The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones, which ramify, for those brought up as most of us have been, into every corner of our minds.
—John Maynard Keynes.
Around the turn of the century and early in my career as a coach, I remember likening the coaching industry to that of the unregulated massage industry. Back then, you could easily establish yourself, adopt the title of a coach or massage therapist and promote your services. Now, twenty-four years later, general coaching is still not regulated in Australia. You don't need qualifications or continuing professional development to operate your business unless you provide health or mental health coaching and counselling services.
The coaching industry continues to grow. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) has over 50,000 active members, the Institute of Coaching has over 5,000 members in 75 countries, and the Institute for Coaching ambitiously aims to reach 100,000 members in 80+ countries by 2030. These organisations are very active and have played key roles in commissioning research on best practices and developing professional standards (Clutterbuck & Megginson 2005; Hawkins 2006, 2008; Hawkins & Smith 2006) and in their push towards professionalisation, they generally focus on moving closer to defining best practices, raising standards and encouraging a greater level of evidence-based research as the path (Tulpa, 2008).
Parallels from Research
Psychology faced problems as it moved towards professionalisation. Accreditation standards became overly formulaic, its clients' concerns became subordinate to its members' interests, and learning and responsiveness were stifled as the profession became more institutionalised (Drake 2008). Reflecting on this experience of the professionalisation of psychology and its potential parallels to coaching, Drake (2008) asks coaches, as they seek their path to professionalisation, to look beyond the traditional notions and towards the idea that coaching is contextual, dynamic, subjective, political and socially constructed.
I acknowledge that industry associations have significantly contributed to the quality of coaching and advancement of leadership within organisations. However, my growing concern is future-oriented, specifically around how coaching industry associations have structured their organisations and the fundamental focus of their efforts. Governance structures, drives towards the professionalisation of coaching, the introduction of standards, accreditation requirements and competency assessments, as well as the types of professional development activities offered to members and what is recognised as valuable research, influence coaches and those who engage the services of coaches. Like the caution raised by Christensen and Raynor (2003), my concern is that coaching industry association organisational structures, systems, and focus must evolve; otherwise, they will face similar challenges as the organisations their coaches are trying to support.
Whether coaches seek to become credentialed or not, many approaches to professionalisation reinforce the cultural prevalence of positivist science in Western societies (Olalla 2010). Coaches risk being caught in the epistemological trap of applying the same principles and assumptions as the clients they are trying to serve (Keedy 2005).
Next Steps
If you want to read more about this topic, use this link to access my paper: Lodwick, D. (2013). “The Paradigm Thinking Behind the Actions of the International Coach Federation and some Implications for the Future of Coaching.”
If you are a coach or are thinking of becoming one, I invite you to use this link to schedule a complimentary 30-minute exploratory conversation about coaching and leadership.
References
Christensen, CM & Raynor, ME 2003, ‘Why hard-nosed executives should care about management theory’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 81, no. 9, pp. 66–74.
Clutterbuck, D, & Megginson, D 2005, Making coaching work: Creating a coaching culture, Chartered Institute of Personal Development, London.
Drake, DB 2008, ‘Finding our way home: Coaching’s search for identity in a new era’, Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, vol. 1, pp. 15–26.
Hawkins, P 2006, ‘Coaching supervision’, in Passmore, J (ed.), Excellence in coaching: The industry guide, Kogan-Page, London, pp. 215–226.
Hawkins, P 2008, ‘The coaching profession: some of the key challenges’, Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, vol. 1, pp. 28–38.
Hawkins, P & Smith, N 2006, Coaching, mentoring and organisational consultancy: Supervision and development, Open University Press, New York.
Keedy, JL 2005, ‘Reconciling the theory and practice schism in educational administration through practitioner-developed theories in practice’, Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 43, pp. 134–153.
Olalla, J 2010, From knowledge to wisdom: Essays on the crisis in contemporary learning, Newfield Network, Boulder, Colorado.
Tulpa, K 2008, ‘Foreword’, Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, vol. 1, p. 1.
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