ICF Credential Spotlight: Bill Burtch, PCC, Harmony Coaching and Consulting, Memphis

Read about Bill Burtch, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, PCC, in the first in a series of articles about credentialing based on interviews with coaches, clients, and organizations that hire coaches.

If you would like to be interviewed or know someone you would like to read about, please contact Director of Credentialing, Renee Fluty: [email protected] or 434-534-9858.

Bill Burtch, PCC

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RENEE: Bill, thank you so much for your willingness to be the first person to be interviewed for our newsletter. Please, tell me about your journey into coaching.

BILL: I come from the corporate world. I was in human resources, training and hotel operations with Marriott, then for Promise Hotels which was later acquired by Hilton. Promise was the parent company for Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites. After they were purchased in 2000, I decided to take an optional out and gave myself eight months to figure out what I wanted to do next in my career which led to opening my own consulting business. I hung up my shingle on September 1st of 2001 doing mostly human resource and training, consulting, policy development, some compliance training, leadership and management development training, things of that nature. And, I had a friend who was a coach so I enrolled in a program with Coach U to be able to add coaching to what I offered. It took me about 18 months to get through that program.

The consulting work that I was doing gave me a lot of inroads into companies because at that time coaching wasn't very popular in the mid-south—nobody really knew what it was. And so, the credibility I had built with clients as a consultant around policy development gave me the opportunity to start offering coaching and the confidence that I knew what I was doing. Up till 2012 most of the work I did was still HR and training/consulting. And then, it started to shift to more training, leadership development, management development and coaching. Now it's 100% seminars, workshops and individual one-on-one coaching, mostly around leadership and management development.

RENEE: Wow! That is a great story. Tell me, where does ICF credentialing come in?

BILL: So, for the longest time I didn't pursue credentialing because coaching was not known for the most part. Nobody really looked for credentialing, it really didn't make a difference. As coaching became a greater part of my work, I decided to pursue the ACC credential via the portfolio path which is, as you know, a complicated process. I then went for the PCC in 2012, again through the portfolio route.

RENEE: It sounds like you were already very successful. Why did you decide to go for the ACC and PCC credentials?  

BILL: For me it was more of a self-confidence builder. A way for me to know and trust that what I was doing was good and appropriate and in alignment with the ICF competencies. Clients are not often looking for a credentialed coach. They don’t even know to look for a credentialed coach. Plus, it seemed that every time I told people that I am a coach, the next thing I would hear was, “Oh, I could do this too.” And they'd start sending out business cards! I wanted to be separate from them. I wanted the credibility that the credential offers. I wanted to be able to say “Yes, I am certified” in case somebody asked; a way for people to understand that I wasn't just a fly by night thing. The nice thing about it was that I was still doing a lot of consulting work with my clients, so I already had credibility with them. They felt comfortable with me whether I had a credential or not. They knew I was credible in what I was doing. And they trusted that I would not offer a service that was going to be subpar. But it still was something that I wanted to do for my own self-confidence and to know that what I was doing was aligned with industry standards. So, it was really kind of a calibration exercise for me.

RENEE: It sounds like credentialing had a lot to do with how you wanted to show up as a professional…

BILL: It really built some of my confidence. I think it helps with a little bit of imposter syndrome that somebody might think: “I'm calling myself a coach, I'm coaching, I went to school and I did the classes, but nobody is really doing any ongoing evaluation of my coaching. I know it's effective. I know my clients are changing and adjusting. They tell me it is helpful and that's the most important person to determine whether you're credible or effective or not. But I still wanted to know, in the industry, where am I?

RENEE: What parts of the actual credentialing process did you find to be valuable?

BILL: The feedback that I got from the written test and that I received from my live coaching demonstration as well as the recordings that I sent in was really powerful and helped with that calibration; it confirmed that I am at the PCC level in my coaching. Some of the feedback I received was that was actually even more at the MCC level, so, for me, the detailed feedback I received was really helpful.

I'm not sure what kind of feedback they give now, but then it was on each of the competencies and your level of proficiency: was it at an ACC level, a PCC level, or was it at a MCC level? And after you earn the credential, you have to renew it every three years, which I like because it makes sure my skills stay sharp.

RENEE: The credentialing process has evolved over the years since you began your coaching journey. Comparing then to now, what do you think about the changes?

BILL: I think it's a really good process. I'm glad I didn't have to do it, but I love the fact that now they require you to get mentored. I think that would have been really helpful to me (I did get a mentor coach prior to doing the PCC certification and it helped.) But, I'll be honest, I had to do the live coaching assessment twice; I didn't make it the first time. One of the big things they noted was that I tried to relate to the client by sharing something about myself that the client was going through. And they just really did not like that, “You pulled the focus of the coaching away from the client.” So, “Okay, good feedback. I won't do that again.”

RENEE: One of the things that I have valued about the credentialing process and have shared with students is the value of learning how to do “pure coaching” so you have a great foundation for doing the variations. I was in a workshop with Marcia Reynolds not too long ago, and she said learning to do pure coaching is like a concert pianist and improvisational pianist. If the pianist doesn’t know all the basics, they can never be a great jazz pianist because they have nothing to build upon.

BILL: That's a great metaphor. And, it's absolutely true. I mean, you really do need to be solidly grounded in the competencies so you can vary and find your own style while still being true to the ICF competencies.

RENEE: And that constant renewal helps me to keep remembering that.

BILL: This begs a question: Where do you get most of your renewal CEU credits?

RENEE: I get a lot from the ICF portal because there's such interesting learning opportunities both in the US and on the international stage. Also, the Tennessee chapter of ICF offers many opportunities for continuing education.  

BILL: Every few years, I'll go to a live training, do something in person. I think I learn a whole lot more in person. And having those connections really is stimulating.

RENEE: I've been talking to a lot of people who say they're going to get their ACC, but they really don't see the point of going for a PCC. I have my own reactions to that, but I'm curious what your reaction is.

BILL: I'm not sure that the market really knows the difference between an ACC or a PCC. You know, back when I first did it, you had to go for the PCC after being an ACC for a certain number of years. You could not keep an ACC forever. And I think that's good. The fact that now you can continue at the ACC level forever if you want, I don't know if that's a positive. I think it is important to continue to at least upgrade our skills. People striving for the next level is a real positive for the profession.

RENEE: I think so too. I was really intrigued by a young coach a couple weeks ago who said told me their intention was never to do more than the ACC and then they were pushed to learn more about PCC level coaching and that “All of a sudden I'm seeing when I start incorporating the concepts of PCC coaching, my clients are staying longer and they're making more permanent change. So, when we add awareness, we are actually healing bones and helping clients to do more than putting band aids on.”

BILL: That is really interesting. That's powerful. It would be really interesting to see research about outcomes of coaching with ACC level coaches and PCC level coaches.  And, to look at long term change that result from working with different levels of coaches.

RENEE: What advice do you wish you had been given as a beginning coach?

BILL: I wish somebody had told me to get my credential sooner. I think it would have given me more confidence earlier in my career. And maybe having that credential might have helped me push the coaching part of my business a little bit more. I may have felt more comfortable offering coaching, knowing that what I was doing was judged by more experienced coaches to be meeting the standards expected of ICF coaches.

RENEE: Is there one last nugget you'd like to leave about credentialing? 

BILL: I don't know that it's a last nugget or a reiteration but I really do think that credentialing is positive, not just in the marketplace, but for the individual coach and for the profession as a whole as we continue to try to ensure that coaching is valued and seen as a credible option for growth and development. This is true whether you coach individuals or teams or whether you are a life coach or a business, executive, or corporate coach.

RENEE: Thank you so much. I really appreciate how generous you've been with your time and sharing the wisdom you have gained over the course of your career.