Who Organizes the Profession

Rolf Pfeiffer provides a guide to the global coaching bodies—the ICF, EMCC, AC, and IOC—which have professionalized the coaching field. As de facto regulators, they establish crucial professional standards, ethical codes, and credentialing systems (like ICF’s ACC, PCC, MCC) that provide clients with assurance of quality. The IOC notably focuses on bridging science and practice through research. Despite their indispensable value in providing standards and community, they face criticisms regarding credentialing barriers, commercialization, and a lack of diversity. Future challenges include improving accessibility, simplifying the fragmented standards, and offering robust guidance on building a commercially viable coaching business.