The first consideration for someone who wants to be a coach is to decide whether or not to get training. Within the coaching industry, there is much discussion on this topic. Some coaching experts believe training stifles creativity and should not be required; other coaching experts believe it is necessary. Consider the many well-established professions and the discussion they had on this topic. The industries of Financial Planning, Counseling, Law, Consulting, Human Resources, and more all went through many of the growing pains Coaching is now experiencing.
Learning from other professionals, it is clear that at some point Coaching will either self-regulate effectively or government will step in and regulate the industry. Whether self-regulated or government regulated, it is also clear some sort of training will become a requirement. Why? Because providing quality services as a coach does require baseline knowledge, just like other professions. Of course training is one part of the equation for effective coaching – competence, ethics, experience, and creativity are other areas of importance for coaches.
What type of training will be the requirement? That discussion continues to evolve and further complicating the conversation is the fact that there are many excellent coaches with no or limited coach-specific training. After all, to develop quality training the industry started with building developing expertise in coaching through experience. Whether training is required or not, is it ethical to offer services as a coach without participating in coach-specific training for your own professional development?
