Coaching: The Key to Your Success

Individuals and teams are turning to professional coaching for support in maximising their personal and professional potential. ICF Credential represents the gold standard in professional coaching certifications and offers coaching consumers a sense of security surrounding their hiring decisions.

Everyone has goals they want to reach, challenges they are striving to overcome, ideas that need a road map and times when they feel stuck.

A growing number of individuals are turning to professional coaching for support in identifying and living out their vision and purpose so they can be the best versions of themselves. Partnering with a professional coach can unlock your potential and set you on the path to thriving personally and professionally.

The International Coach Federation (ICF) defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their personal and professional potential. Coaching is a client-driven process. The coach’s responsibility is to:

• Discover, clarify and align with what the client wants to achieve

• Encourage client self-discovery

• Elicit client-generated solutions and strategies

• Hold the client responsible and accountable

An individual or team might choose to work with a coach for many reasons. According to the 2014 ICF Global Consumer Awareness Study, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, some of the most common reasons clients cite for partnering with a coach include:

• Optimising individual/team work performance (42 percent)

• Expanding career opportunities (33 percent)

• Increasing self-esteem/self-confidence (31 percent)

• Improving business management (29 percent)

• Managing work/life balance (27 percent)

Your financial investment in coaching can vary dramatically depending on factors including geography, the coach’s experience level and your own role in your organisation. It’s also important to be ready to invest your time and energy in a successful partnership. To get the most out of working with a professional coach, you should have a clear idea of your desired outcome; be open to collaboration, other viewpoints and new perspectives; and be prepared to devote time and energy to making real changes.

ICF recommends interviewing at least three prospective coaches and requesting at least two references for each coach. Consider asking the following questions during the interview:

What is your coaching experience (number of individuals coached, years of experience, types of coaching situations, etc.)?

What is your coaching specialty or areas in which you most often work?

What types of businesses do you work with most often? And, at what levels (executives, upper management, middle management, etc.)?

• What is your philosophy about coaching?

• What types of assessments are you certified to deliver?

• What are some of your coaching success stories (specific examples of individuals who have succeeded as a result of coaching)?

Most importantly, you should research each coach’s training, professional memberships and credentials.

As the world’s largest organisation of professionally trained coaches, ICF offers coaching consumers a sense of security surrounding their hiring decisions. In addition to adhering to the stringent ICF Code of Ethics, all ICF Members must complete at least 60 hours of coach-specific training that meets ICF’s rigorous standards; as a result, consumers can have confidence that ICF Member coaches are well-trained and well-prepared to offer their services.

Possession of an ICF Credential is another clear sign of a coach’s willingness to take his or her professional performance to the next level. As the only globally recognised credential for professional coaches, the ICF Credential represents the gold standard in professional coaching certifications.

The 16,000-plus coach practitioners who hold ICF Credentials represent the best in the coaching industry. ICF Credential-holders have fulfilled rigorous education and experience requirements and demonstrated a strong commitment to excellence in coaching. To be eligible for an ICF Credential, a coach must complete coach-specific training; achieve a designated number of coaching experience hours; partner with a Mentor Coach; and demonstrate the appropriate understanding and mastery of ICF’s definition of coaching, Code of Ethics and Core Competencies.

Industry research shows a positive link between coaches’ credentials and their clients’ overall satisfaction with the coaching experience. According to the 2014 Global Consumer Awareness Study, 93 percent of consumers who recalled that their coach held a credential or certification reported satisfaction with the coaching experience.

For more information on how an ICF-credentialed coach can help you unlock your potential, visit Coachfederation.org/potential.