September 2022 President's Letter

President's Letter

SEPTEMBER 2022

The World Needs More Coaches

It’s taken ICF Global over twenty-five years to reach an estimated 30,802 coaches in 130 countries and territories who hold one of three ICF Credentials. It’s estimated they have 50,000-plus members located in more than 150 countries and territories. ICF Tennessee has approximately 165 members growing steadily since 1996.

So, when asked, “Is the coaching industry saturated?” My answer is No – absolutely not!

I would argue there aren’t enough quality coaches in Tennessee.

An Opportunity for Growth

First, from a practical standpoint, it has already been proven that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can perform equally well at the fundamentals of coaching – helping someone solve a presented problem. Coaches coming out of training are going to need to coach at a higher level than the current level that AI technology cannot reach or will not reach until significant advancements have occurred. That will take a long time.

Second, as we see the increase in demand for coaching – the democratization of coaching as it’s being called, we see coaching platforms enter the big organizations. These platforms offer services that provide unlimited coaching for everyone.

These events are creating an opportunity. It’s creating an awareness we’re already beginning to see with HR directors and organizational leaders. As employees move from more prominent companies to smaller businesses, they ask, “how do you employ coaching to your employees?”

Coaching in Tennessee

Here’s one example right here in Tennessee and the reason I believe we need to accelerate the number of quality coaches in the ICFTN Chapter.

Tennessee is not a big state, geographically or in population. We do, however, have a large number of small to medium business enterprises.

Tennessee has over 142,428 small businesses employing fewer than 100 employees and 470,330 non-employer firms -businesses meaning with no paid employees, such as real estate agents and independent contractors. Then there are the 100 biggest companies in Tennessee that employ over 100 employees and include a group of managers at the top. An estimated 2,402,864 people are employed in these large companies. It’s a big market.

As those organizations realize coaching, they will continue to talk about the benefits of coaching and how it helps them run their businesses and develop careers.

If just the CEO and his leadership team and managers said, “I want to find a coach,” then we need to ramp the number of experienced coaches with the skill levels that can deal with the work that occurs – and that’s not at the basics. This example only represents corporate coaches. There are so many different coaches in Tennessee and the possibilities abound.

More Great Coaches for ICFTN

We need more great coaches with the skills and mentoring capabilities to help develop the next generation of coaches.

As ICFTN reimagines its future, this goal we keep in mind. Our focus is to get to know our members better, uncover the needs of all coaches in the Chapter, no matter the training, niche, or credential, and help them strengthen their skills and grow their business to meet these opportunities. We’ll accomplish this by creating an inclusive environment that is equitable and a place all coaches feel they belong. It’s an exciting time at ICFTN and I hope you’ll get more involved to help with this mission.

Sincerely,

Brenda Baird