The Coaching Commons

What's Next for ICF Coaches Take a Stand?
By Mark Joyella

An effort that began with an impromptu series of phone calls last September-and led to a lively luncheon at the ICF conference in Orlando-now stands at a crossroads.

With over 700 signatures on an online petition that urged a "collaborative, open" debate on the ICF's plans for revising its credentialing system-what, if anything, does the grassroots group ICF Coaches Take a Stand (ICFCTAS) do next?

"There is a clear imperative to take a stand for the future of the coaching profession," said Alix von Uhde, who's joined other ICFCTAS coaches in "brainstorming" the potential path forward. "The entire credentialing issue is just a symptom"

"We worked really hard for ten years to get established as more than a trend or a fad, that we were really developing a profession, and the ICF was going to lead us" said Susan Klein, who helped create the ICF. "It's gotten away from what we intended, and we need to do something to pull it back-and if we can't, we need to create something else that will take us in the direction we want to go." Read story.

Merger May Create More Jobs as Life Coaching Combines with High Tech Platform
By Mark Joyella

The fledgling field of web-based coaching can now boast a high profile merger. "This is a partnership that will move the industry forward," said Pat Williams, founder of the Institute for Life Coach Training. His company has been acquired by LifeOptions, a company that provides web-based products to managed care companies, health plans, and major corporations.

"The good news for coaches is there's going to be a lot of opportunities for coaches as this grows," said Williams. "They spent five million dollars creating this platform-it's web based enabled coaching and counseling, right now sold to private companies like United Healthcare and Nike."

ILCT, founded in 1998, carved out a unique niche: training psychotherapists, psychologists and counselors in creating life coaching practices. Williams, a psychologist and MCC, said giving up "his baby" was not easy, but the merger represents an exciting opportunity for coaches. Read more.

2010! January Quote

"Beginning is easy - continuing hard".

Japanese Proverb

Taming the "Wild West" and the Drive to Regulate Coaching in Israel
By Mark Joyella

Here's a pitch you don't see every day: two life coaches in New Zealand who say right up front (tongue planted deeply in cheek) that they hate life coaching: "Is it us, or is everyone calling themselves a 'life coach' these days? Talk about the Wild West," write coaches Phil Linklater and Vaughan Jones.

"It just seems to us that anyone with little life or business experience and $50K in the bank can set themselves up as a 'life coach' and start sucking money out of your wallet like an oil company in an economic recession," the Kiwi coaches write.

And ten thousand miles away in Israel, coach Leah Gniwesch agrees. "Anybody can call themselves a coach, and I think one of the greatest threats to the industry is people who aren't well trained, who aren't ethical, who are practicing. At the very least, they make a bad name for the industry, and at the very worst they can actually do damage in their interventions with their clients," Gniwesch said.

For them, the answer to the "Wild West" question is coaches with verifiable credentials, and years of experience.

But the anybody-can-call-themselves-a-coach question crosses borders.

How can coaching protect itself as a profession--and ensure that coaching clients are protected? Read story.

Coaching History: David Clutterbuck and David Megginson - European Coaching and Mentoring
by Vikki Brock

David Megginson and David Clutterbuck co-founded the European Mentoring Council in 1992. In 2002 they expanded the organization's menu to include coaching, changing the name to the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC).

Originally a United Kingdom based association, in 2005 the EMCC became European-wide.

David Megginson, who came to coaching from a general business background, published one of the first coaching books in 1979. In this book, co-authored with Boydell and titled A Manager's Guide to Coaching, coaching was defined as "a process in which a manager through direct discussion and guided activity, helps a colleague to learn to solve a problem or to do a task better than would otherwise have been the case." According to Philippe Rosinski, Megginson's most important achievement was introducing coaching into academia.

Professor David Clutterbuck founded Clutterbuck Associates in 1984 as a business research and consultancy organization, specializing in people development. In 1985, he wrote the classic management book titled Everyone Needs a Mentor. As an author, and with co-author David Megginson, he has published over 40 books and numerous articles on coaching, mentoring, and other management themes.

How have the writings of David Megginson and David Clutterbuck influenced your perspective of coaching and mentoring?

First Coaching Question of 2010: From Cathy Dean

"What knowledge do you have about this situation that you are hiding from yourself?"

(It usually produces a look of dumbfounded amazement, followed by a very busy silence...and more often than not, a door is unlocked for the client.)

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