Reflecting Back & Looking Forward Celebrating Two Decades of Professional Coaching This year marks the 20th anniversary of the International Coach Federation’s Australasia Charter Chapter, and it is remarkable just how far the coaching profession has come. In 1999, coaching was a profession in its infancy, with few practitioners, no commonly accepted standards and a very limited evidence base.
and systems theories, peak performance and neuroscience, amongst many others.
Professions need standards. The International Coach Federation has played a central role in setting these standards worldwide. The ICF’s Code of Ethics sets the ground rules for ethical coaching practice, and its Core Twenty years on, the coaching Competencies deliver a profession is thriving. It’s a key framework for coaching tool to helping managers and excellence. The ICF’s Coaching leaders reach their full potential, Credentials – Associate, with dedicated budgets and Professional and Master Certified coaching programs. Organisations, Coach – are the most widely the large and the small, are recognised and respected set of leveraging the full range of coaching certifications in the coaching modalities: external world. When organisations engage professional coaches, internal coaches, an ICF credential sets the coaches, team coaches and benchmark. leaders using coaching skills. The Australasia Charter Chapter In society at large, we’re seeing has in excess of 1,600 members, coaching become commonplace in including almost 700 credentialed many areas, just some of which coaches, and is building powerful include wellbeing, third age, partnerships in the market, such ADHD, real estate, family as with the Australian Human business, entrepreneurs, health, Resources Institute, which has education, career and life incorporated the ICF’s Code of coaching. Ethics and coaching Core Competencies into its HR Why has this happened? First off, Certification program. we’ve seen an explosion in the volume of research on coaching’s So, what lies ahead? We expect to effectiveness. The profession now see professional coaching to rests on a proven evidence base continue to thrive, with rapid including goal theory, positive growth in the number of internal psychology, cognitive behavioural coaching practitioners, increasing
demand for team coaches, and more and more leaders leveraging coaching skills in their work. Technology is starting to both disrupt and enable the profession, with a growing number of coaching platforms, as well as the early emergence of artificial intelligence in the coaching field. The coaching profession has never been in a healthier position and, as it enters its third decade, the International Coach Federation’s Australasia Charter Chapter is committed to continuing to support the growth of coaching, for its members, the broader coaching industry, and society overall. If you are interested in joining the ICF, you can find out more information at coachfederation.org/join-icf Find an ICF Credentialed Coach at coachfederation.org/find-a-coach Revel Gordon PCC is the Acting Head of External Stakeholder Engagement at the International Coach Federation, Australasia Charter Chapter.
Page 10
