by Seth Sinclair
Executive coaches come to the profession having had
different academic backgrounds and training for the job. Whatever a coach’s background may be, there
are standards of behavior every client or an organization should expect of any
coach. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) has a code of ethics professional
coaches accredited by the federation are required to uphold. The entire code can be found here.
Here are a few highlights of the code:
First, executive coaches must maintain the highest levels of
confidentiality for all of the information with which they are entrusted, and
must have a clear agreement and understanding before releasing any information
to anyone else, unless the law requires that such information be disclosed. All
records they create must be maintained, stored, and disposed of in accordance
with applicable laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Second, coaches must always behave professionally with
clients by not
“overpromising” results, either from the coaching process or
from their own abilities. They must
never give false or misleading advice; and must respect the client’s right to
end the coaching relationship at any time--subject, of course, to the provisions
of their contract.
Coaches should make sure, at the beginning of the
relationship, that both the client and the organization who hire them fully
understand what coaching is and does, the extent to which the relationship is
confidential, and any other terms of the contract. Throughout the coaching process, the coach
should look for signs that the client is no longer being helped by coaching,
and should make it known when that becomes the case.
And finally, coaches must “seek to avoid” any conflicts of
interest they may have—and openly disclose any such conflicts. They must offer to remove themselves when
such conflicts arise. They must also
“not knowingly” take any personal, professional, or monetary advantage from
their relationship with their clients, except for whatever compensation is
agreed to in their contract.
ICF accredited coaches are required to pledge their
agreement to the organization’s code of ethics—but whether a coach is
accredited by that organization or not, clients should expect that whoever they
choose to work with will meet these standards of behavior. If there’s any question in a client or an
organization’s mind that a coach may not be able to meet these standards, the
client should spell out requirements in the employment contract—or simply hire
a different coach.