Tomorrow’s
Life Coach
Volume 3 Issue 11 - November 2004
In This Issue: Coaching Certification
and Regulation
Tomorrow's Life Coach is a professional
monthly online journal of the Institute for Life Coach
Training that nourishes the intellect, intuition and
inspiration of the personal/business coaching community.
TLC continues to gain in popularity among diverse
coaches and is highly recommended by Peer
Resources:
"One of the best free newsletters,
Tomorrow's Life Coach consists of well-researched,
informative articles on a variety of key topics for
coaches. While a publication of the Institute for
Life Coach Training, many of the articles are written
by other well-known coaches."
Upcoming
Classes at ILCT
Foundational Courses
Coaching Tools and Skills
Practice Building Courses
Coaching Applications/Specialties
Additional classes, details and online
registration at our course
section. Some schedules may change; check listing
or contact Edwina Adams, Administration/Registration,
at edwina@lifecoachtraining.com.
Pat's
Ponderings
Dear Fellow Coaches:
The world of coaching continues to evolve and the level of professionalism
is light years ahead of where we started at the first ICF conference
in 1996. I have attended all nine ICF conferences in the US and Canada
and three conferences in Europe.
The most recent conference in Quebec City
was another great success. Even the taxi drivers were asking
who we were, because they noticed a different quality and "joie
de vivre" of the people who attend the coaching conference.
The research symposium was a smash hit with 180 attendees
and sold out. Dave Ellis' presentation was his first ever
at an ICF conference; it was standing room only and had to
turn away 30 people due to the room being full at 190. Benjamin
Zander and Dame Roddick were stupendous and inspirational
as keynote speakers, and the breakout sessions were of high
quality.
But mostly, what happens at an ICF conference
are the ever-present unscheduled hallway conversations, beginnings
of new friendships that last a lifetime, and sparks of new
ideas for growing your business! We had 25 of our ILCT students
and faculty attend and I expect to double or triple that for
next year in San Jose. Please mark your calendars now for
November 9-12 in San Jose, California. You will not be sorry!!!
Happy Coaching!
Pat
Patrick Williams Ed.D., MCC
Chief Energizing Officer, ILCT
Department Chair, Professional Coaching
International University of Professional Studies: "Get
a PhD in professional coaching from a reputable university without
walls. Go to www.iups.edu...the
quickest and least expensive way to achieve a PhD in professional
coaching."
Editor's
Pen
Dear Coach Colleagues:
Our readership has increased 30% in the
past seven months! We are glad that you are enjoying Tomorrow's
Life Coach and sharing us with your colleagues!
As we focus on "Coaching Certification
and Regulation" this issue, we will have many readers
intensely interested in our articles on this hot topic. We
present you with opinion articles from Rey Carr of Peer Resources
and a response from our CEO, Pat Williams. We also have a
very informative article from Diane Brennan of the ICF Regulatory
Committee with links to new documents available from the ICF.
Our profession is still evolving and the performance of every
person who calls himself/herself a "coach" will
make an impact - let's make sure our own professional performance
is exemplary. Regarding credentials personally, in addition
to being a graduate of an ICF-accredited coach training program
(ILCT) and regularly expanding my skills and knowledge, I
am working toward certification from both the ICF and IAC.
In December we will present "Self-Care
for Caring Coaches." We are looking for additional articles
on marketing. Also, we are developing our editorial calendar
for 2005 so please email me your answer to "What coaching
topic would you like to read about in 2005?" Looking
forward to hearing from you!
Your editor,
Annette
Annette A. Miller, MBA
Editor, Tomorrow's Life Coach
Graduate, ILCT
Member, ICF, CCN, IAC
President & Executive Coach, LifeSync Coaching®
amiller@lifesync.com
http://www.lifesync.com
Authorized Affiliate, Extended DISC® - the
world's fastest growing assessment system
Certified Birkman® Consultant - providing
deeper insight into your being
Coaching
and Regulation--Update from the ICF
The International Coach Federation (ICF)
Board of Directors chartered the Regulatory Committee in the
summer of 2002 with the goal to research, monitor, evaluate
and proactively contribute to government and regulatory bodies
in order to educate, articulate and develop our growing profession
of coaching as a self-regulated profession. Our initial work
focused on review of laws across the US, dialogue with government
administrators in key states and information exchange with
coaches in Canada and other countries around the world to
sort through fact versus rumor. There are currently no laws
or requirements for coaches to register or be licensed in
any country. Some might say this means there are no requirements
for coaches. As a professional, a member of the ICF and co-chair
of the ICF Regulatory Committee, I see this as an even greater
responsibility to ensure we are a self-governed profession.
ICF provides standards and structures that support the emergence
of coaching as a valued profession and provide a solid-foundation
for governance of the profession. As we have had conversations with
coaches around the world, a common theme we’ve heard regarding
regulation is the desire to have coaching recognized by government
as a distinct profession. To be recognized as a profession, we must
meet the criteria of a profession and model professionalism.
In a document on Coaching Professionalism, the Regulatory Committee
wrote, “The future we wish to design is clear: A world in
which coaching is seen by all as a distinct profession with professional
standards and competencies, a shared body of knowledge that represents
the wisdom of the profession, training in that body of knowledge,
credentialing standards, ethical guidelines and committed professionals
participating in the process of continuing professional growth and
development. Ignoring our professional responsibilities may
leave coaching subject to the rules of others who do not fully understand
our profession. It also diminishes the growth of coaching as a distinct,
valued and enduring profession, by perpetuating the notion that
anyone calling themselves a ‘coach,’ without benefit
of training or credentialing, can deliver truly professional coaching
services.” The full document is available under the Regulatory/Ethics
tab at www.coachfederation.org/regulatory/professionalism.asp.
Other resources available under the Regulatory section include:
- A brochure on Coaching Professionalism
(www.coachfederation.org/images/regulatory/ICF_regulatory_brochure_1004.pdf.)
The brochure is for use by ICF members. It is a document
that can serve as a resource to educate potential clients
and those outside of the coaching community. It can be a
link or a PDF file on your coaching website.
- Professional Coaching Language Document
- Top Ten Indicators to Refer a Client
to a Mental Health Provider
- Sample Coaching Agreement
- History and Regulatory Issues 2003
We are a continuously evolving profession with significant contribution
and impact to the world we serve. I encourage you to be part of
the evolution. If you are interested in participating as a regulatory
representative, please contact me at diane@coachdiane.com or
520-797-6645.
Diane Brennan, PCC, is the co-chair of the ICF Regulatory
Committee and an ICF Board Member. She is a graduate
of Coach U, has a Master's in Business Administration
and is a Fellow in the American College of Medical Practice
Executives. Diane is an executive coach working with
physicians, healthcare executives and managers.
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Accelerate
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Credentialing
in Coaching: A Brief Summary and Recommendations by Rey
Carr, Ph.D.
Rey A. Carr, Ph.D. is a long-time peer
coach and holds the position of Chief Knowledge Officer
with Peer Resources (www.peer.ca/peer.html),
a non-profit corporation specializing in resources and information
regarding peer assistance, mentorship, and coaching. He
is also the Senior Editor of Compass: A Magazine for
Peer Assistance, Mentorship and Coaching, the only peer-reviewed,
non-commercial professional publication on coaching. He
can be reached at rcarr@peer.ca.
In 1996 Peer Resources created the Internet's first comprehensive
list of the few coach training organizations that provided formal
training for coaches. Eight years later the list has grown to over
150 such organizations. With no regulations or common standards,
each training school was free to initiate its own credentialing
system. And initiate they did.
There are now more than 65 distinct credentials in North America
and the United Kingdom as well as other countries. The systems used
to grant these credentials vary. Some are competency-based, some
require attaining hours of course work, others require supervision
by someone who has already attained the credential, some rely on
self-assessment, some can be obtained without ever coaching a client;
and some are blatantly based on simply proclaiming oneself a coach.
The public, coaches, and potential coaches cannot help being confused
by the variety of terms and initials: CAC, CPC, MCC, PCC, ACC, RCC,
and so on. (We are not denigrating any of the titles we just listed
but merely pointing out that there are wide varieties available
in the marketplace.) In some cases the same letters stand for completely
different titles. Add to that mix such often interchanged terms
as certified, accredited, registered, credentialed, and licensed,
it's no wonder that recent articles in the popular press (see the
complete list of all articles about coaching at www.peer.ca/coaching.html)
have taken a cynical, challenging, and critical view of the coaching
industry.
To reduce the confusion about coach credentialing and provide guidance
to prospective coaches, current coaches, and the general public
about the nature of, sources for, and issues associated with credentials,
Rey Carr, the Chief Knowledge Officer of Peer Resources, prepared
a comprehensive research paper regarding credentialing in coaching.
The purpose of this paper is to clearly identify the issues associated
with credentialing and help place coaching back on the track towards
credible professional status. The full paper can be viewed online
or downloaded at the Peer Resources' website: www.peer.ca/coaching.html.
In part, the paper is based on the most recent authoritative poll
data regarding opinions about certification in coaching. Visitors
to the Peer Resources website could select a response that most
closely fit their view about the importance of credentialing and
also leave a comment about their viewpoint. Close to 3000 responses
have been provided to date and the issues raised by poll-takers
have been organized into the following nine categories:
- Certification is a political tool.
- Certification is a marketing tool.
- Certification is arbitrary.
- Certification is a revenue generator.
- Certification is a weak substitute for
integrity.
- Certification exploits the inexperienced.
- Certification acts as a mark of distinction.
- Certification protects the public.
- Certification acts as a beacon.
In the full paper, Rey Carr also identifies
the variety of credentialing systems available in coaching
and provides a Credentialing Chart that distinguishes the
various credentials from each other, providing an opportunity
for readers to determine the validity, credibility, and requirements
for each of the credentialing designations in coaching.
Dr. Carr then offers suggestions regarding credentialing that will
contribute to a healthy future for coaching. Included in his recommendations
are:
- Coach training organizations and coach
associations need to build on successful existing models
and definitions.
- Coaching associations or organizations
must separate certification from accreditation.
- Coaching would benefit from a common
core curriculum in coach training schools.
- Coach associations must establish coaching
performance and practice review standards.
- Coach training schools and associations
must restore integrity to mentoring coaches in training.
- Coaching associations and schools must
work to standardize information available to the public.
The
Coaching Profession and Credentialing, Certification and
Regulation: A Response to Rey Carr
Patrick Williams, EdD, MCC (ICF Master Certified Coach)
also holds the designations of Registered Corporate Coach
(RCC) and Certified Business Coach (CBC) from WABC (Worldwide
Association of Business Coaches). He is the Founder and
Chief Energizing Officer of the Institute for Life Coach
Training, an ICF-accredited coach training program. He is
also on the Board of Directors of the ICF and co-chairs
the ICF Regulatory Committee. He can be reached at pat@lifecoachtraining.com.
Sometimes it’s necessary to take a stand on an issue and put
a stake in the ground to mark out one’s position. In regard
to Coaching credentials and certification, I feel this is one of
those times.
Personally, I hold so many designations and certifications in the
Coaching profession as well as psychology and family therapy, that
it is cause for alphabet overload! But most have been received from
duly qualified education, training, testing, and aging! All have
cost money, energy, and time.
However, they all serve a purpose. And as an early pioneer in the
Coaching profession. I hope to have coaching credentialing and certification
processes and designations that similarly serve a purpose and promote
and protect rather than hinder the profession we joyfully and passionately
co-created.
Credentialing and Levels of certification in any profession always
carry controversy because they are ways of deciding who is and who
is not so qualified. We acknowledge, of course, that certain people
may be able to be quality coaches without certification.
Rey Carr in his article in this issue of TLC summarized a research
paper he did on credentialing wherein he mentions his “authoritative
poll” of 3000 responses from poll takers about the importance
of credentialing. (Unfortunately, he did not limit the responses
to only one per participant, and I personally know of some who voted
numerous times. So the information is skewed.) The issues he raises
about confusion in the industry are good ones, although they are
in fact issues that many “new” professions have faced.
I would like to plant my stake in the ground for the ICF as it has
continued to evolve from its initial standards and is making every
attempt to protect the profession as one that is self regulated…even
though neither membership nor certification is required. If the
ICF can maintain its momentum as the premier association for professional
coaches, then the confusion will clear. Member coaches of the ICF
can also join other associations such as the International Association
of Coaches (IAC-www.certifiedcoach.org),
Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC-www.wabccoaches.com)
and others...as I have done.
Readers of this newsletter should also read the new brochure of
the ICF regulatory committee at http://www.coachfederation.org/images/regulatory/ICF_regulatory_brochure_1004.pdf.
This document will be immensely important to the future of coaching
as a few states such as Colorado, New York, Minnesota and Arizona
have taken a hands off response to coaching, once they discovered
the ICF and high standards were in place. Colorado even passed an
amended Mental Health Act, which excluded professional coaching
from the act so as no longer to be confused with mental health services.
The future of our profession mandates that all coaches act professionally,
ethically, and that they contribute to the body of knowledge and
best practices models as we continue to move forward, and it is
helpful if practicing coaches join the ICF as the main association
of their profession, and then join other professional organizations
that support their business niche or special interests.
"The best way to predict
the future is to create it."
Peter Drucker
A
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"The illiterates of
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They are those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."
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Tomorrow's
Life Coach™
Patrick Williams, Ed.D., Publisher
Annette Miller, Editor, annette@lifesync.com
© 2004 Institute for Life Coach Training
www.lifecoachtraining.com
Phone: 888-267-1206
info@lifecoachtraining.com
If you wish to use any of our content
in a newsletter, magazine or other media (whether public
or internal), please request permission from the editor.
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