The arrival of Coach of Excellence, and why YOU should care

In 2021, the online world is full of coaches….. Life coaches, executive coaches, sports coaches, career coaches…. the list goes on and on. As the co-founder of the Professional Development Consortium - home to the CPD Standards Office, it has been remarkable to see how coaching has grown over the past decade and begun to dominate how organisations and individuals learn.  

Back in 2012, when we founded PDC, the concept of a ‘coach’ was a little sticky here in the UK.  

Whilst across the pond in America, people were thoroughly embracing coaches within business, and opening employing coaches to help them succeed in business and life; the whole idea of ‘having a coach’ this side of the pond, was somewhat akin to admitting you had a therapist! It just wasn’t considered an acceptable way to learn and develop. Admittedly, this has more to do with our national culture of ‘stiff upper lip’, than what individual professionals were actually doing.  

At the time, we knew from our comprehensive university CPD research project, that many professionals (at the time mainly limited to the C-suite) were employing coaches so we launched a pioneering new CPD accreditation entitled ‘Accredited CPD Coach’.

Over the years, we have since welcomed hundreds of professional coaches into our prestigious, global community as formally accredited CPD coaches.  

Yet, with the advent of social media and almost 90% of all adults owning a smartphone, the way we communicate and learn has radically changed. We have witnessed a shift in the coaching arena, where coaching has become part of the normal fabric of everyday learning life.   

The Change

Over the past year coaching has become truly part of our business psyche as the pandemic has forced us all to ‘be online’. Many employers now openly use coaches at all levels in their businesses, and the idea of paying for a career coach to assist you with your professional goals has become as normal as making a cup of tea.   

So what does this mean?

Now more than ever it is important to find good, qualified coaches who can make a difference, who will deliver engaging and insightful content that moves the client forward. It is so easy to fall foul of inexperienced coaches using persuasive digital marketing techniques.

During the first COVID19 lockdowns in 2020, there was a huge boom in online learning, and this led to hundreds of new training and coaching providers appearing on the web.   

This, often questionable training has unleashed hoards of new coaches on an unsuspecting audience. And with social media at the forefront of marketing, it's very easy for these unqualified coaches to market themselves as delivering amazing training, when in fact, this is not true. Many coaches can masquerade behind the eye-catching ads and engaging social media accounts which can then, unfortunately, leave lots of customers unhappy or out of pocket.

In the customer's shoes: qualified coach or skilled at digital ads?

So trying to differentiate between a good coach and a bad one can be difficult, but with checks on authority and quality standards such as verified accreditation, you can filter them out before you lose your money!

The CPD Standards Office has featured in various articles covering the worrying lack of social media regulation around promoting online education or coaching.  

You can read the articles here and here.

And with no common, agreed-on standard on coach training, coach performance standards or recourse in the event of dissatisfaction, coaching needs a recognised and respected quality mark.

PDC is therefore delighted to be drawing together leading coaching brands to offer an independent accreditation for all coaches: Coach of Excellence.

Coach of Excellence is a unique accreditation because it is not offered by a coach training provider but by a respected independent organisation specialising in assessing and accrediting professional competence.

This independence allows coaches to demonstrate that they have met a set of standards, they have the necessary expertise and they operate within a high-quality coaching structure. Coaches that meet the standard genuinely are excellent coaches and deserve the accreditation of Coach of Excellence.

Coach of Excellence

PDC is delighted to be bringing Coach of Excellence as a key accreditation offering for the coaching world. CoE has been developed in partnership with many established coaching networks, including The Coaching Academy.  

The Coach of Excellence accreditation demonstrates excellence in delivering outstanding coaching and the proof that your coaching has a real and tangible impact on your clients. PDC has developed this accreditation to also provide you with many benefits when becoming an accredited coach, which includes:

• Ensures coaching standards are up to date and of high quality
• Confirmation that your coaching approach and resources have been benchmarked against best practice
• Demonstrates your commitment to delivering high-quality coaching
• Be part of a community delivering excellence in coaching
• Develop your skills and knowledge through sharing with high performing peers
• Stand out clearly in a crowded market demonstrating your credibility and reputation

In addition to the above benefits, you will have the ability to issue CPD certificates to your coaching clients and display the Coach of Excellence trustmark on your website and marketing materials, which will help position you as an outstanding coach.  

The Coach of Excellence trustmark will allow you to demonstrate your competence and reputation with clients, growing your profile and reputation and allowing you to stand out from the crowd.