Communicating Across Borders
Last month, I joined my colleagues from the 2020 ICF Professional Coaches Global Board of Directors in Mexico City, Mexico, for our first strategic planning meeting of the new year—and our first in-person meeting as part of the newly expanded ICF ecosystem
As a truly global board, we do most of our work virtually. Our periodic in-person meetings give us an opportunity to deepen our connections with one another and engage in focused, in-depth conversations. In-person Board meetings also provide the occasion to meet face to face with members and volunteer leaders around the world. This meeting was no exception: Before our work got underway, we hosted a reception for ICF Mexico’s members to learn more about their joys and challenges and discuss how we can partner to lead ICF and the profession forward.
After our work was done, a few of us extended our stays in Latin America in order to meet with other ICF Chapters. I had the privilege of traveling to Costa Rica with Magda Nowicka Mook, ICF’s CEO/Executive Director, and Stephanie Norris, ICF Regional Development Manager for Latin America. During our time together, we participated in an inspiring event hosted by ICF Costa Rica. Our gracious hosts from the chapter were also knowledgeable tour guides, helping us experience the famous Costa Rican “¡Pura Vida!” firsthand.
As is often the case when I visit with coaching colleagues around the world, connecting across borders and spending time with our Spanish-speaking ICF Members and volunteer leaders reminded me how ICF has evolved. We are a truly global community speaking many languages and united by our shared mission and vision. Our diversity—of languages, of cultures, of experiences—poses an exciting opportunity for all of us to bring that shared mission and vision to life around the world.
When ICF was formed, most of our members and chapters were based in North America. We have traditionally been an English-speaking organization in terms of our brand, products and services, with some core documents available in four additional languages (French, German, Portuguese and Spanish).
Today, the largest percentage of our membership (48%) still resides in North America. However, more than 50% of our ICF Chapters are in non-English-speaking countries and locales. As reported by our members, there are more than 60 languages represented across our global community.
We’ve also been listening to you through our member research: Your feedback about the value of ICF Membership and your touchpoints with the ICF brand emphasizes that, for many coaches, language can be an obstacle that limits your engagement with the education and networking opportunities available to ICF Members.
As a creative and resourceful global community, you—our ICF Members—have supported global translation efforts and developed local and regional initiatives to bring the ICF experience to life across the boundaries of language. Several ICF Members and Chapter Leaders have shared their time and expertise in service of credentialing, by participating in the translation process for core documents and assessments and serving as credentialing assessors in languages other than English. Coaches across the Middle East have developed an Arabic lexicon for ICF and the coaching profession and collaborated to translate core documents. Volunteer leaders have curated and delivered robust professional development via French, German and Mandarin webinar series. ICF Mexico, whose members we so enjoyed meeting last month, gleaned inspiration from ICF’s virtual Business Development Series and created an analogous event to help Spanish-speaking coaches build their businesses.
Our Board celebrates these volunteer efforts. We also want to do more to ensure ICF’s continued relevance globally. That’s why, during our Board meeting last month, we approved the Language Group Task Force to scope resources needed for expanding language capabilities. The task force will develop a truly global language policy that they will recommend to the International Coaching Federation Global Board for implementation across ICF’s six family organizations. The task force will also identify next steps for developing language-based, chapter-run webinars like the French, German and Mandarin series I mentioned above.
The task force’s work may also include:
- Consulting with ICF Members on essential tools and resources to be considered for translation
- Maintaining close partnership with ICF Credentials and Standards to translate core documents and train assessors in a variety of languages
- Further develop/promote tools and resources available to members in languages other than English
As the global coaching community continues to grow, it is vital for ICF to lead the way in breaking down barriers and ensuring that we don’t just talk about being ONE ICF—we must live into that vision. The work of this new task force will play an integral role in ensuring that we do exactly that. Our 25th anniversary is an excellent occasion for celebrating a vibrant and diverse ICF, with an inspiring global vision and robust local roots! I look forward to being there on the journey and celebrating our successes together.
Catherine Tanneau, MCC
Catherine Tanneau, MCC, is Vice Chair of the 2020 ICF Professional Coaches Global Board. She is managing partner and CEO of Variations International, a coaching firm specialized in Executive Coaching, change management and governance issues. For more than 16 years, she has helped leaders, teams and organizations around the world manage complex and multicultural environments. She specializes in the change management process, strategy implementation, team mobilization, cross cultural leadership and governance. She is also a published author and a keynote speaker. Catherine has been involved with the coaching profession and ICF for more than 15 years. In 2003, she created Activision Coaching, which is now an ICF ACTP accredited coaching program. She previously served on the ICF France Chapter’s Board of Directors in various roles including president.
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What a good new initiative, thanks for being more global every day, let’s go for more! Greetings from Argentina
Qué buena nueva iniciativa, gracias por ser cada día más globales, vamos por más! saludos desde Argentina