As a coach, I want to belong to a professional association (and do, on a personal level!) I think it is one of the ways that you can denote yourself as truly professional. After all, if you were looking for someone to fix your fire/ gas appliances, you'd be looking for CORGI registration. Why ask for less yourself when it's yourself you are working with, that the person coaching you belongs to a professional body?

The other good thing, which I think is a recognition of the fact that there has been so much discussion by coaches of what accreditation & standards are about, is that the main players in the UK are actually getting together & talking about it now, and have recently come up with a list of common standards. As a coach, this to me is a sign of hope that it is the first step to take out the levels of confusion that seem to exist both for potential customers of coaching and for those who are looking to become coaches themselves. Four of the major UK players, of which I discuss 3 in the article below, have got together & created a Statement of Shared Professional Values (International Coach Federation UK, Association of Coaching, The European Coaching & Mentoring Council, and Association for Professional Executive Coaching and Supervision)

When I think about other professional associations, there is a strong focus on the belonging to a professional association. A great example of this is counselling for instance, in the UK there is the BACP - the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy which has been open to individuals since 1977. There is a clear vision, mission & objectives. There is a clear structure around accreditation, hours & supervision. The BACP lies down as its core objectives (in a nutshell)

1. Promote & provide education & training for counsellors & psychotherapists with a view to raising standards

2. Advance the education of the public about the role that psychotherapy and counselling can play

The BACP themselves outline that they are achieving this by focusing on getting consistent- by moving towards excellence.

1. There is an ethical framework / Conduct of professional behaviour

2. They set out an advertising policy of how their members should describe what they do

3. They have a directory available to the public of who is a member, what they specialise in and where they are based

4. Set standards for the delivery of training & education

5. Have a training directory of accredited providers

6. Have a programme of training, conferences, seminars & workshops etc

7. Undertake & commissions research

In comparison to counselling, coaching is a fairly new structure, especially in the UK. However, the Coaching Associations are working hard to recognise the discussions that you hear as a coach - accreditation, and potentially a more consistent playing field, or one standard across the whole of coaching, could be coming, and are working with their members to help define what this may look like.

Compare this to coaching & some of the larger coaching associations - they are very new players in the game!

The core purpose of the global ICF is "to advance the art, science and practice of professional coaching". The lists of goal areas that the ICF sets out for itself are very similar to those of the BACP and are around:

ü Having a valuable membership offer

ü Benchmarking Professional Standards

ü Research relating to coaching

ü Creating the ICF credential as the one of choice.

ü Focusing on the core purpose as the way to promote the ICF brand.

And it's a growing body - more and more people are seeking out accreditation, either through going through a training provider that the ICF recognise & accredit in the first place, or by converting their initial training through meeting the stringent criteria of the ICF.

The Association for Coaching has been in place since 2002 & states its Vision is "to be the leading membership association for Professional Coaches and Organisations involved in Coaching or related Training to enable individuals and businesses to develop, expand and achieve their goals"

How does it set out to achieve this?

ü Ethical framework

ü Core values of what is stands

ü Market to encourage growth in the coaching industry

ü Focus on best practice & education

ü Encourage discussion & networking

The European Coaching & Mentoring Council exists to promote good practice and the expectation of good practice in mentoring and coaching across Europe. It has clear guiding principles that help it to achieve that which cover

ü Promotion of quality of coaching

ü Impartial organisation

ü Focus on professional standards

So what does this mean for you as a coach?

For me, it's a sign that the discussions are moving on at a higher level. And that makes me feel comfortable about the role I can play - and excited about where the coaching industry as a whole is going. It's important as we move forwards that we recognise that these shared statements give us a framework that still enables us, as individual coaches, or coaches working in companies, to create their own way of doing things. It's not about having to all have businesses that are exactly the same - there is no USP or competitive advantage in doing that. It's about being able to say consistently what coaching is, and what prospective clients, or people signing up to become a coach, can expect - and that can only be a good thing.

Action steps for your own coaching practice

I'd recommend reviewing the statements & thinking about how they fit with you and what you do as a coach.

ü Could you "tick the box" against all the Seven Principles at the moment?

ü If you were to put yourself for each statement on a scale of 1-10, 1 being that you do not do that at all at the moment, and 10 being you do that consistently in the way you work as a coach, where would you be for each statement?

ü Where would you like to be?

ü What actions do you need to take to move closer towards your goals?