Meanwhile, the next few studies in this summary report focus not on demographics, but rather on the type and extent of training and education that professional coaches have obtained. Do these experiences have a lasting impact on the Development of Coaches? We are about to see if this the case. Meanwhile, we bid farewell to our brief exploration of two demographic variables: gender and age. These variables don’t seem to make much of a difference in the world of professional coaching.
Does ICF Certification Make A Difference?
As we turn to other variables that might impact the education, training and performance of professional coaches, the first area on which we have focused is certification. Specifically, I have sorted our Survey respondents into two categories: those who have received certification from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and those who haven’t. This is admittedly a clumsy distinction, since some of those who have not obtained ICF certification have been certified by some other coaching organization or are licensed as practitioners in some other field (such as psychology or social work). However, in most cases the non-ICF respondents operate without any formal certification. I have placed a label on those respondents without certification. I h ave called them renegades. I apply this label not in criticism of their position in the coaching world, but rather with affection, because I am a member of this group.
Now on to the results. There were four areas of significance difference in the average (mean) responses of ICF certified coaches and non-ICF (renegade) coaches to the set of questions regarding overall influences on their development as coaches. Three of these areas relate to the influence of outside agencies of change and improvement. Overall (during their career as coaches) ICF certified coaches are significantly more likely to be influenced by specific coaching courses, seminars or workshops (including on-line courses) (.01 level of confidence). They are also significantly more likely than renegades to be influenced by formal supervision, mentoring or consultation (.01 level of confidence) and to be influenced by personal coaching (.05 level of confidence).
