How to Plan for the New ICF Coach Competencies

If you’re a coach who will be applying for or renewing an International Coach Federation credential within the next year or two the recent competency changes will have an impact on you. Here’s how to plan for the new ICF coach competencies.

Let’s start with a refresher on the humble beginnings of coaching as a profession

Coaching is a rapidly growing field with new people are entering it all the time. In the past ten years, the ICF has seen a 400 percent increase in the number of coaches holding ICF credentials. Coaches with ICF credentials span the globe, representing 119 countries! That hasn’t always been the case. The ICF awarded its first credentials in 1998.

Not every trained coach is credentialed. Anyone can add coaching to a repertoire. Educated in a coaching system or model, or armed with lessons from their own experiences, coaches do their work. It’s a method that’s been widely applied in athletics and many other fields for decades. People helping people grow, or change, or solve a problem. That’s where coaching started.

It’s how any field of practice emerges

A need is identified, people develop strategies for meeting the need, fine-tune the strategies, track their successes, replicate them, teach them to others and before you know it, a field of practice is born.

At its core, that’s how the development of any new profession starts. It is true for chiropractors, taxi drivers, computer technicians, social media consultants, babysitters, dating experts and literally any job you can think of. The list is always evolving. New jobs emerge, others fade into extinction.

As the need for coaching has grown, so have the options for learning the trade

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of coaching gurus, programs and coaching schools continue to pop up worldwide. Many excellent coaches and their clients have garnered exceptional results and much success with various coaching models and approaches.

Where do coach competencies fit in?

Whatever the driver, there are three distinct components to building a strong foundation as a practicing coach: knowledge acquisition, skill-building and competency development.

Coach knowledge acquisition is the process of studying the theories around coaching. It may involve reading books, blogs, articles or scholarly works on the topic; listening to webinars, podcasts, and audiobooks; attending classes at colleges and universities, or workshops provided by private training organizations. It may involve conducting research and writing about coaching or having personal or professional experience in the area that coaching will be provided. Knowledge acquisition can take place over a short finite period, over a lifetime or somewhere in between. Some coaches begin coaching once they have acquired a particular level of knowledge.

Coach skill building is the process of putting knowledge into action. It is the application phase of learning. It involves integrating the steps of a particular coaching model, process or philosophy and practicing them repeatedly to develop proficiency.

Observation and evaluation are important components of skill-building. Once emerging coaches have acquired knowledge and build skills, they develop their expertise with continual practice and feedback. Whether inside or outside of an organization, coaches get on with the work of coaching in real-time, real-life situations. Some coaches begin coaching once they are satisfied that they have accumulated sufficient knowledge and practice.

Coach competency development is the process of practicing learned skills against a set of measurable standards. It involves aligning with established benchmarks and evaluating progress for the purpose of continued growth. The use of competencies in coaching provides an objective way of assessing performance that goes beyond feedback from coaching clients. An established set of competencies generally forms the foundation of any credentialing process. Coaches seeking credentials prepare for and complete a knowledge exam and a performance assessment that are each based on coach core competencies.

International Coach Federation Credentials

The International Coach Federation (ICF) has established three coaching credentials that can be earned based on the ICF coach competencies. This model provides you, the coach, with a way to create a plan for your continued coach learning and development.

Until 2021 anyone applying for or renewing an ICF credential will be evaluated on the Current Competency Model. Both the Coach Knowledge Assessment (CKA) and the Performance Assessment remain unchanged until early 2021.

If you have completed coach training that included the ICF Coach Core Competencies, the Current Competency Model will have been used. Coaching schools will be beginning discussions on how to integrate the new competency model into their coach training now with a target date of 2021 for full compliance with the new model.

How to Plan for the New ICF Coach Competencies

If you have completed your coach training and you plan to apply for or renew a coaching credential this year, you will be using the Current Competency Model. Here are some tips:

Start an ICF Credential Application A new automated system was implemented in 2019, so you will want to take a look early. The best new feature is that you can complete the application in several sittings, so you can add information as you have it ready. Log in and look around to get familiar with how it operates. Find the ICF Credential Application here. Find the ICF Credential Renewal Application here. If you have not yet completed the Coach Knowledge Assessment (CKA) you will receive a link to complete it once your credential application or renewal is submitted. So, the earlier you get the ball rolling, the more likely you are to be working with the current assessment and not the new version that will launch in 2021.

Calendar your critical deadlines. Working backward from the beginning of 2021 (when the assessments will change), block time on your schedule for completing any mentoring or training that you still need, gathering the necessary documentation, tracking your coaching hours and filling out a draft application.

Start working with a mentor coach. If you require mentor coaching for your renewal or application and have not yet started this is critical. Many coaches do not know if they need mentor coaching or not, and if they do, they do not realize that mentor coaching must take place over at least three months. Unfortunately, they leave it much too late. Get signed up for a program now to avoid finishing in the next calendar year. Take a look at my next Mentor Group.

Research training options. If you are renewing and you have not yet accumulated 40 hours of continuing coach education, you will need to get moving on this now. Of the 40 hours, 24 hours must be focused on the ICF Core Competencies and Ethics. The remaining 16 hours can be comprised of resource development. A recent change to the requirements now allows you to use 10 hours of mentor coaching as 10 hours of CCE also. Choose training programs that will help you round out your skills and fill gaps in your coach education.

Locate and file CCEU certificates and letters of completion. You will need to upload these for your application, so it is important that you have all of the documents handy. In another recent change to the ICF credentialing system, you can upload the CCE documents as you get them so you can keep an up-to-date record of your training right in the application on the system. If you don’t have the documents, contact your training provider. This step will also help you cross-check to be sure that you have all of the hours that you need.

Complete the ICF CCE Ethics course. This is a requirement for ICF credential application and renewal and I think it is an absolutely essential step to take for anyone who is coaching. You will earn 3 CCE’s and gain some fresh insights into situations that may cross ethical boundaries in coaching. A new Code of Ethics was effective on January 1, 2020. Find the Ethics Training course here.

Systemize your tracking process. I’m a bit of a checklist and tracking form fanatic. I created the Easy Tracking Form for Coaches for my own use when I applied for my first credential, and I still use it today. I want to be able to capture the necessary information in real-time and have it on hand when I need it. Many of you who are subscribers already have this form. If you don’t, you can download a copy now.

If you are not applying for or renewing an ICF Credential until 2021 or after, you can start familiarizing yourself with the newly updated ICF competencies now. You will notice that there are many similarities between the original and the updated ICF competencies. I love the simplified language and the more scaled-down format. I was also excited to see the integration of a new competency around the coaching mindset.

I’ve started revisions on the Really Competent Coach series, which I will launch at the end of the year – so I’m a bit knee-deep in the new wording. For this year, the current books are still very useful as a refresher on the original coaching model.

I think this is a great time to be a coach. I hope you agree. Our little coaching profession is growing and maturing and that can only be a good thing.

Before you go, check out my approach to Mentor Coaching.