Why bother with a coaching accreditation? If I’m honest, I had a few doubts when mine was due for renewal recently.
First, in my six years of practice as a coach, no client has ever asked me for my qualifications. It’s all about trust, relationships and referrals.
Second, coaching is an unregulated profession. Anybody and their dog can call themselves a coach. In fact, you’re only one Google search away from finding ten reasons why a dog is better than a coach.
Third, AI coach bots are coming and I don’t see any of them regulated.
Fourth, I feel uneasy about the hierarchy of accreditation levels. Most coaching bodies like ICF and EMCC have three or four levels, from foundational to master. But have you ever come across a master therapist? Or a master dentist?
If different accreditation levels denote different levels of competence, we have a serious problem. Why would we allow less-than-competent coaches loose on the world? Of course, accreditation bodies would say that’s exactly what they’re preventing. They exist to safeguard and celebrate good practice. I fully support that.
But when it comes to the hierarchy of accreditation levels, I call bullshit.
The whole idea of coaching rests on the person-centred premise that coach and client are equal partners in an equal and authentic relationship – both in a lifelong process of ‘becoming’, always learning and developing. Why on earth would we then introduce hierarchies between coaches?
Have coaching bodies inadvertently built new power structures? That’s even before we get into what constitutes ‘best practice’ in coaching. A quick literature survey reveals that it is largely western, white and male. Which is interesting, given that most practising coaches are women.
As my accreditation renewal approached, I couldn’t help think of questions like: Who am I doing this for, and why? Who decides what good coaching looks like? And who assesses the assessors? In the end, I decided to renew. I can keep calling myself a Senior Practitioner, whatever that means.
I came to the conclusion that this accreditation is primarily for myself. I want to maintain a professional and ethical practice; always developing and learning. Accreditation supports that with minimum standards for CPD and supervision. But I’m not doing it for anyone’s approval or compliance.
Because ultimately, the work I do can only be judged by the people who experience it: my clients.
True Horizon Coaching 