Ever wonder what those letters mean behind coaches names? You’re not alone.

When you’re looking at certifications most of them come from the school a coach attended. For instance CUCG and CECG are certifications I hold from Coach Universary. It means I completed a number of hours for each program successfully meeting their criteria. It does not mean I was evaluated for my skills.

Many schools will certify someone in a weekend or six month program. These are certifications that a school, who has an interest in graduating a student, have created. It doesn’t measure the quality of the coach. It’s an internal measurement of one program that utilizes a pass/fail system. The distinction of a pass/fail system relies upon attendance and participation in many instances.

If you see the letters ACC, PCC or MCC those designations come from the International Coaches Federation. This is an independent standards organization. The ICF is not a school.  The ICF accesses a coaches skill sets, requires accredited school hours, paid coaching hours, knowledge-based exams, and their criteria is aligned with the American Psychiatric Association.

ICF is a worldwide, gold standard institution who has standardized criteria to access coaches on their expertise. The ICF’s standards are international in scope and a beyond reproach measure of success and quality. To earn an MCC it takes most coaches five to seven years. While you can be a member of ICF (that just means you paid a fee),  if you earn certifaction, it means someone has done the work and this work has been verified.

When you’re choosing a coach– get a professional. Get an ICF certifed coach.