ICF and Coaching

The International Coach Federation (ICF) is the largest worldwide resource for professional coaches, and the source for those who are seeking a coach. We are a nonprofit organization formed by individual members-professionals who practice coaching, including Executive Coaches, Leadership Coaches, Life Coaches and many more, from around the world.

Formed in 1995, today ICF is the leading global organization, with over 20,000 members, dedicated to advancing the coaching profession by setting high professional standards, providing independent certification, and building a network of credentialed coaches. Promoting change through a lens of personal history.

What makes coaching so important today? To more efficiently and successfully face a continuously changing environment, organizations need to develop the untapped potential of people at all levels of the organization. Coaching as a management style offers an opportunity for organizations to attain that potential. For many organizations, this represents a strategic shift in management styles.

Leadership is often described as a critical variable in determining the success or failure of a business organization (Schein, 2004). Thus, leadership behaviour has been the target of considerable research and debate. During the last four decades, coaching has entered the field of business and leadership (Gallwey, 1974; Moen, 2010; Whitmore, 2002).

A coaching culture is defined as one where “coaching is the predominant style of managing and working together, and where a commitment to grow the organization is embedded in a parallel commitment to grow the people in the organization” (Clutterbuck & Megginson, 2005). Thus, executives who work within such cultures must develop their coaching competencies and build strong beliefs in their capabilities to execute necessary actions to be successful in their roles (Bandura, 1997; Moen & Skaalvik, 2009).