Certify? Depends On Who You Ask

How important is it to get a professional coaching certification? The answer depends on who you speak with.

A 2009 Harvard Business Review survey of 140 leading coaches found opinion evenly split on the importance of getting certified, with 29.2 percent finding it “very necessary,” while 28.5 percent found it “not necessary at all.”

But there’s a growing consensus among coaches that training and accreditation will only increase in importance as the field matures—especially in the field of executive coaching. 

About 76 percent of corporate human resources professionals and coaching clients said that formal training and certification is either “very important” or “absolutely essential,” up from 62 percent three years ago, according to the Sherpa Executive Coaching Survey, now in its fifth year. Only about 10 percent of clients said certification is “not necessary.”

Natalie Tucker Miller, lead certifier for the International Association of Coaching, and Dean of Students at the School of Coaching Mastery, acknowledged that some veteran coaches have been able to flourish without certification. But for new entrants to the field, certification is becoming essential. The real benefit, she argues, is that certification “encourages coaching mastery.”

 “It’s about high standards,” Miller says. “Anyone can call themselves a coach right now. There are many people out there that are not coaching–they are just giving people advice. You can go to your grandmother for that. People don’t want advice. If coaching is really going to be the catalyst for personal transformation – which is what coaching is really about – then standards need to be high regardless of certification.”
 
So where to look for the certification and coaching mastery?

The options can seem overwhelming: there are literally hundreds of coaching schools and scores of different certifications.  Requirements and tuitions differ widely.

The International Coach Federation (ICF), is one place to start. About 20 percent of HR professionals in the Sherpa Executive Coaching Survey who had a preference on coaching certifications put ICF certification at the top of their list (about equal with university-based training). And ICF-certified programs are by far the most favored certification route for life coaches themselves, according to the Sherpa study. About 44 percent of executive coaches prefer it to all other programs.

With 16,600 members, the ICF offers a web portal to schools it has accredited to teach core areas of coaching mastery, which coaches are also required to learn before obtaining an ICF credential.

Among the areas those accredited schools must cover:
• ethics and professional standards
• establishing trust and intimacy with a client
• active listening
• powerful questioning
• creating awareness
• planning and goal setting
• managing progress
• accountability

Ann Jarvis, ICF’s marketing manager, estimates that the tuition of ICF-certified schools range from $4,000 to $11,000 (depending on whether the programs are remote or face to face) and on their length. Some programs run up to two years, while others are condensed.

Once a student completes a course, they can apply for one of the three different types of ICF credentials to signify various levels of coaching mastery, ranging from 100 coaching hours and eight clients for the Associate Certified Coach, to 2500 hours and 35 clients for a Masters Certified Coach.

The International Association of Coaching (IAC) , offers an alternative credential with more flexibility. It uses two measures to assess whether or not coaches meet their standards, an online exam and two 30-minute recordings of the applicant coaching two different clients that clearly demonstrate their skills.

“Since coaching itself celebrates innovation and change,” Angela Spaxman, IAC’s immediate past president, explains, “it is very appropriate for coaching associations to use progressive certifications that take a fresh look at the purpose of certification.”

Though IAC’s standards mirror ICF’s MCC level, the certification can be obtained quicker, since there is no requirement for coaching hours, Spaxman says.

IAC may have another advantage: price.

The certification fees are $35 for Part 1 and $350 for Part 2, plus annual membership fees of $129. Spaxman says it’s “possible for an experienced person with a clear idea of what coaching is and with very strong coaching communication skills, to pass the certification with a few months of part-time effort.”

“However, most people take many years to learn to perform coaching to the required standard,” she adds.

For those who choose to forgo or supplement ICF or IAC certifications with educational credentials, there are plenty of coaching schools available.