Why already practicing coaches should get ICF certified?

Question – Is it worthwhile for me to get ICF certified if I’m already practicing as a coach?

Jennifer – Let's just first distinguish the vocabulary. You get “certified” through an organization such as a coaching school and you get “credentialed” through a credentialing body like the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

So the real question is, should certified or practicing coaches get credential through the ICF?

As you probably know by now, I'm a big advocate of the ICF. But that doesn't mean that everybody should just jump on the ICF bandwagon. I think it's a great platform, organization, governing body, that keeps coaches in alignment with a standard set of guidelines. And I believe it legitimizes any industry when there is a professional, consistent set of standards and criteria.

With that said, I can't think of a better credentialing body, that is more credible and globally recognized as the ICF. So, if you're looking for legitimacy, guidance, structure, ethics, competency...then yes, definitely the ICF is the way to go.

Is it going to help your business to get credentialed? I absolutely think it will. It certainly helped mine. When I raised myself up from the pool of people that were not ICF credentialed, I felt more confident and I became a much better coach. Plus, I legitimatized myself not only among my peers but among my clients. Not to mention, in recent years, third party companies like BetterUp are using the ICF credential as a baseline vetting tool to hire their coaches.

So while not all coaches are going to feel it is necessary to go through the trouble of getting an ICF credential, I think there are some very strong arguments that make it a good choice.