Welcome to the first of many ECI newsletters

Right now is a truly exciting time to be involved in Life, Executive and Corporate Coaching. It is one of the fastest growing professions in Europe. This is, of course, great news for those of us who have long felt that Coaching is an invaluable aid to both individuals and organisations. But, at the same time this rapid growth accentuates the need for the highest standards of professional practice to be maintained.

From inception in 1999 the European Coaching Institute (ECI), the longest established accreditation body in Europe, remains committed to the need for the Coaching profession to be regulated at both National Government and European Government level. Several individual European countries are already taking steps towards national mandatory accreditation and it is the ECI’s intention to continue it’s work towards a Europe wide standard of accreditation of both Coaches and Coach Training Providers.

It is recognised that the right coach can give the professional, the executive, the business owner, or the individual, a major and competitive edge – a notable study has found that training alone increases productivity by 22.4%, training plus coaching can increase productivity by 88%. Therefore, the value and success of Life, Executive and Corporate Coaching has been seized upon by thousands of corporation’s and individuals worldwide.

One of the purposes of the ECI is to protect and promote coaching by establishing Coaching as an industry, working with the individual European countries to set, maintain, and monitor European standards and ethics. Another is the ongoing effort to raise awareness about Coaching in the local, national, and European press.

To achieve it’s purposes, the ECI is run entirely by volunteer Life, Executive and Corporate Coaches who are members and accredited coaches with the ECI. To continue the progress of the ECI purposes December 2003 brings a new beginning for the volunteers of the ECI. This new beginning sees Gerard O’Donovan supported by Aina Egeberg, leading a team of International Heads to new and far-reaching opportunities for the members of the ECI. The new structure comprises of the ten initial sections - Operations; Finance; Standards and Ethics; IT; Accreditation and C.P.D.; Memberships; Conferences and Events; Marketing, PR and Sales; Research and Development; and Consulting.

An International Head manages each of these sections. Each International Head will have a team(s) to deliver their section of the structure. A number of teams have been formed and a number still need volunteers. Where you have an interest in remaining a volunteer or becoming a volunteer please email ECIstructure@nyasa.co.uk with the area that you are interested in.

One of the changes being introduced at the same time is the membership year. The membership year will from 2004 begin on the 1st January and run through to the end of December. What does this mean to new members joining the ECI part of the way through the year or to current members? New membership costs are now split into four periods across the year, therefore new members joining between the:

• 1st January and the 31st March will pay 100% of the fees
• 1st April and the 30th June will pay 75% of the fees
• 1st July and the 30th September will pay 50% of the fees
• 1st October and the 31st December will pay 25% of the fees

What this means to the existing members of the ECI - to bring their membership into line with the new membership year, the fees charged for 2004 will be structured in the same way as the new members above.

Gerard O’Donovan, Aina Egeberg and the team of International Heads look forward to working with the volunteers and providing an institute for the members that we can all be proud of.


Barbara J. Dalpra
Intl. Head of Operations for the ECI



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