Use Your Gallup Courses and Coaching Toward ICF Credentials

Jim Collison:
[0:01] I am Jim Collison, and this is Gallup's Called to Coach, recorded on March 10, 2025.

Jim Collison:
[0:06] In this special edition of Called to Coach, we'll look at how individuals can use Gallup courses towards ICF credentials. Angela Davenport is my guest. Angela is Gallup's Professional Credit Program Manager. And, Angela, great to have you back on Called to Coach!

Angela Davenport:
[0:21] Thank you, Jim. Great to be here, as always.

Jim Collison:
[0:24] Let's get started. Let me bring our slide deck up. Before we do, though, tell us a little bit about your role here at Gallup.

Angela Davenport:
[0:33] Sure thing. So in my role at Gallup, I'm a Senior Learning Design Consultant, and part of my responsibilities include thinking about our courses and the professional credits that they carry. So earning credits through the International Coach Federation, SHRM, HRCI, at the course level, and then also help advise and provide guidance to folks who are considering an individual credential, say, from ICF. So over the years, I've answered a lot of questions about ICF requirements and the credentialing process. And many folks who attend GGSC tend to ask us questions about all that. So today is designed to help people understand those steps and how they can leverage their Gallup coursework to their benefit, if they are thinking about an ICF credential or even renewing a credential.

Jim Collison:
[1:26] Let's say this right off the bat, before we dig into the material, though. If folks want to contact us and they have questions about this and they want to contact us, what's the right way to do that? We'll show this again later, but I'd like to get this in early.

Angela Davenport:
[1:39] Yes. So if they have any questions about Gallup courses and receiving documentation showing they completed a Gallup course, folks can always email us at our professional credit inbox. And that inbox is ceu@gallup.com.

Jim Collison:
[1:52] And we'll show that on the screen here.

Angela Davenport:
[1:57] Yes, continuing education units at gallup.com -- ceu@gallup.com. And we provide, of course, documentation for anybody who needs it to show that they've attended a course at Gallup. So sometimes this is needed for reimbursement, of course, the cost of the course or for professional credits associated with the course or just proof of learning hours completed, because people have credentials from other certifying bodies.

Jim Collison:
[2:24] It's a big question I get -- ceu@gallup.com. All right, Angela, get us started.

Angela Davenport:
[2:30] Sounds great. So let's talk about using your Gallup courses if you're considering an ICF credential or working towards the renewal of a credential. The ICF credit process and their credentialing is very comprehensive. There's lots of things to know and understand. So a couple tips today that I would share, just to help you, especially if you're just getting started. Maybe you attended a GGSC course, and you heard folks talking about ICF, and you heard that the course includes credits that can be used towards an ICF credential. What does that mean for you? So the first thing I would recommend is, if you're considering a credential from ICF, spend time on their website. There are different levels of credentials based on years of experience, number of coaching hours, number of coach education hours completed. There is a lot to it. And there are multiple requirements.

Angela Davenport:
[3:24] This is not a credential you can sit down and apply for in one day. It takes many months to meet all the requirements, and understanding what those are and the restrictions around those is really important up front, so you, so you're progressing on that path in a way that's, you can see the path forward. So absolutely spend time on their website. They have resources. They have a couple of videos that are very helpful. They have an applicant guide, based on the type of credential you're applying. So I can't stress enough that if you want to pursue this credential, you have to learn about it, and you have to understand the requirements.

Angela Davenport:
[4:03] Next, I would say, is organize your documentation. So we just talked about how Gallup will provide you a completion letter showing you've taken a course from us and what credits ICF has approved that course for. You have to save all of that, because, for the coach education requirement, for example, you have to have so many hours, and you have to have so many credit types within those hours. And the letter will include that detail, but you have to, like, keep that in a folder and save it. And you might not, like, pursue a credential for maybe 6 more months or a year. So you need all that documentation kept, so that when it's time to apply, you have everything that you need. There's that email address on our slide as well that we just mentioned -- ceu@gallup.com.

Angela Davenport:
[4:49] Then, as you're working towards those requirements, you have to add it all up. So there is a wonderful portal on the ICF website that you can start the application. And it actually is like a dashboard. So once you decide which credential level you're going to pursue and which path towards that credential you're going to take, based on your own mix of courses and experiences you've had, then you can actually start to upload your information into their portal. So you don't have to have all the requirements completed before you start uploading. So having those hours counted and tracked is really helpful. So, say you've gone to four different courses, you have four completion letters, you can upload those into the portal, and you'll enter how many hours it was, if it was core hours, if it was resource development hours, and then you'll start to see a progress bar. So you can see how you're progressing towards the requirements, which is really helpful. If you wait till you have everything, and you think you have everything done, and then you go to the portal, you might find you don't have all your documents, or you might not have all the requirements. So using their portal along the way really ensures that you're meeting the requirements, because then you can see your progress as you're entering that information.

Angela Davenport:
[6:07] And then, of course, make a plan to reach your goal. Right. So understanding the requirements, understanding what it takes, is just the first step. Then you have to start to map out, like. what do you need to get there, and how are you going to do that? So we have some different ways we can help from Gallup -- from courses to coaching that we'll talk about today. But it will take more than just offerings from Gallup to, to reach one of those goals. And what that looks like in more detail we'll, we'll definitely get to.

Jim Collison:
[6:39] Let me ask you a question around that. If someone just completed our GGSC, or what we call the Gallup Global Strengths Coaching Course, some recommendations on what they could do first? I mean, certainly, you have a good outline here, but what kind of things should they be thinking about after the course?

Angela Davenport:
[6:55] Yeah, great question. Three key things. First priority is earn your Gallup-Certified Coach credential. You learned all about that in the course. We give you the brochure about what those steps are. Do that first, so you can brand yourself as a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, right? So that would be the very first recommendation. My second recommendation would be, if you're toying with this idea of ICF credential, and that's all new to you, do exactly what this slide says, right? Get on their website and learn more about it. And request a completion letter from us. So when you register for a Gallup course, there's a prompt that asks you if you want a completion letter. And if you say, "Yes," we'll automatically generate that and provide it to you after the course. If you say, "No," you can always ask for one later.

Angela Davenport:
[7:45] So if you're like, Ooh, I'm not sure if I'm going to do it or not, reach out to us -- again, at that same email address -- and we can provide that documentation letter for you, so you have it. And that is true for if you're going to pursue a credential through SHRM, HRCI, or even, many times, people will ask for just a more generic letter that is not tied to a specific certification body, and instead, it just confirms the course they took, the date, the learning hours, so that you have that documentation for that learning completed. And then the last thing I would recommend, of course, is going on the ICF website and digging in further, because if you're going to pursue ICF, you need to understand those requirements, for sure.

Jim Collison:
[8:29] I think one of the biggest amounts of feedback I get is the, the breadth and depth of the ICF certification and just how much more kind of attention to detail that takes. And so I just encourage, in the years I've been doing this, I just encourage folks to, it's going to take, I would say, step 4, set aside some time to work through that. It's not kind of a quick, you know, one-and-done kind of thing; it takes a while to work through all that, all that content.

Angela Davenport:
[9:00] Absolutely. And the reason it does is they are really, they're, they're certifying folks on their coaching, right? So there is a lot to it -- not only education, but coaching hours, mentoring, there's an exam, you have to submit a recording of your coaching. So it is a very comprehensive credential that takes a significant investment.

Angela Davenport:
[9:25] On this slide, I just have a picture of the ICF website, just as a reminder to go check it out. There's tons of tools and resources I mentioned out there for you. They know people are looking at this credential every single day and trying to figure out if it's something they want to pursue. So the resources there are designed to help you understand the requirements, both in, you know, text form, but also videos, there's guides. So definitely, you have to do your homework for sure, if that's something you want to pursue. And we're recording this, right? So they could make a change to the credential tomorrow. I always say, Go to the ICF website and check, review the requirements, because if something, things can change, right? So it's really important to stay current.

Angela Davenport:
[10:12] So let's talk about using Gallup courses and how that could be beneficial to you, right? I think the, for folks who are already ICF certified, taking a Gallup course is a great way to earn some credits towards a renewal. So those who already have a credential through ICF need 40 continuing education credit hours to renew. And within that 40, at least 24 have to be core; up to 16 can be resource development. And ICF defines "core hours" as core competency. So that's really when you're learning about coaching techniques, coaching strategies. This is not learning how to coach around a tool or an assessment.

Angela Davenport:
[10:57] So, for example, in GGSC, we purposely have that course about 50% coaching techniques and about 50% understanding CliftonStrengths -- the science of CliftonStrengths, the assessment itself, how to coach around CliftonStrengths. So in that course, when we are teaching about CliftonStrengths, that's considered resource development. So that course includes both types of credits, but it's intentionally split half and half, because we know, in order for you to be a really good coach, you need some coaching techniques. And some people come to GGSC brand new to coaching; others come with lots of coaching experience, but they want to add CliftonStrengths to their toolbox. So we have to make sure people really understand how to coach specifically around CliftonStrengths, which is the point of the Gallup Global Strengths Coaching course.

Angela Davenport:
[11:52] The other thing I would add is, you can use Gallup courses towards an initial credential, but there are very specific requirements around that, depending on the path you take. So there's multiple different path options, based on the type of coach education you complete. So it's really important to look at the ICF website, because you need 60 hours of coach education, at least -- a minimum of 60 hours. And within that 60, at least 48 have to be related to core competency, and up to 12 can be resource development. So there's a heavy emphasis for new coaches on coaching competencies, which makes sense, right? They want to make sure you really understand the role of a coach and what it takes to be a very, very good coach, based on how ICF defines coaching.

Angela Davenport:
[12:43] Gallup coaching is a little bit different, because we do a little education and consulting with that, because people have questions about, "How do I read my CliftonStrengths report?" for example, right? And that would be a little bit more directive and telling than true coaching, according to the ICF definition, because we're doing some education around an assessment. Any questions or any callouts there that, any, any of that sparked for you, Jim, that I should circle back on or clarify?

Jim Collison:
[13:13] No, I think it's a good, I think it's just a good reminder. I like the 50-50 reminder of, of where we spend some time thinking about coaching and the, and the process of coaching. And then there's content-specific material that we go through around CliftonStrengths for that as well. And I think it's good to keep that in mind. Most folks listening to this are probably post-GGSC in thinking about this. And so, as you look at that breakdown of how those credits -- we'll, we'll spend a little time looking at it later -- that will make more sense, I think, now that you've outlined it that way, Angela. So let's keep going.

Angela Davenport:
[13:51] Great. The one other thing I would just add is, you know, the ICF requirements, how they approve courses, has changed over the years. So you and I have been doing this for over 10 years, right? And those, that has evolved. So, many years ago, you could take multiple Gallup courses, attend a few Gallup summits, attend a few Gallup Learning Series events, and put them all together and apply for an ACC credential. Well, based on how the requirements around the coursework have changed over the years, that's no longer the case. So you really have to dig in and look at the requirements around that coach education, because there's some -- within that 60, there's some specific credit-hour types you have to make sure you're meeting, based on the path you choose. So it's, again, very important to look at the website.

Jim Collison:
[14:39] Let's continue.

Angela Davenport:
[14:40] Sounds great. So we have multiple courses that are approved by ICF for continuing coach education credits. We purposely do that, because we know coaches are continuing to grow in their coaching experience, and they use Gallup courses to do that. So at the time of this recording, you can see we have many courses, many coaching courses, approved for continuing education credits. And when you take a course from Gallup, we always talk about these. We offer that documentation after the course. And if you've gone through a course in the past, and you haven't asked for that documentation, don't wait. Reach out and do that now. If you're considering any type of credential going forward, you want to have, get that benefit of that learning time and have documentation to show that you've completed that. So reach out to us. We can provide that for you anytime.

Jim Collison:
[15:30] Angela, is there a time limit on how long, you know, you, in the slide, you mentioned, you know, we used to call this ASC, or Accelerated Strengths Coaching. Is there a, is there a limitation on how long those credits are good for?

Angela Davenport:
[15:44] It, there isn't a limitation, but they are, they were only approved at a certain point in time, right? So if you took our former course, Accelerated Strengths Coaching, the credits that that course gave you are not shown on the screen, because it was approved at a certain moment in time, based on the credentials that ICF and the requirements they had back then versus now. So it's all related to when you take a course and what the course is approved for at that time when you've taken it. Great question.

Angela Davenport:
[16:17] OK, so, for example, I'm just going to talk a little bit about the requirements from ICF, right? So if someone was pursuing the first entry-level credential from ICF, it's called the Associate Certified Coach -- ACC for short -- there are five pieces to this credential. So this is why we've been saying it's so important to dig in and understand the requirements. It's not about just going to a course and getting a completion letter; there is a lot more to it. So there's the education piece, where you have to have at least 60 hours of coach education training. There's the coaching piece, where you have to have at least 100 hours of coaching. And when the clock starts for your coaching is dependent on which path you're taking and the types of courses you've had. So that's such a great example of a detail you have to dig into the requirements to know, so that you can accurately start your clock of counting your coaching hours towards the requirements, based on the path you're taking.

Angela Davenport:
[17:19] They also require 10 hours of mentor coaching, where you are learning from an ICF-Certified Coach. And you can do that actually with Gallup, Gallup coaches, if you would like; I'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute. And then there's two other requirements: You have to record yourself coaching, and you have to submit an audio with the transcript showing how that coaching -- and they listen to that, right? They're listening for, are you demonstrating the coaching competencies in your coaching? And then, the last piece is an exam, which is, it's an extensive exam and multiple questions. And, like, you, that's a whole, that's a whole experience in and of itself. So all the details around all five of these requirements or components are on the ICF website. You can dig into all of them.

Angela Davenport:
[18:09] But just to give you a sense of, you mentioned the depth and breadth of this credential, there, there is a lot to it. And, obviously, a few more steps than the Gallup-Certified Coach credential. So that's why I would say, get your Gallup certification first and have that, have the ability to brand yourself as a Gallup-Certified Coach. And then, if you decide you want to pursue this, you can.

Angela Davenport:
[18:31] Now, some people will say, "Why, why, do I need an ICF credential?" And really, that's up to each coach to decide. You know, if a coach is coaching as an independent coach, some find that it's really valuable to have that extra credential. I know the Gallup-Certified Coach credential carries a lot of weight. People really appreciate sharing that, that they're certified by us. And then those who are coaching, if it's their full-time job within their organization, and that's a part of their role, do they have to prove their credentials to their colleagues? Most often not, right? They're in the role based on who they are and their credentials. So that external stamp of approval from ICF may be a lot less critical for them. So each coach has to decide for themselves if they want to pursue an ICF credential. And we just want you to understand that you can use your Gallup coursework towards those goals, if that's right for you.

Jim Collison:
[19:32] Two things I would add to that, Angela. One is, I think of step 4 about recording your audio and transcript. You'd mentioned this earlier -- you and I have been doing this a long time. That used to be a lot harder. Today, of course, Zoom makes that very easy transcripts to get. So don't, don't, you know, let technology be your friend on that one. That was, that used to be way harder; n ow, a very easy requirement, as you're thinking of that. Make sure you, those folks that you are coaching know that they're being recorded, of course, when they're doing that, right?

Angela Davenport:
[20:03] You have to ask for permission.

Jim Collison:
[20:05] I think of this process, some folks who's, who are listening to this may have gone through our course and didn't certify. And we're actually spending some time right now, as we're recording this -- so it's March of 2025 -- of making sure everybody, if you didn't certify for whatever reason, if you didn't certify at the point in time that you took the course or right after the course, you can do that today. So if you haven't certified, and you're like, "Oh, I probably should get that done," whether it was a year ago or 10 years ago, there, we want to get you back in there, get your recertification exam or get your initial certification exam, if that's the case. Send us an email: certification@gallup.com. Again, that's certification@gallup.com. That, that email address covers all certification questions that you might have -- ceu@gallup.com, those are education or, or credits outside of that. That's the email address for that. We'd love to get you back in there.

Angela Davenport:
[21:03] Great tips. I would like to call out two things you said, Jim. The audio recording piece -- technology, obviously, how we do that is way easier these days than 10 years ago. And I will also add the tip of, Record a few coaching conversations. Because I've found, when I'm working with coaches, they get really nervous when they know all of a sudden they are being recorded for ICF, somebody at ICF, to listen to their coaching. And it just, it stresses them out, right? and they're less focused on coaching their client. So we tend to tell our internal coaches who also are working towards ICF, record a few, and then pick the best one, right? Don't feel like you have to have it perfect in the very first and only recording, because you want to still do what you do naturally, based on your strengths and your style of a coach. So don't let the pressure of, "I'm recording this one for ICF," make you less natural in your coaching approach.

Angela Davenport:
[22:05] The other thing I would also recommend, you mentioned you were talking about the Gallup-Certified Coach credential. Sometimes people get confused and they think, Wow! I earned my Gallup-Certified Coach credential. Now I can just go apply to ICF, and I just give ICF my certificate, and I'm good to go. Well, this slide reinforces -- that is absolutely not the case, right? The ICF credential is a completely separate credential, separate requirements. And Gallup coursework can be used towards those requirements, and even your coaching experience can be used towards meeting the coaching hours. You can get mentoring from Gallup coaches, but all of those things, they're two separate credentials with separate requirements.

Jim Collison:
[22:48] Let's continue.

Angela Davenport:
[22:50] So speaking of our Gallup coaches, right? So we have coaches who, their full-time job is to coach, and they have, some of them, decades of experience coaching around CliftonStrengths. And many of them also have ICF credentials. We have coaches who are ACC-, PCC-, and even MCC-Certified. And so, if you are looking for some mentoring hours, and you want to work with a Gallup coach, you can contact us and purchase coaching from us. ICF requires you to have 10 hours, and that's true at all the credential levels. So you can do that with one coach over the course of 10 sessions; you can have multiple mentor coaches. So if you want to do an hour with Gallup and 3 hours with a colleague who is ICF certified, you can do that. You can mix it up, and you don't have to have just one mentor; you can have multiple mentors. So if you're interested in working with a Gallup coach, know that you can contact us for that to do so -- just email us at coaching@gallup.com, and we'll connect you with the right folks to, to look at what the, you know, what does the pricing look like for you? And how can you get that scheduled, based on how many sessions you're interested in.

Angela Davenport:
[24:02] We mentioned the ICF website. I share it again, just as a reminder. Check it out. There's, when you start in this process, you find, like, all sorts of questions surface, right? Like, you've asked a couple of really good ones today about timing and how far back and, you know, do the credits expire? All of those nitty-gritty details are on the ICF website. And so it's definitely a site to look at, to bookmark, go back to often, because they have everything captured out there that you're going to need to know around the requirements.

Angela Davenport:
[24:37] So I guess, in summary, I would share that, you know, it is an investment, in terms of pursuing an ICF credential. Renewing a credential -- once you have the credential, it is easier, but you have to have 40 hours of continuing coach education. There's ongoing mentoring that's required. So it is really important to have your plan, have your documents, keep track of everything, you really need to -- it's like you need to have a spot where you save all this, and you track all this. And then, you -- I tell people, Put a reminder on your, your calendar once a month, so that you're tracking it. Because if you decide to pursue it at a later time, going back and looking for stuff can be very, very challenging and frustrating, right, like, if you haven't kept it along the way. And, and then sometimes, people decide it's not worth it, because they, it's, it's just too much to pull it together at the end. So really important to do it along the way, if you're thinking about it.

Jim Collison:
[25:36] Now, some of us are last-minute folks, Angela, and we can do that. It's just more, it's, sometimes it can be more work and stress. So I, listen, I always appreciate -- not being a person who always keeps good records, I always appreciate that. Build -- if you're in my camp, build a system that helps you keep records over time. It is a lot easier. Angela, anything else, as we wrap it up?

Angela Davenport:
[26:01] I think that's it, Jim. That was a really good point. Like, if you need a partner, right, like, if you need a buddy, you definitely need to think about, How do you leverage your own strengths to reach your goal, right? So think about what those steps are and what systems and support you can put into place to help you get there. And just know that, you know, your Gallup experiences can be beneficial towards those goals. And we're, you know, we're happy to provide the documentation for your learning to support that.

Jim Collison:
[26:28] Yeah. Community can help as well. Part of my role is to bring people together, and there are plenty out there that are doing that. Having, going through this process with someone else or even a group of people is sometimes nice. It's just a good, just kind of helps you get through the process. It is a lot of work to get there. Angela, thank you for coming on and being a part of this, and keeping us up to date. I'll give some reminders here in just a second of all the email addresses.

Jim Collison:
[26:53] But with that, we'll remind everyone to take advantage of all the resources we have for you in Gallup Access. Head over to my.gallup.com. For this, specifically, we talk about for coaching, master coaching, to become a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, or even in that help with ICF coaching, you can send us an email: coaching@gallup.com. Don't forget, certification-related needs, send us an e -- we try not to make this hard: certification@gallup.com. And then if you need help with the credits, ceu@gallup.com. Stay up to date on all future webcasts by joining our Facebook or LinkedIn groups. If you know of someone who would benefit from this, share that with them, and, and maybe they'll, they will do this along with you as well. Thanks for listening today. With that, we'll say, Goodbye, everybody.

Angela Davenport's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are Maximizer, Responsibility, Positivity, Empathy and Learner.