PCC Markers | 2020

Simplified, clarified, organized, inclusive

The International Coaching Federation [ICF] released earlier this month an updated version of the PCC Markers to align with the new Core Competencies model released last year. This is yet another milestone and a clear demonstration of the ICF’s continued commitment to the development of the coaching profession.

The original version of the PCC Markers was created by the ICF in 2014 as a tool to support ICF Assessors in determining the minimum skill level required for a PCC credentialing candidate. The intent was to better standardize the certification process and to clarify the expectations by the ICF at this level of certification.

The PCC Markers have been highly successful in supporting coaches from around the world in more precisely define what truly means to be a beginner PCC certified coach. Consequently, it also brought us to a much better understanding of the Competencies themselves. By putting language to what a coach needs to demonstrate, the Markers gave us the opportunity to delve deeper into the behaviors expected by a coach at all levels and to better appreciate the efficacy of the model.

A by-product of this effort was the support the Markers gave to coaching training and mentoring. Even though the initial purpose of the Markers was not for training, they have brought us such depth to the Competencies that inevitably coaching training programs and mentors immediately began to use it in their own work and curriculum.

The Markers were simultaneously released in English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese. I had the honor to be a part of the team translating the Portuguese version.

As you review the document, keep in mind that, just like the updated Core Competency model, this new version of the PCC Markers is an evolution, not a revolution. If you knew the previous version, you will easily notice that the familiar concepts remain the same. Similar to the work done with the Core Competencies, the new version of the Markers is basically an effort to reorganize, clarify and polish the language to make it clearer and more succinct.

The good news is that, we now only have 37 markers, down from the previous 47. Some of the repeated concepts were removed. And it is wonderful to notice how particularly attentive the ICF was in the effort to eliminate biases, cultural differences, and in using non-gender specific language.

The ICF has announced that implementation of these Markers to the assessing process will occur sometime by mid 2021. We want to recognize the efforts of the team of assessors involved in this process and in particular Carrie Abner, Vice President of Credentials and Standards and Thomas Tkach, Assistant Director for Credentials and Standards at the ICF for all the work they put into this project.