Finding a life, executive or leadership coach who’s qualified to take care of what matters to you can be overwhelming if you don’t know what to look for. In this article I offer a brief overview of the most well-regarded and trustworthy coach credentialling organisations globally. You can be rest assured that coaches recognised by one of these bodies meet carefully considered and stringent professional requirements.

Unfortunately, because the coaching industry is relatively young, anyone can call themselves a coach. That’s why the organisations listed below play such a crucial role in promoting professionalism in the industry. Each one not only maintains, but continuously strives to improve and develop global coaching standards of practice today.

It’s important to add that if a coach isn’t recognised by one of these bodies, it doesn’t mean they aren’t an excellent, well-qualified coach who meets rigorous standards. It simply means that if a coach doesn’t have a credential, it’s harder to establish what the quality of their coaching might be. If a coach does have a credential from one of the following certifying bodies, you can immediateley trust the integrity of their coaching offer. In other words, the evaluation of the quality of their offer has already been done for you.

Leading Coaching Certifying Bodies

The three major, international coaching certifying bodies are the ICF, EMCC and CCE.

1. International Coach Federation – ICF

   The International Coach Federation seeks to advance the art, science and practice of professional coaching.
   

   Whether it’s life coaching, executive coaching, leadership coaching or any other skilled coaching, the ICF leads the global community in advancing the profession. The ICF strives to develop and maintain ethical and competency-based standards that are designed to take care of both the client and the coach. Their goal is to ensure the life, executive and leadership coaching industry becomes consistently well-regarded and trustworthy, and that people can have confidence in the quality and integrity of anyone who calls themselves a coach.

2. European Mentoring & Coaching Council – EMCC

   The EMCC exists to develop, promote and set the expectation of best practice in mentoring and coaching across Europe and beyond, for the benefit of society. Our vision is to be the “go to” body in mentoring and coaching.

3. The Center for Credentialing and Education (US)

The Board Certified Coach (BCC) credential is a mark of distinction for credential holders and a source of credibility for their clients. A Board Certified Coach has met professional coaching competency standards established by the CCE and subject matter experts.

The achievement of the Board Certified Coach credential solidifies the professional identity of the coach. The BCC credential is attractive to professionals who would like to provide independent third-party verification that they have achieved certain coaching competency standards.

The credential is awarded by the Center for Credentialing and Education, a preeminent institution for recognizing competence of professional counsellors and coaches in the US.

Comparing Coaching Organisations and their Certifications

Below are the different certification programmes offered by, and the requirements for coaches to become credentialled by, each of the above three organisations. As you will see from the required hours of supervised training and practice time alone, a credential from one of these organisations separates coaches from those who’ve done a weekend or two-week introductory coaching course.

Coaches with a credential from one of these bodies are serious about their work. And rightly so. Life, leadership and executive coaching is a process that requires skill, ethics and commitment. A coach who cares enough to become credentialled has demonstrated a level of commitment that will very likely come through in the quality of their coaching too.

Local Credentialing Bodies

The above organisations are all international, but there are many local (national) ones too. Hopefully the table above gives you a good idea of what to look for (and expect in a certified coach) and will enable you to compare the requirements and standards of comparative local bodies.

In South Africa, for example, we have COMENSA - Coaches and Mentors of South Africa. COMENSA regulates the coaching and mentoring professions in South Africa through a professional code of ethics and conduct, professional designations, ongoing continuing professional development, professional supervision and access to resources.

Credentialled COMENSA members need to have completed 60 hours of coach-specific training, 150 hours of coaching, of which 90% must have been “paid coaching”. As with the ICF, EMCC and CCE, members are also required to pass an online questionnaire regarding the COMENSA Behavioural Standards Framework with a mark of at least 70%. Lastly, recognised COMENSA coaches are required to complete the COMENSA evaluation process to determine if they coach in accordance with the required COMENSA Behavioural Standards Framework.

Watch Out For . . .

• Coaches and coaching schools who’ve created there own coach training and coaching qualifications. Yes really! There are lots of them out there. These days it’s easy to design slick websites and serious-sounding courses without requiring any real content or integrity behind them to do so. There are some brilliant-sounding courses and qualifications on offer, complete with badges and acronyms and clever-sounding grading systems, but when you look more closely or research the coaches offering them, many don’t stand up and are being offered by people who lack solid credentials themselves. Again, it’s not to say that these coaches and courses might not be very good - they may well be. There’s just a very high chance that they could be all smoke and mirrors and low on sound principles rigorously underpinned by theory, and the problem is that you can’t easily tell. If a course is recognised by the ICF, EMCC or CCE, or run by coaches who are recognised by these bodies, then you’re able to trust the course straight away.

• There are many different and excellent coaching methodologies out there, and the best ones offer training that’s recognised by the three bodies mentioned above. Some coaches don’t bother to do the full training, but might read a book or do an introductory course, and then market themselves with phrases like “using ontological principles” or “passionate about Integral methodology”, but without the necessary qualifications. So always check the qualifications or credentials behind the name!

A Final Tip

Lastly, look out for coaches who promise you the earth and tell you they can help you solve all your problems! / change your life forever! / guarantee you unlimited financial success! etc etc, because nobody can possibly know what the future holds or what outcome lie in store for you (or anybody else for that matter!). A coaching process is a team effort and the outcomes depend as much on a client’s willingness to learn and the work they are prepared to do, as it does on the skill and guidance of the coach. So please don’t be mislead by hollow promises, and please make sure that you give yourself the best possible chance of a successful coaching process by starting with a well-qualified and benchmarked coach.

I’m a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the ICF. If you’d like to find out more about having coaching with me, please get in touch for a complimentary chemistry session here. Or read some more about me and my work here.