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ICF Certification
 

ICF Certification

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(@patricia-weiterva-gov)
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Joined: 2 years ago

This forum chain is to discuss the current state of demand for ICF certification - should you seek it? Do you need it? Why or why not?

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(@div13treasurergmail-com)
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Joined: 2 years ago

Hi Patti, thanks for bringing this over!  We will see where it goes from here.  

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(@drsomersmoneymindandmeaning-com)
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Joined: 2 years ago

Hi Patti and Ann. Thanks for guiding me here. 

A back channel discussion leads me to ask if there is anyone in SCP who runs training courses at the MCC certification level?

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(@billdoctorberman-net)
Joined: 2 years ago

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@drsomersmoneymindandmeaning-com  I think so but not sure. Check with https://www.executivecoachcollege.com/. I haven't taken things there but have heard very good things.

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(@drsomersmoneymindandmeaning-com)
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(@billdoctorberman-net)
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So, I'm following up on Dick's latest email.

As president of SCP, I asked for 3 years for someone to create a 3-year pro-forma business plan with both financials and marketing information. NO ONE would do it. Dick has great ideas, but I have no idea how much money that would generate and how we'd keep bringing enough revenues to be self-sustaining. None of us would coach a CEO who didn't have one (I hope). A basic financial forecast would include:

1. Revenues needed to get started.

2. How much it would cost to run, and how much we'd need to get to break-even, and how long that would take.

3. Ongoing costs, and growth models (e.g., after the first traunch of trainees, what is our ongoing revenue stream?)

A marketing plan would tell how we are going to convince people that ours is a better model. "Trust me, I'm a psychologist" doesn't work if you haven't been in the field for 20 years.

ICF is a business, within the training industry. If we are to do this, we need to approach it as a business. Anything else is, in my view, doomed to failure (or at best, limping along with little impact).

Bill B

 

 

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(@div13treasurergmail-com)
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Joined: 2 years ago

Bill, couldn't agree more.  ICF, BetterUp, etc,. and others are businesses, irrespective of "nonprofit" status.  They have paid staff whose full-time job has been to develop a product (it IS a product), sales and marketing strategy, operational plan, secure financing, etc.  The reason no one has stepped up to do this within SCP is that no one has been willing to give up their day job to build and execute a cogent plan.  It isn't that we don't know the target market.  It isn't that we have analysis paralysis and our heads up our butts (although sometimes that is true).  It's that none of us can say, "Who IS this organization that is going to create some certification?  Is it a business?  Who is part of it?  Who is out?" We cannot get people to volunteer for even the smallest of SCP jobs; how can we count on them to be part of delivering something on behalf of some group of amorphous coaches?  Who would we ask for financing?  What would we call ourselves to ask for that financing? How would we appoint leadership roles?  

Whenever I hear these kinds of complaints that people haven't done enough, I think about my mother, who used to always say, "Somebody needs to ______!" (do the dishes, take out the trash, fill in the blank).  And we would say, "I'm not 'somebody.'" None of us want to be somebody because we simply cannot wrap ourselves around who and how.  Blame SCP, APA?  How is APA going to develop this business?  How is SCP? 

In addition to the litany of healthcare-related industries that have tried to protect themselves and lost to market forces, other examples are the livery industry, disrupted by Uber.  NYC taxi drivers sued and lost to protect against Uber.  The hotel industry, disrupted by Airbnb.  What has kept hotels alive isn't some big amorphous industry group that has said, "We own this market."  It's that the Ritz is still the Ritz and everyone knows it.  Marriott made that happen, not the industry group in which it sits.   IMHO, the only way we "win" at coaching is to create bespoke, superior solutions and deliver great service.    

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(@ceocoachrobinsongmail-com)
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@div13treasurergmail-com A note on building some type of business within SCP, as I understand it.  As Bill stated, it takes capital, an intelligent plan and good allocation of capital. I would add, it also takes a compelling vision that has a funnel for maximum involvement.  My experience with SCP is that there are truly wonderful people here but it is the OPPOSITE of inclusive for non-psychologists.  Where are the Heads of Coaching and the CHROs at SCP Conferences?  Where are the MSW and MBA and OD Executive Coaches?  They don't come. Or if they do, they don't return.  Ask the question WHY?

[Hint: Maybe we don't feel seen or if we do, we notice an attitude of non-acceptance towards us, or just an attitude of being looked down on by psychologists. We're not dumb.  We feel the unconscious bias towards us.]

SCP needs to repair the WHY to become inclusive as an org to include non-psychologists. Or if SCHP is to remains elite [and often elitist], it will probably grow only minimally or stagnate. And, what was it that Erikson, that famous non-psychologist said about stagnation? Those "who do not become generative, risk stagnation."  Marvelous as it may be for most psychologist executive coaches, SCP is not a generative org for non-psychologist executive coaches.  ICF, for all its many, many flaws is enormously inclusive for non-psychologist executive coaches.  Fix the inclusivity problem, if you want SCP to grow.  Otherwise. complain and stagnate and as the Edward James Olmos character said in the film "Stand and Deliver," "Have a nice day!"

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(@div13treasurergmail-com)
Joined: 2 years ago

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@ceocoachrobinsongmail-com Jeremy, certainly a good point. As a co-owner of icoach, one of the premiere coaching certification programs put forward in recent posts on the listserv, I’m sure you know a thing or two about building such a business! I see you as deeply involved in SCP for many years, adding value to discussions and learning within SCP, so I’m surprised and saddened to realize that you don’t feel seen. Also, I think that a decent  percentage of our current members are not actually psychologists, at least in the official sense of having licensure. I wonder how many people feel as you do? Perhaps there is still elements of inclusion we are not examining?

I am also surprised to read that I am apparently stagnating. Those who know me well would probably disagree. But it’s always good to get feedback, I will take it and try to grow from it. 😉  

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(@hansk)
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@ceocoachrobinsongmail-com I appreciate your sharing Jeremy, and inclusion makes sense most of the time. But when we think of this in terms of creating a business, differentiation is a key marketing and functional asset and selling point. i can easily see how SCP's executive coaching could be based on its psychologist background as the differentiator in this class of coaches. If so, we may well want to exclude those who are not psychologists from being an SCP certified executive coach. I'm not trying to be non inclusive here Jeremy, but it is in fact what differentiates us from other executive coaches. Our deep background in human behavior is an important distinction and a plus when it comes to being an effective coach.

That said, being a psychologist does not mean you will be a good coach. I am reminded of the distinction among psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists. Many consumers who simply do not understand the differences among these three titles and educations, seek out psychiatrists for therapy. And yet, in my experience, they are often the worst therapists, having the least education in psychology and favoring the AMA medical model. I know of one psychiatrist from Stanford who is an awesome therapist, one of the best I have known, yet most I would not recommend. My point here is that just because you are a psychologist does not mean you are going to be a good coach. But from a building a business perspective, it is a valuable distinction. 

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