The ICF (International Coach Federation)now has a chapter in Slovakia, founded in the middle of 2007 by four ICF members: Marián Fabian, Klára Giertlová, Alfonz Haviar, and Zlatica Stubbs.
What was the motivation behind it?
We were all members of the Slovak Association of Coaches (SAKO), founded in 2006 as the first organisation comprised of Slovak coaches. The SAKO was created after the 1st Coaching Conference in Slovakia, held in 2005, at which Slovak coaches expressed a need to meet and co-operate. However, we also wanted to become members of a global organisation and draw from wider resources, have wider horizons and speed up our development as a group of coaches in order to improve support to members of both organisations. We decided to organise bilateral meetings drawing from each other’s knowledge and experience. We wanted to give coaches in Slovakia the chance to access various global resources, have a greater choice and the option of faster professional development for those who wished to take part. Our aim is to bring coaching as a profession to the attention of all of society, so that coaching becomes an integral part of our culture.
What is the International Coach Federation?
The International Coach Federation is the leading global organisation dedicated to advancing the coaching profession by setting high standards, providing independent certification, and building a worldwide network of certified coaches. The ICF has more than 14,000 members in nearly 90 countries. There are 160 ICF chapters in nearly 50 countries. One of them is now in Slovakia.
How does Slovakia benefit from the ICF?
The ICF brings an internationally-recognised coaching standard, helps to forward the profession of coaching and supports the community of coaches in Slovakia by linking them to the world community. It inspired us to start meeting regularly, get to know each other, inspire each other, share experiences, knowledge and skills, network between coaches, as well as coach and support each other. All that in the spirit of co-operation, rather than competition; abundance rather than scarcity.
The ICF accreditation process
The ICF has become a leader in the industry by establishing an independent certification programme that now offers globally-recognised coaching credentials. ICF members also agree to a Code of Ethics that adds professionalism and integrity to the profession of coaching. This article was written on the occasion of 3rd International Conference on Coaching in Slovakia, titled “Coaching as an Integral part of Culture in Modern Society”. The conference is being organised in Bratislava on October 22 and 23 2008 by SAKO (the Slovak Association of Coaches) and ICF Chapter Slovakia. The keynote speaker is Sir John Whitmore, one of the most distinctive, internationallyrenowned personalities in the coaching world from Britain.
More information about the conference can be found at www.koucovia.sk The authors of the article are Zlatica Stubbs, President of ICF Chapter Slovakia, and Klara Giertlova, Chairperson of SAKO.
