each assignment. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of feedback offered after each assignment and the level of involvement from Alex in providing input and guiding improvements to align with the didactic portions.”
“I have had many trainings and I hold a DBA in Leadership of training and this is by far the best training I have ever had in my life.”
“The practicals and assessments were very useful, and knowing that someone was actually reviewing the submissions made a real difference.”
“The reflection component and the required level were very useful and contributed to my personal and professional growth. I feel even more solid in my MC practice thanks to this module.”
“A rigorous and very practical course. It gave me a clear, evidence-based framework for every part of mentor coaching — ethics and role clarity, agreements, formative appraisal, developmental feedback, and group MC. I finished able to actually do the work, not just describe it.”
“It helped me to strengthen my mentor-coaching skills. I am totally clear about the new expectations, responsibilities, and duties of a mentor-coach with MCS specialization. Over the different assignments, I could reshape my MC contract and my tailored observation and review forms. It also helped me to be aware of my value as an experienced mentor-coach. I will reshape my service offer. Thank you!”
“I found this course to be timely, relevant, and highly informative — giving me the exact professional stretch I needed without the fluff. Although I have been mentor coaching for years, I learned a great deal that I can seamlessly integrate and implement into my mentor coaching work. The experience and professionalism of the facilitator clearly shines through, and I am grateful to have been exposed to this level of work.”
“I love how methodical all components were taught. Reading the ICF documents, I find that I tend to treat them more as aspirational statements that are well articulated but impossible to reach. In this course, I find the aspiration broken down into 4-step approaches and the like to increasingly turn these aspirations into reality.”
“Super relevant course if you are upgrading to the new ICF MCS — worth every penny and hour invested.”
“Very focused lessons and the resources were great for all the MC partnership. It changed my perspective on the MC process — now it's clearer and grounded in really valuable instruments.”
“This has been one of the most valuable professional development experiences I've completed. The course transformed the way I approach mentor coaching by providing clear frameworks, practical tools, and structured guidance for observation, appraisal, developmental feedback, and group mentor coaching. I especially appreciated that it catered to different ways of learning through videos, slides, written content, transcripts, practical assignments, and templates, allowing me to engage with the material in the way that worked best for me. The assignments encouraged immediate application of the learning, and the timely, strengths-based, developmental feedback helped reinforce my learning, build my confidence, and model the very principles the course was teaching. This made it easy to integrate the concepts into my work as both a mentor coach and assessor.”
“I have a good overview of how mentor coaching works, and I feel prepared to put this knowledge into practice now.”
Verified reviews collected by Endorsal from coaching clients and program graduates across every program we run — many of them Agile coaches and Scrum Masters.
“Since I started my journey as a coach with Tandem Coaching my growth as a person and as a coach was gigantic, the leanings the guidance and the support I had from the coach was terrific. Thank you for your for having me.”
I absolutely loved completing my Advanced Certified ScrumMaster training with Tandem Coaching Academy. The material helped me develop a keen sense of the challenges, opportunities, and approaches in taking Scrum implementations and Agile coaching to the next level. Even better, Cherie was incredibly insightful, available, and supportive throughout, making it easy to complete the material online at my own pace.
I learned a great deal in the 2-day class I attended with Alex and Cherie, much more than self-study alone. The interactive format with other senior-level coaches was invaluable. It was a lot of fun, too. I would definitely take another class with them.
Tandem Coaching is an excellent resource to learn Agile/Scrum and to improve your Scrum Master or Coaching skills. Instead of getting only training, I learned a lot from mentoring and coaching sessions. I would love to continue my journey with Tandem Coaching
The A-CSM course with Tandem Coaching Academy was a great journey. It gave me insights into a lot of new topics, especially coaching. Since it was an online course I was able to complete modules at my own pace. The live mentoring sessions were great. I found the course to be more hands on than attending the a 2-day training.
I would like to thanks Cherie and my A-CSM course classmates for a lot of knowledge and great sharing experience during the sessions. I learned a lot of new things that are immediately useful to me, my teams, and the organization. I booked this course with the intention of learning something new to help my teams, however now I think that it could be a first step on my road of becoming a professional coach in the future.
I recently completed the A-CSM course with Cherie. I opted for the self-paced online course because of my busy schedule. The material was well thought out and relevant to my day-to-day work as an Agile coach. The live mentoring sessions were a great learning opportunity to share knowledge with other Scrum Masters and to learn how to overcome our similar challenges as team coaches. I recommend this class for any Scrum Master who wants to improve their team coaching skills.
Since I started my journey as a coach with Tandem Coaching my growth as a person and as a coach was gigantic, the leanings the guidance and the support I had from the coach was terrific. Thank you for your for having me.
What a fantastic experience and the training is design is above and beyond. The course took me through a journey of experience and enabled me to practice every learning. Kudo's to Cherie and what a great person to encounter in my career. Huge Thank you 🙂
Cherie has been helping me with improve my professional coaching skills since May 2019. She has been a great influence on my career as an Agile coach and transformation consultant. I highly recommend her as professional coaching trainer and mentor.
True to her tagline, Cherie is making me a better person than I was before, with every interaction I have. Making me a better human being, making me a better coach and shaping me into an individual that I never knew I can become. I would like to thank Cherie from the bottom of my heart for all that she has done to me. Hope she continues this journey of helping many more people and making this world a better place.
It is my first experience doing this online training and this was really helpful to take one by one at my own pace with complete understanding and mentoring sessions were great and provided valuable information
Cherie’s class came at a critical time in my Agile journey and the birth of my new baby! This self paced course allowed me to handle my new life and keep my career moving forward. I learned so much from the assigned learning and lessons, and the cohort sessions gave me an opportunity to discuss with other Agilists practical applications of the lessons. I would recommend this course to my friends 10 times out of 10!
I found this course to be a well-balanced combination of self-paced learning, live-virtual learning, and live group mentoring sessions. I very much enjoyed it and found it extremely beneficial to be able to take my time reading and comprehending the content of the course, without attempting to absorb everything in a 2 day classroom environment. Cherie and the Tandem Coaching Academy has put together an amazing course that will keep you very interested and actively engaged.
I appreciated the format in which the information was presented. When reflecting upon what we had learned I found I had a better understanding of the subject matter and that I was able to call upon the information far more readily than I am used to after learning subject matter.If I had to recommend what I think could improve the class, I would say I would appreciate more than 8 total hours of learning. The experience was so enriching that I just wish I could have more!
Cherie was an incredible teacher. I learned so much about Agile Coaching. Her ability to create a truly open, safe environment allowed all participants to ask tough questions & even act them out in some cases. I highly recommend Cherie Silas for ICP-ACC & any other classes she offers. The rest of the team did a great job facilitating & providing an effective learning space.
Cherie has a great balance of instruction and application. Direct coaching and immediate candid feedback can be humbling but is so valuable to growing as a coach. I would recommend Cherie’s classes to anyone who is looking to grow as a coach.
Cherie is a gifted, thoughtful trainer and coach. Her equal mastery of both the Agile and Coaching domains make her a powerhouse resource for anyone looking to level up in these areas. One of the most effective professional courses I've ever attended!
Great job, I enjoyed the classes. They were informative, detailed and very practical.
It is clear that Alex is a Kanban subject matter expert. It was a privilege to be a student in his class. He was able to respond to questions in a clear and thoughtful way. His use of visuals and interactive activities generated lively group conversations that turned book knowledge into real life understanding! Thank you for making learning fun !
Lucia and Cherie ran a life changing course that saw me learn new skills to apply in and outside of work.The course was very interactive and requires you to turn up and participate. It was a 9 month commitment, with each class leaving me feeling energised and motivated to put my new coaching skills into practice.
Always love to learn from Cherie and reinforce the concepts and learnings learned in the past. THANK YOU!!!
Excellent / Interactive - Nice job Cherie
This was a great class, and Cherie is a master facilitator and coach. Anyone would be lucky to have a class with her. She is a sage.
I'm a fan. The training was extremely engaging and Cherie brings her experience and coaching mindset to the table in a way that makes it super valuable. 100% recommended. Thank you!
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