Defending Standards: How coaches confront vanity awards

If you are a coach, your inbox has probably seen them. Glossy emails arrive with congratulations and invitations to accept a place on a top list or to appear in a prestigious leadership magazine for a fee. I receive at least one of these offers every week and almost never from the same publication. It can feel flattering and it is tempting to believe that this is a sign of progress. In reality it is a business model that trades on our desire for recognition rather than a genuine marker of merit.

I write this as a credentialed coach and as the Co Director of Credentialing Standards and Coaching Education Providers for the UK ICF chapter. In that capacity I spend considerable time reflecting on coaching ethics and on the signals we send to clients, employers, and the public about what credible practice looks like.

What Vanity Awards and Recognitions Are

By vanity awards and recognitions I mean schemes where selection or visibility depends on payment for entry, acceptance, or mandatory promotion packages instead of independent assessment. The communications often sound official, the websites look polished, and the language suggests rigorous judging or editorial review. The structure is familiar. There is an unsolicited nomination, a shortlisting, and then a requirement to pay for a badge, a listing, or a page in a magazine. What follows is publicity that few clients will ever see and that adds little to the quality of our work.

Why This Matters for Coaching

The profession is still developing its public understanding and its standards in many markets. Clients already find it difficult to tell the difference between well trained coaches and those with limited preparation. When the landscape is flooded with self awarded titles and purchased badges, the signal gets lost in the noise. Genuine excellence becomes harder to see, even when coaches are doing significant work to build coaching cultures, advance practice, and support leaders through complex change.

Ethics and Professional Standards

This is also a matter of integrity. The ICF Code of Ethics asks coaches to represent their qualifications and experience accurately and to make truthful statements about what they offer. You can read it here: https://coachingfederation.org/ethics/code-of-ethics. The EMCC Global Code of Ethics makes similar commitments to honesty, integrity, and transparency and prohibits false or misleading claims in promotional material. You can read it here: https://www.emccglobal.org/code-of-ethics. From my perspective as a credentialed coach and UK ICF chapter co director, when recognition is accepted or presented on the basis of payment rather than independent judgement, we step away from the spirit of these standards and risk weakening the trust that clients place in us.

Not Always Vanity or Ego

It is important to acknowledge that this is not always about ego. Many coaches accept these invitations in good faith. The offers look legitimate and the phrasing implies a competitive judging or editorial process. Newer practitioners or those who are not close to marketing practices may not realise that payment is tied to placement. The answer is not shame or blame. The answer is to be more thorough. A helpful mindset is to trust and verify. We can assume positive intent, then check the facts before adding any badge to a profile or any logo to a website.

How to Confront the Problem

Confronting vanity awards and recognitions means taking positive action as individuals and as a community. Individually we can ask for judging or editorial criteria, request the names and biographies of judges or editors, and seek confirmation that no payment is required to be considered or to accept. We can decline offers that do not meet these tests and we can explain why we are declining. Collectively we can share knowledge with peers, educate clients about credible signals of quality, and encourage professional bodies and training providers to publish guidance on responsible recognition. When enough of us refuse to participate, the market loses its appeal.

Due Diligence Checklist

A simple check can make all the difference. Look for a named judging or editorial panel with biographies, a published scoring or selection process, and a clear statement that no payment is required to be considered or to accept. Be cautious when criteria are vague or not published, when everyone seems to win, and when there is pressure to buy advertising, a plaque, a profile, or a magazine spread as a condition of receiving the honour. If answers are slow or evasive, that is useful data in itself.

Email Template You Can Use

Use this short message to clarify whether a programme is credible or vanity. It works for awards, recognitions, listings, and publication features.

Subject: Due diligence questions about [Programme name]

Hello [Name or Team],

Thank you for inviting me to [Programme name], which I understand is a [award, recognition, listing, or publication feature]. To ensure accurate and ethical representation, could you please confirm or link to the following.

1. Is any payment required at any stage to be considered, selected, listed, profiled, to accept, or to use any badge or logo
2. Do optional purchases such as advertising, profiles, plaques, or features influence selection or placement
3. What are the selection criteria and scoring or editorial process Please share the rubric or policy
4. Who makes the decision judges or editors Please provide names and how conflicts of interest are handled, including any organiser or sponsor involvement
5. Are there licence terms or fees to display badges, logos, or profiles If a publication, what is the circulation or verified reach

I follow our profession’s ethics which require truthful, non misleading representation.

• ICF Code of Ethics https://coachingfederation.org/ethics/code-of-ethics
• EMCC Global Code of Ethics https://www.emccglobal.org/code-of-ethics

If these details are not available, I will assume the programme is not a fit at this time.

Kind regards [Your name]

[Role or organisation]

[Contact details]

What Real Credibility Looks Like

Real credibility in coaching rests on substance rather than symbols. Professional accreditation from bodies such as ICF, EMCC, or AC signals adherence to transparent standards. Evidence of impact through outcomes and case studies shows clients what changes as a result of the work. Thought leadership that contributes ideas and practice helps the field move forward. Peer recognition within communities that value quality can be meaningful because it is earned through contribution rather than purchased visibility.

In closing, every coach faces a choice about how to build credibility. We can collect badges that look impressive at a glance, or we can invest in the slower and more durable work of developing our craft, demonstrating impact, and holding ourselves to ethical standards. The temptation to take the shortcut is real, especially in a crowded market. So is our responsibility to clients and to the profession.

If we want coaching to be taken seriously by leaders, by organisations, and by society, we need to confront vanity awards and recognitions and defend standards. Recognition will come, and when it does it should be earned rather than bought.