I received an email this morning from a CCF graduate. I thought you may be interested in both her email and my response, because it is timely. To protect her privacy I’ve replaced her real name with the name “Bob.” Here is the bulk of her email:
“This fall I attended a conference on coaching held at Harvard university. The attendance was international and filled a large hotel ballroom completely. Derrick, you represent 6000 graduates from your program and your website is in denial of the licensing issue that will loom up in the US. The international coaching federation has a protocol that has been taken up by at least 10 major universities. It is the standard at these schools. You need, according to this conference and these schools, 125 hours of instruction and supervised coaching experience.at least. The IFC will be the standard bearer. Please address these issues and be in contact with the people who will push in the legislature to enact the IFC standard. They are at Harvard and are at the vanguard. They do not overtly talk legislation because they are probably funded for research and want to remain politically neutral. Thank you Bob.”
And here (below) is my repy:
Dear Bob,
Thank you for your email. I appreciate you taking the time to inform me of
your concerns. You mentioned that ICF has a protocol. This sounds serious.
The word protocol, according to Merriam-Webster, means “preliminary
memorandum often formulated and signed by diplomatic negotiators as a basis for a final convention or treaty.”
The Certified Coaches Federation (CCF) does not share the view that 125
hours are needed to become a coach. We have a very different approach.
There is a lot of fear in the world of coach training and standards. We
simply do not subscribe to fear-based, ego-based, or politically motivated
propaganda. Propaganda is another interesting word. Here is what Wikipedia
has to say about it:
“Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the
attitude of a community toward some cause or position. Propaganda is usually
repeated and dispersed over a wide variety of media in order to create the
desired result in audience attitudes. As opposed to impartially providing
information, propaganda, in its most basic sense, presents information
primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda often presents facts
selectively (thus possibly lying by omission) to encourage a particular
synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than
rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a
change of the attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further
a political agenda. Propaganda can be used as a form of political warfare.”
Whatever the ICF does will only effect the coaches who subscribe to the
ICF’s policies. CCF (www.certifiedcoachesfederation.com) is a separate Life
Coach Training & Life Coach Certification organization which represents
individuals who share our philosophy; a philosophy that believes the number
one criteria to qualify as a coach is your life experience. We don’t have
an agenda. We don’t have a protocol. We don’t want to rule over all the
coaches of the world. We don’t want to invade other countries either! We
are an organization who believes in simplicity in coaching, simplicity in
coach training, and freedom of choice. ICF does not want you to have
freedom of choice in regard to coach training. They want to make that
choice for you. They have a protocol to promote.
ICF has 19,000 members and was established in 1995. We have only been around since 2006 and have 7,000 members. The tide is shifting. It is anticipated that we will have as many members as the ICF or more by 2016. From our very beginning in 2006 we decided not to become affiliated with ICF. We believed there should be more choices in Life Coach Training and Life Coach Certification. No one coach organization has all the answers or should have “governing” authority over the kinds of Life Coach Training options individuals may choose.
In governments, we recognize what dictatorship is. Let’s look at what
Wikipedia says about this concept:
“A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the
government is ruled by an individual: a dictator. It has three possible
meanings:
1) A Roman dictator was the incumbent of a political office of the Roman
Republic. Roman dictators were allocated absolute power during times of
emergency. Their power was originally neither arbitrary nor unaccountable,
being subject to law and requiring retrospective justification. There were
no such dictatorships after the beginning of the 2nd century BC, and later
dictators such as Sulla and the Roman Emperors exercised power much more
personally and arbitrarily.
2) A government controlled by one person, or a small group of people. In this
form of government the power rests entirely on the person or group of
people, and can be obtained by force or by inheritance. The dictator(s) may
also take away much of its peoples’ freedom.
3) In contemporary usage, dictatorship refers to an autocratic form of absolute rule by leadership unrestricted by law, constitutions, or other social and political factors within the state.”
Do you see any resemblance in what is being attempted in coaching? Did you
pick door number two?
We have 7,000 graduates around the world who also share our belief. No one
can enforce anything on you as a coach that you do not agree with. No one
can enforce anything on you as a human being that you do not agree with.
Speak up, and speak out if you share our philosophy. If you don’t share our
philosophy, that’s ok too. Our aim has never been to force anyone to take
our courses; we let our philosophy attract the individuals who share our
beliefs about coaching. These people buy our courses, love our training,
and proudly display their CCF Certified Coach Practitioner Certificate. My
suggestion to you is go out and coach. Become the best coach you can be.
Live each day to your fullest potential, and let the politicians, policy
makers, and rule makers do what they do, while you do what you do. You do
not have to participate in rules that don’t apply to you unless you think
you do, and if you do, then feel free to join ICF.
If you agree with anything I’ve written here you can just go back to coaching and building your coaching practice. I want you to know that I take your email very seriously. I take this profession very seriously. CCF will always exist, and proudly exist, and always represent the philosophy that the number one criteria to qualify as a coach is your life experience. Coaching is a natural process that is complimented by your experience and your expertise. A good Coach Training Program will teach you both the language of coaching and the process of coaching. We simply believe you can learn this language and process in two days…and the market has agreed!
Sincerely,
Derrick Sweet-Chairman & CEO
www.CertifiedCoachesFederation.com
