Purpose and Competencies of Coaching

Introduction

The International Coach Federation (ICF) is a not-for-profit organization that is chiefly devoted to professional coaching. According to Griffiths and Campbell (2008), this institution currently leads in the development of a philosophy for competent coaching, in addition to instituting an array of ethical standards that the organization’s members pledge to uphold. Its main commitment is to uphold high moral standards for all professional coaches. The code aims to promote ethical and professional practices as well as to increase the awareness of individuals outside the coaching profession on ethical conduct, commitment, and keen integrity; also, this applies to the ICF members as well as of the coaches accredited by the organization. In addition, the ICF is dedicated to offering the public a platform upon which they can forward their complaints regarding any suspected unethical conduct by any member of the organization as well as the coaches accredited by the institution.  It mainly adheres to a type of coaching that is respectful to the client as the professional in his or her life. Additionally, it holds the belief that every client is resourceful, innately creative and wholesome, a view that is also supported by Krapu (2016) regarding the impact of coaching in making individuals intelligent and keen on optimally using the available resources.

The ICF Principles

• Professional Conduct At Large

This guideline primarily expects the coach and every member affiliated to ICF to conduct himself or herself in a manner that positively reflects the intricacies of the coaching profession, especially in the public eye. This means that every coach and affiliated member is mandated to avoid knowingly making misleading and untrue public statements, and especially when acting on the institution’s behalf. One should not disrespect other coaches by harshly and even abusively deferring and disagreeing with the perspectives of other coaches. This is in addition to upholding the unwritten rules of how professionals should behave when they borrow a set of skills or knowledge from other professionals; this is done by recognizing and appreciating any external contribution and not passing such knowledge and work as one’s own.

According to Neitlich (2016), there is a need to create the culture of success through coaching. Coaching principles should be effectively executed by the coach. He has to play the role of the leader and share his personal success stories and reviews about the game. In this regard, every coach and ICF member is expected to avoid all instances that could potentially create contention with either the members of the public or those in the organization and to especially seek prompt professional help when the circumstances and facts warrant.

Moreover, this principle entails inculcating honesty and competence in coaches and related members when performing and reporting their research findings and sticking to the recognized practice and professionalism standards. This means that every coach is mandated to keep and update all coaching work and to comply with all stipulated laws and regulations.

• Professional Conduct with Clients

This principle seeks to ensure that ICF coaches and affiliated members are responsible for setting suitable, clear and culturally receptive boundaries that effectively preside over any physical contact he or she has with a client. This principle prohibits the coaches and affiliated members from becoming sexually involved with clients by clearly stipulating all the bounding regulations and pledging to honor all the agreements made in relating with the client in whatever regard. This means that the principle warrants the coach to ensure that the client comprehends the nature of coaching, the restrictions of confidentiality, the nature of financial agreements as well as all other inclusive terms and conditions in the coaching agreement.

The organization seeks to ensure that a client is comfortable with the coach because he or she is fully aware of the coach’s experience, expertise, and qualifications. This averts the possibility of the coach providing the client with misleading and incorrect information regarding what the client will get from the coaching process or from the coach. In addition, the principle covers the client from being unfairly exploited by the coach through being furnished with wrong information for personal or financial gain.

• Confidentiality/Privacy

This principle seeks to ensure that the client’s information is accorded due confidentiality unless the contrary is sanctioned by the client or by the law. This means that the coach must ascertain that he or she receives express permission from the client prior to releasing the client’s name or any other identifying information.

• Conflicts of Interest

This principle is designed to ensure that there are no conflicts between the coach’s interests and the client’s preferences and interests. In case of any conflict of interest arising, the principle dictates that the coach must openly and comprehensively discuss it with the client in order to formulate a way of working out the predicament. The coach must also not interfere with the integrity of the coaching relationship and must only trade services, goods and other non-fiscal remuneration when it is fully clear that no conflict of interests will arise.

Why Every Coach Must Adhere To the Guidelines

Every coach is mandated to adhere to the code of ethics of the International Coach Federation (ICF) primarily because ethical conduct is the foundation of coaching proficiency. A coach is also inclined to obtain more learning as to how the organization operates as he or she learns how to adhere to the ethical standards, which uphold the required principle of continuing learning in the coaching profession. Moreover, the principles are very helpful for coaches because they help the coach to become more aware of his or her strengths, competencies as well as personal improvements, a point rightfully indicated by Grant (2008).

Adherence to these principles also inculcates a sense of responsibility in all coaches as it requires them to act in an ethical and professional manner, even in other professional interactions outside coaching.  Every coach must uphold these regulations because he or she will be held liable for any activity undertaken as the organization’s representative and hence, this motivates the coach to make comprehensive and committed engagements with the intricacies of the coaching profession, especially including how to deal with clients and the general community.

These codes are also suitable for every coach to understand and adhere to because it helps the coach and the associated specialists to uphold the required professional standards and regard every interaction professionally by recognizing and abiding to the pertinent regulations and laws of every country, local and municipal administration institution.  Indications by a survey done by Grant and Zackon (2004) reveal that such principles also help coaches to realize the importance of embracing diversity and supporting inclusion as well as valuing the value of the global stakeholders.

Brief Introduction of the International Association of Coaching (IAC)

The International Association of Coaching (IAC) is an autonomous and worldwide professional coaching association that is committed to the continuous quest of coaching mastery so as to successfully support clients in the endeavor to attain their goals, whether the goals are personal or professional. Its main mission is to widen the path to coaching skillfulness through the continuous growth and application of global coaching standards, in addition to focusing on improving the general coaching profession.

Comparing and Contrasting the International Coach Federation (ICF) and the International Association of Coaching

Comparisons of the Code of Ethics

• Both have a set of guidelines or principles that are designed to provide effective guidance to members and to assure clients about what to anticipate.
• Both uphold the stance that coaching is a highly transformative process that hones personal and professional growth, discovery, awareness and advancement of all possibilities.
• Both are progressive associations that warrant a prospective coach to declare his or her commitment and loyalty to the coaching profession.
• Both advocate for the integration of the proficiencies of good coaching in other professions.
• Both require their members, that is, coaches and associated members, to be articulate and competent representatives of the outfits and to always uphold the stipulated standards, especially when dealing with clients and the public.
• Both have a rigorous process of certification for their coaches, which ensures that only the coaches who have successfully adhered to the stipulations provided are duly certified.

Contrasts

Membership

1. The International Coach Federation (ICF) had about 30,000 members in 2017, spread over 140 countries.
2. To date, the International Association of Coaching has dealt with over 25,000 coaches hailing from over 80 countries.

Year of formation

• ICF was formed in 1995
• The IAC was formed in 2003

A Method I Would Introduce to Ensure Adherence

One of the best methods is to introduce awards and qualification certificates for the best performing coaches, which would be assessed by the performance on the field, and the quality of the reports presented by the coach in the course of his or her training. By possessing such awards and certificates, the coach would be able to demonstrate his or her capacities to any institutions willing to work with such coaches.

Conclusion

The professional bodies concerned with the training of coaches are numerous in the world. However, the ICF and the AC are two of the most widely recognized institutions for their skillful and professional training of coaches because they integrate numerous aspects which are combined to produce highly qualified and intelligent individuals particularly in the aspect of coaching. From the study, it is apparent that any coaching body must follow the example laid by the two institutions, which promote innovative and inclusive leadership in coaching. Additionally, it is imperative for any training body to provide training that promotes personal development and growth through creating and promoting a coaching environment that upholds the potential that a singular insight can have in transforming the course and perspective of someone’s life.

From the research on both institutions, it occurs that the main responsibilities of a coach are to:

• Ascertain, clarify, and ally with what the client intends to achieve.
• Encourage the client to discover himself or herself.
• Encourage the client to venture his or her suggestions, solutions and preferred approaches.
• Hold the client accountable and responsible for his or her undertakings

Reflection

The International coaching federation has been triggered by several coaching principles. Concerning some insights from the paper, it has been revealed that numerous international coaches have standardized the whole coaching process. It portrays the significance and impact of coaching as well. Creating culturally receptive boundaries is a good approach in the international coaching process to enhance the visibility of the learning and development process. The study examines some guidelines, which are to be followed by the coach. These guidelines are to be followed to maintain some limitations. The purpose is to contain the focus, and it can justify the standardization. The International Coach Federation and international association of coaching are integrated with some principles and guidelines. To boost motivation, it is mandatory to provide rewards. Performance-based rewards are effective in motivating coaching staff. The coaching staff is also integrated with some certifications. Ethically, the coach has to maintain boundaries when dealing with clients.  Apart with some technical skills and capabilities, it is vital for a coach to have an appropriate leadership style to deal effectively with the client.  After analyzing the study, it has been revealed that there is a minor difference between these organizations. The similarity is quite visible regarding certifications, ethics, and work standards. The most important thing is to streamline the growth and development of coaches, and it is the mission of international coaching institutions.

Removing Stober, Wildflower, and Drake (2006) and adding Andrew Neitlich (2016) reference is a need of the study. The big difference is the knowledge about coaching and the role of international coaches. In this particular reference, Andrew Neitlich elaborated some key human resource practices in the coaching process, which makes this source unique and moderate as compared to the old one. Comparatively, winning culture has been streamlined in this source that is achieved through the efforts of the coaching staff.

References

Grant, A. M. (2008). ‘Personal life coaching for coaches-in-training enhances goal attainment, insight and learning’, Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 1:1, 54 – 70. http://www.mentorcoach.com/august-interviews/Grant_Personal_coaching_for_coaches-in-training_2008.pdf.

Grant, A. &Zackon, R. (2004). Executive, workplace and life coaching: Findings from a

large-scale survey of international coach federation members. International

Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring. 2(2) 1-15.

Griffiths, K and Campbell, M. (2008). Regulating the regulators: Paving the way for international, evidence-based coaching standards. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring Vol. 6, No.1, Page 19.ijebcm.brookes.ac.uk/documents/vol06issue1-paper-02.pdf

Krapu, T.M (2016). Coaching From a Philosophy of Science Perspective.Philosophy of Coaching: An International Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1, October 2016, 8-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.22316/poc/01.1.02.philosophyofcoaching.org/v1i1/02.pdf

Neitlich, A. (2016) ‘From buzzword to reality: what it really takes to create a culture of success through coaching: Thought leaders share their views on the HR profession and its direction for the future’, Strategic HR Review, Vol. 15, No. 6, pp. 271-272.