News of the alliance of the International Coach Federation, the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC) and the Association for Coaching, broke at the EMCC’s annual conference in Bilbao in November. But is it a key milestone or the thin end of the wedge? Liz Hall finds out what you think…
The creation of the Global Coaching & Mentoring Alliance, between three of coaching’s leading professional bodies, is exciting news, although it remains to be seen exactly what impact it will have.
On the whole, coaches have heralded the development as a good thing, hoping it will finally bring desperately needed clarity around areas such as accreditation, and helping give the profession a common voice around issues such as self-regulation.
Some question whether it will actually make any real difference, while others are convinced it’s the thin end of the wedge, leading to a merger that will squash diversity, or is a “hijacking initiative”.
How it happened
The Alliance is the result of lots of hard work behind the scenes. Historically, though, there has been plenty of competitiveness between the bodies. For example, it was unusual when the International Coach Federation (ICF)’s CEO Magdalena Mook showed up at other bodies’ conferences more than half a decade ago. Over the years, various body leaders have expressed a desire to collaborate further, but have been frustrated by resistance, and the slow speed at which cogs turned in their organisations.
So it does indeed seem a “turning point” in many ways, as European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC) president Lise Lewis, has said.
Association for Coaching Global CEO Katherine Tulpa agrees: “This Alliance marks a key milestone in coaching history, in that it shows we can achieve more together than apart and speaks to some of the founding principles that coaching is built upon – those based on collaboration, growth and being future-oriented.”
She continues: “We are thrilled by the potential this Alliance can bring, in our collective journey for coaching and mentoring to become a sustainable profession and, most importantly, to make a real impact to those we serve.”
ICF president Janet Harvey highlights how the creation of the Alliance was a key component of the ICF’s strategic plan. “The creation of this Alliance is a step forward in achieving ICF’s goals of advancing the coaching profession and being in service of humanity flourishing.”
Lewis says, “Creating [the Alliance] has been driven by EMCC’s response to our members and client sponsors who look to us to create clarity in the world of coaching and mentoring. All three bodies are already jointly committed to self-regulation, and together we will be instrumental in further co-operation on professionalisation while recognising our differences.”
Mook adds, “It is so important that the coaching and mentoring bodies speak with a unified voice.”
Having a common global voice via the Alliance, about important issues such as self-regulation, is potentially very helpful. Most coaches would like to avoid government regulation, according to research, including Coaching at Work’s Poor Practice Survey 20101. Of course, it may be that the Alliance’s international voice will not have enough volume and gravitas to fight for what are often national causes. As Professor Stephen Palmer, director of the Coaching Psychology Unit, City University London, says on the Coaching at Work LinkedIn group:
“International bodies have an important place in the development of a profession, but within a country, a national organisation is usually more relevant….It’s usually the national professional bodies that are at the coal face of influencing what finally happens with an interface with government institutions.”
However, nobody is suggesting the Alliance will replace national bodies.
What do you think?
Your comments on the Coaching at Work LinkedIn group show a mixture of responses, as we explore below.
Plamen Petrov, a leadership and strategy coach from Bulgaria, says, for example: “By any measure – a step in the right direction.”
Current president of the UK ICF, Hilary Oliver, says: “What inspires me with this Alliance is that we can truly work co-operatively and collaboratively for the good of our profession while keeping the things that make us different and which attract different coaches.”
There were some concerns that the development would make it harder to maintain diversity (although in some cases because people believed the bodies had merged). Nevertheless, the concerns voiced are valid.
Bridget Farrands, director of Figure Ground Consulting, says, for example: “The problem with any industry and the organisations in it – and coaching is no exception – is the desire to be big….Too often this is driven by the ‘wrong’ basis of power…to dominate the field and to impose ‘standards’ which end up squeezing out the smaller guys…the result is too often homogeneity, boring sameness and a blindness to the challenge that is necessary if this field – especially this field – is to stay developing and lively in service of its clients. I can’t offer my congratulations on this move…until it becomes clear this new merger really is a force for innovation, refreshing self-challenge and inclusive leadership.”
Angelos Derlopas, founder and managing partner at Positivity Coaching, in Greece, sees “no danger to diversity or inclusivity.
“This Alliance is serving as a bridge between the three bodies that will continue to exist….What is really interesting to see in the future will be the tangible outcome of this Alliance, how it will forward, protect and enhance the coaching and mentoring profession in our ever-challenging and demanding times.”
However, Rey Carr, CEO, Peer Resources, Canada, says: “Suppose, just suppose, that this new Alliance is the start of a hijacking initiative to take control of a movement that began among grass roots, non-certificated individuals to help people gain the results they wanted in life? As the organisations get larger, merge, form alliances, create ‘standards of practice’, they move farther and farther away from what was unique, intrinsic and creative about coaching. The urge to professionalise is natural, and coaching is so widely practised around the world that controlling it seemed daunting, until someone got the idea to form these alliances all in the guise of ‘standards’.”
Nigel Cutts, founder, Love at Work Foundation, UK, says: “The trouble with ‘standards’ is that they can only demonstrate minimum competence and, long term, could well exclude many talented people. We would be foolish to think this is anything other than the thin end of the wedge.”
Peter Hawkins, emeritus chairman at Bath Consultancy Group, stressed the importance of maintaining diversity and keeping the benchmark high.
“I agree we need to keep requisite diversity and avoid bureaucratic standardisation or the danger of finding the lowest common denominator for standards we can all agree on.”
But he says it’s “time for coaching bodies and coaching conferences to focus less internally and more on how the external world of our stakeholders need us to step up to help them face the exponentially growing challenges for leadership in our much challenged world. What the world is short of is not coaches per se, but coaches who can work at and connect the various levels, of the individual, the team, the organisation and the wider eco-system”.
Carr says he doesn’t “expect much value” to come from the Alliance.
“I can see value in the various organisations meeting with each other to discuss issues, but the key is, do they discuss how they can [offer] practical assistance and actual benefits to their existing members rather than just protecting their brand?”
However, some point out that given the profession we’re in – one that is supposedly good at this stuff of relationships and making things happen – we should be able to make this Alliance work.
Nial O Reilly, an executive coach at Ignite Executive & Business Coaching in Ireland, says: “This is excellent news. If our profession can’t pull this off then there is no hope for the world!”
Darren Robson, founder and CEO at the Ministry of Entrepreneurship, who, through the AC, has been involved in collaborative discussions, says: “Ultimately, and for me personally, it’s about seeing the global coaching profession become a thriving community that makes a difference in the world….Personally, I am excited to see these organisations putting aside their differences to be in service of the profession and the greater world at large.”
He says he’s “looking forward to seeing how the Alliance unfolds and walks its principles…that will be the true test”.
Quite right.
Reference and further reading
http://bit.ly/WVacp5
http://bit.ly/WValcf
http://bit.ly/UvHL14
Coaching at work, volume 8, issue 1