President's Message  

Stella DuPont

 

International Conference Report  

 

Jenny Lopez

 

Attending the 2011 ICF Conference in Las Vegas was an amazing experience. I would like to extend my gratitude to the Sacramento Coaches Association Membership, Board of Directors and to President Stella Du Pont for allowing me the opportunity to be there as the chapter leader stand-in.

 

There was an enormous amount of valuable information and incredible people to meet (I heard that attendance count this year was 991).  Being my first conference, I was warned by prior conferences attendees that I may be overwhelmed by the vastness of information. With advice in hand I was careful to be selective and focus on connecting with other ICF members and gaining wisdom in areas that resonated with me as a coach and as an SCA Board Member.

 

On Saturday the Global ICF Leaders Forum has held exclusively for chapter leaders and included 150 chapter leaders from 26 countries.  

 

ICF Leaders discussed the change in membership eligibility requirements that will begin on April 1, 2013.  Some chapters were concerned about losing members that would not be able to meet this requirement while others did not foresee much affect to their chapters.  Overall most agreed that this was the right direction to go and that will help to hold the coaching profession to a higher standard.  Click here to learn more about the membership eligibility requirement http://www.coachfederation.org/mer/).

 

Steve Mitten, MCC (www.aCoach4u.com) provided chapter leaders with an inspirational speech on "A Hero's Journey".  The essence of the speech (at least to me) was to remind ourselves that there is a hero inside of each of us to make a difference in the world.   

 

Theodore ("Ted") Gorski (www.getyouredge.com), President of the ICF New England Chapter, shared his wisdom and experience and great sense of humor with chapter leaders.  Ted provides ideas on increasing general meeting attendance and getting more experiences coaches to engage more often.

 

The opening reception on Saturday evening included an inspirational speaker along with a food buffet, wine tasting and chocolate.  You can't beat that!  We were asked to write a poem in which selected poems were read at the Opening General Session the next morning.  There was a wide variety of talented and creative writing some funny, witty and even edgy.

 

Sunday and Monday mornings began with a continental breakfast and a keynote speaker to get us started on the right inspirational track. It gave me such satisfaction as a coach when ICF handed out awards to several companies for their commitment to coaching and to the personal and professional development of their employees.  It also gave me hope as a coach that this will be the way of the future for more and more companies to understand what coaching can do for their organization.

 

It was hard to choose which breakout sessions to attend as there were so many interesting topics.  I would have liked to attend all of them!  The ICF website has some handouts available from several of the conference speakers and there will be video segments and session audio recording coming soon so please check the following link http://www.coachfederation.org/conference/index.cfm/event/international-conference-archive/2011  

 

Again THANK YOU for the opportunity to represent Sacramento Coaches Association as the chapter leader stand in for 2011.  It is something that I will remember in the days ahead and it has inspired me to go to as many ICF Conferences as I can in the future.

 

Warmest regards,

Coach Jenny Lopez

Sacramento Coaches Association Treasurer.

 

 

ICF Update 

 

International Conference Summary

More than 1,000 coaches, volunteers, exhibititors, and ICF staff gathered in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, the last week of September for the 2011 ICF Annual International Conference. Attendees from 39 countries came to meet, share experiences, and ultimately take coaching to the edge. Next year the conference will be held in London, England October 3 - 6, 2012.  Want to start planning now? Learn more at Coachfederation.org/London2012.  

 

Highlights of the Global Coaching Study (coachingstudy2011.com)

o    More coaches are collaborating with other coaches. "This reaching out within the coaching profession and working together in a much more collaborative way than ever before, is really telling about the way forward for the profession."

o    When asked in the survey "'What is coaching' and it's been interesting to see that worldwide about 75 percent actually consider it a profession. Not an industry or a skill-set, but a profession.

o    "A second finding coming out of the research has been the clear importance of credentialing.  It's been a much discussed topic at the moment but it's very, very clear from the research that coaches worldwide understand the importance of credentialing.   And this actually backs up a finding from work that we did with consumers: the clients of coaching.  Who actually also said that having a credentialed coach was very important to them."

o    To regulate or not: "In this survey just over half of the respondents think the coaching profession should be regulated. ... They did all agree that if it (regulation) did come, it should be by the actual accredited professional organizations.  Not government, but the professional organizations themselves should do the regulation."

o    One more "key finding .. is that coaches ... are getting more clients, but like many people are struggling to increase their rate per hour."

 

ICF Branding

 

Consultant William Arruda introduced the new ICF Brand-in-a-Box online toolkit. It's a new online resource for all things ICF brand related including a Brand Identity Manual and branded ICF documents and templates available to download at Coachfederation.org/brand.

For more information on any of these, visit http://www.coachfederation.org/includes/docs/OCT2011v1.pdf.

 

 

 

ICF Ethics Corner 

 

Linda Mercier, Vice President

 

Here are a few ethics and applications I found helpful and wanted to pass on to you.  I hope you find them as informative as I did.

 

1) I will at all times strive to recognize personal issues that may impair, conflict, or interfere with my coaching performance or my professional coaching relationships. Whenever the facts and circumstances necessitate, I will promptly seek professional assistance and determine the action to be taken, including whether it is appropriate to suspend or terminate my coaching relationship(s).

 

Q: I am coaching Jane, and a peer of hers, Alice, requests me to be her coach. Do I need to let the Alice know I am already coaching Jane?  

 

A: No you do not need to. Unless you have Alice's consent, you may not even mention it. Be aware, however, that this could present conflicts with confidentiality. Potential general conflicts should be clarified with each party.

 

2) I will recognize and honor the efforts and contributions of others and not misrepresent them as my own. I understand that violating this standard may leave me subject to legal remedy by a third party.  

 

Q: I have worked with a business partner in the past and now I am on my own. Can I use the tools and documents that we created when we were together?  

 

A: The correct answer is whatever you and your former business partner had agreed to. If there was no specific agreement, discuss it before doing it to avoid an unnecessary conflict. Our ethics code applies to coach-client and coach-sponsor relationships only. ICF Committees are developing guidelines for business standards.

 

3) I will accurately identify my coaching qualifications, expertise, experience, certifications and ICF Credentials.  

 

Q: I have coached two executives, is it OK to say I'm an experienced executive coach?

 

A: This could be misleading. Perhaps saying "I have coached executives" would be appropriate.  However, someone who has coached two executives for a length of time through a lot of issues might be experienced. It seems to be a personal judgment call.

 

4) I will maintain, store, and dispose of any records created during my coaching business in a manner that promotes confidentiality, security, and privacy, and complies with any applicable laws and agreements.  

 

Q: Do I have to provide client records in case of subpoena or ethical complaint?   

 

A: This will vary by country and jurisdiction, but generally, yes. Consider carefully what you put in your records.  

 

Q: How long do I have to keep client records?  

 

A: There is no ICF guideline at this time. You should check your local and national laws and regulations for compliance guidelines. If you are audited for income taxes, be sure to protect confidentiality.  

 

Q: How should I dispose of records?   

 

A: To the best of your ability, you should delete all online and electronic records, as well as shred paper records.