Partnering for building a successful ICF

ICF’s Management Agreement with IMG

Since the year 2000, ICF has employed the assistance of a management company to run the association’s day-to-day operations. While the ICF Board of Directors sets overall policy and strategic direction for the organization, our management company partners with us to “make it happen.” Since May 2005, the ICF has been in a partnership with IMG. So for the last five years, under the direction of ICF’s elected leadership, IMG has provided service and support to our growing global membership.

Due Diligence Before Renewing the Contract

In early 2009, a special taskforce was appointed to look into the possibility of renewing the ICF/IMG contract for another period. The role of the taskforce was to engage in a due diligence process to consider the performance of IMG so far, to make sure any new agreement was in line with industry standards, to negotiate favorable terms for any new agreement, and to assess the way in which ICF and IMG worked together. This taskforce, on which I had the privilege of serving, worked for many months to perform this due diligence. Now, I would like to share the results of our work with you.

Message to ICF members relative to credential enhancements and the Board meeting of March 18

On March 18, the ICF Board of Directors met for its second Board meeting of 2010. The agenda was very rich and allowed for fruitful conversations. The most relevant agenda items were: 1) Credentialing work plan approval, 2) Proposed change of criteria and process for the Nominating Committee, 3) fiscal 2011 budget approval, and 4) Minimum eligibility criteria for ICF membership.

1) Credentialing work plan approval
As you are aware from previous communications, the ICF Credentialing & Program Accreditation Committee has been charged with developing standards to meet the objective determined by the Board of enhancing our credentialing program to best protect and serve consumers of coaching services, measure and certify competence of individuals, and inspire pursuit of continuous development. The first step was developing a plan of action to be presented to the Board at our March 18 meeting. The Board approved the 17-page two-year work plan presented by the Committee. Several working groups will review the following:

• The current system;
• Governance of the credentialing process;
• Assessment process of applicants; and
• Qualifications of credential applicants.

Obviously, this is a large task and we need your help. Some of you have already contacted ICF about getting involved and others have yet to step up and identify yourselves. There will be various levels of commitment to choose from. For instance, some of you may want to:

• Participate on a work group for several months, which may take four to six hours a month;
• Review and comment on selected drafts, which may take one to two hours a month;
• Give your opinions when asked, which will take an hour here or there; and
• Some of you may be open to any level of commitment described above.

We have a commitment to reflect the diversity of our membership through all levels of participation around these charges. The Committee is now engaged in developing a brief application form to build the pool of members who are interested in this work. You will be able to indicate your level of interest on this form.

If you want to be a part of the biggest undertaking in our current year at ICF, look for, and take a few minutes to complete the brief application form which will be made available this month. The application form is the first step in beginning the selection process for participation in this important work.

Update on ICF Board Discussions

Hello,

With this blog posting, I wish to provide members with an update on the most relevant discussions and initiatives the Board has taken recently and the discussion topics of the next Board of Directors meeting on March 18.

I look forward to hearing your response to this update through the various feedback channels listed at the end of this post.

Developing an Environment of Trust
The Board of Directors voted on a number of initiatives to foster a feedback culture, increasing openness and transparency of the organization’s governance. The initiatives that will be undertaken in the next few months include:

• Building consistency and reliability into the credentialing process;
• Conducting a member satisfaction survey and publishing the results;
• Designing a mechanism to receive, handle and address complaints (possibly to be addressed through the creation of an online suggestion box which the Executive Committee would be in charge of and monitor); and
• Include ICF Chapters in project implementation.

Real Talk with the ICF Board

Join members of ICF Board for an open forum - Real Talk with the ICF Board. Come share, ask questions and comment on items that interest you, including credentialing, chapter development, work on the ICF brand, public relations, membership recruitment or anything else.

Bridge line: +1.877.242.3279, Pin: 7400. Additional dialing instructions are available here (PDF).

Sessions are scheduled for the following dates (times below are in US Eastern/New York):


May

• Tuesday, May 4, 9 a.m. (in English)
• Tuesday, May 11, 1 p.m. (in French)
• Tuesday, May 18, 5 p.m. (in English)

Real Talk with the Board Recordings

Listen to the March 2 call.

Listen to the March 15 call (in Spanish).

Listen to the March 16 call.

Message Concerning ICF Credential Enhancements

On January 21 to 23, the ICF Board of Directors met for its annual strategic meeting. I invite you to read this month’s Coaching World newsletter, which will feature an article that will give you a better understanding of our commitment to the membership and organizational wholeness, and the organization’s strategic focus, including 2010 priorities.

Among the various topics on the agenda, the Board addressed the proposed changes to the current ICF Credentialing program. The Board reviewed all the comments received from members and stakeholders in the period from October to December 2009, including the input of the Lunch & Learn forum held in Orlando during the ICF Annual International Conference. We acknowledge that all the input received helped us realize that there are areas of concern that have to be addressed including two fundamental questions: 1) what is the purpose for the credentialing system and 2) whose task shall it be to develop a proposal to enhance our current credentialing system?

To summarize, the Board discussed and decided the following: