Cathy Liska What happens if somebody claims a coaching credential that they don’t have? Sometimes this gets noticed, sometimes it doesn’t. When it does get noticed for the person who claimed a credential they don’t have, there’s embarrassment, there’s a loss of credibility, and potentially sanctions against them for claiming something they don’t have. What if that claim was a completely innocent mistake, and they didn’t realize it?
Here is a great example. Let’s say a driver from a country that normally drives on the left side of the road goes to a country where the driving is done on the right side of the road. They drive on the left side of the road. A totally innocent mistake. Then say, as horrible as it may sound, they have a head on accident. Does it matter that the mistake was innocent? Are they still responsible? Ultimately, they’re still responsible. 
This is true for us as coaches as well. Making the mistake in terms of what the letters are after our name, thus how we are presenting ourselves in terms of our credentials, is not an option. We are putting ourselves out there as a coach and our Code of Ethics calls on us to be accurate in how we represent ourselves. Be sure you know what claim you are making. It does matter!
What is the reason for this blog? Because unfortunately coaches are mistakenly reversing letters for their coaching certification to those of a coaching credential which is completely different! There is a difference between CPC and PCC, and a difference between CMC and MCC. In the upcoming blog posts we will explore this further!
