Law and Ethics in Coaching

How to Solve -- and Avoid -- Difficult Problems in Your Practice

Patrick Williams, Sharon K. Anderson

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780471716143
• eBook ISBN: 9781118429136
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Leadership
• Index: Business

"This book provides an easy-to-read introduction to the core ethical and professional issues faced by all coaches irrespective of length of coaching experience. The case studies and guidelines in this book will help coaches constructively reflect on their coaching practice, and will help build the solid ethical foundation that professional coaching practice demands. A very useful text for both the beginning and experienced coach."
--Anthony M. Grant, PhD, Director, Coaching Psychology Unit, University of Sydney "Pat Williams is quickly becoming the authority on the ethics of the coaching profession. He brings his full integrity and passion to this wonderful book. Do not overlook the importance of this book to your success."
--Laura Berman Fortgang, MCC, pioneer in the coaching field and author of Take Yourself to the Top and Now What? 90 Days to a New Life Direction The first comprehensive book covering ethical and legal guidelines for personal and executive coaches As coaching grows into a unique and fully established profession, coaches are already discovering and dealing with the special ethical and legal dilemmas that can arise in the coaching context. Law and Ethics in Coaching presents the first comprehensive look at ethical and legal issues in coaching. From coach-client conflicts to conflicts of interest, from assessments to informed consent, the authors detail the breadth of ethical quandaries in coaching and provide highly practical advice for avoiding problems--and for solving them. With contributions from leaders in law, ethics, and coaching, the text includes coverage of:
* The emergence of the coaching profession and its intersection with ethics and law
* Foundations of ethics for professions
* Making ethical choices
* Getting, growing, and measuring coaching ability
* Developing and maintaining client trust
* Multiple-role relationships in coaching
* Ethical use of assessments in coaching
* Legal issues and solutions for coaches
* The intersection of culture and ethics in organizations
* Coaching into the future
Filled with a dynamic blend of case studies, discussion questions, illuminating quotes, and other examples, Law and Ethics in Coaching is both a trailblazing professional reference and an unparalleled textbook for coaching programs.

Chapter 1

The Profession of Coaching

Its Emergence and Intersection with Ethics and Law

Patrick Williams

Introduction

Although coaching is the latest and hottest trend to invade the workplace and the landscape of personal development, it is not really new. Coaching is a derivative of the best thinking in self-improvement since the turn of the twentieth century. The coaching profession found its place in history—and most recently in the business world—when it exploded into the corporate environment in the 1990s. Today, workplace coaching has dozens of specialty fields for every kind of business concern. Among coaching specialties are personal career coaching, transitions and mergers coaching, start-up venture and entrepreneurial coaching, executive leader coaching, team coaching, and what many call life coaching.

We believe that life coaching is the crucible that contains all coaching, since all coaching is best when it is a whole person approach. You might think of life coaching as the operating system much like Windows XP is for a personal computer. It is always there in the background running all other systems. So whether you are an executive coach, a business coach, a leadership coach, relationship coach, parent coach, teen coach, or any other specialist, if you are coaching a living, breathing human being, you are using life coaching.

In addition, coaching exists for every type and size of business, from one-on-one services for the self-employed sole proprietor to large-scale organizational coaching programs within the top Fortune 500 companies. Boeing International even has a coaching department, and IBM has created an initiative to make coaching available to every one of its many thousands of employees, using credentialed coaches certified by the International Coach Federation. Coaching has proven a worthy investment during its short but remarkable history.

“Coaching is the latest and most pervasive evolution in the self-improvement industry.”

—Career Confidential

The Roots of Coaching

Coaching evolved from three main streams that have flowed together in modern times:

1. The helping professions, such as psychotherapy and counseling.

2. Business consulting and organizational development.

3. Personal development training, such as Erhard Seminars Training (EST), the Landmark Forum, Tony Robbins and Franklin Covey seminars, and others.

One could argue that Socrates is the earliest recorded model of life and business coaching through his process of inquiry. But then he was killed as a result of the disruptiveness that his persistent and challenging questioning caused. It is, however, the many psychological theorists and practitioners from the early 1900s onward who have significantly influenced the development of the business coaching field. For example, the work by William James, father of psychological theory in America, proposed that people often mask or bury their brilliance. The job of coaches is to help clients discover their brilliance by consciously designing their lives and work. In addition to William James, Carl Jung and Alfred Adler have influenced modern-day coaching. Jung believed in a “future orientation,” or teleological belief that we can create our futures through visioning and purposeful living. Adler saw individuals as the creators and artists of their lives, and he frequently involved his clients in goal setting, life planning, and inventing their personal futures—all tenets and approaches in today’s coaching. In 1951, during the human-potential movement, Carl Rogers wrote his monumental book Client-Centered Therapy, which shifted counseling and therapy to a relationship in which the client was assumed to have the ability to change and grow. This shift in perspective was a significant precursor to what today is called coaching.

Abraham Maslow, the father of humanistic and transpersonal psychology, researched, questioned, and observed people who were living with a sense of vitality and purpose, and who were constantly seeking to grow psychologically and achieve more of their human potential. As earlier psychologists did, Maslow spoke of needs and motivations, but with the view that humans are naturally health-seeking creatures who, if obstacles to personal growth are removed, will naturally pursue self-actualization, playfulness, curiosity, and creativity. This perspective is the foundation of coaching today. Maslow’s treatise Toward a Psychology of Being (1968) set the framework that allowed coaching to emerge explosively in the 1990s as an outgrowth and application of the human-potential movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

Other theorists such as Roberto Assagioli (psychosynthesis), Fritz Perls (Gestalt theory), and Virginia Satir (family therapy), and many of the solution-focused therapists (e.g., Bill O’Hanlon and Steve DeShazer) also created a bridge from a diagnose-and-treat philosophy to a solution-and future-oriented approach to assisting clients. Most recently, the influence of Martin Seligman and the field of positive psychology offer much research into positive change and its application to the paradigm of personal and business coaching.

The Coaching Advantage in Both Work and Personal Life

The following description of applied coaching illuminates how it is a powerful service for both work and personal life:

Whether coaching is beneficial at a personal life level, or in the workplace, the value of coaching in helping people reach desired goals cannot be overstated. Bob Nardelli, the CEO of Home Depot, has said, “Without a coach, people will never reach their maximum capabilities.” This perspective may or may not be true, but the statement is a powerful testimony to the advantage of coaching. Boardrooms across the globe are sitting up and taking notice, especially when the return on the investment of coaching is measurable, and even significant. (McGovern et al., 2001)

Coaching in the workplace can take a variety of forms. A coach can be contracted to provide individual leader or team/group coaching within an organization, while some organizations hire or train their own full-time coaches as permanent employees. There are advantages to both approaches, and which is used depends on the company and the situation. Also, many workplaces are realizing the value of training their leaders and managers to be coaches themselves, so they can employ the successful tenets of coaching in their management and leadership roles. Leaders are learning to be less command and control and more coachlike (Goldsmith, Lyons, & Freas, 2000; the chapters by Kouzes and Posner, and Crane are particularly informative about leaders as coaches). The results of applied coaching in the workplace have been remarkable.

“I never cease to be amazed at the power of the coaching process to draw out the skills or talent that was previously hidden within an individual, and which invariably finds a way to solve a problem previously thought unsolvable.”

—John Russell, Managing Director, Harley-Davidson Europe Ltd.

Organizations are also adopting coaching as a way to turn problems into possibilities. This coaching culture causes a paradigm shift in the workplace. At a typical business you can find employees complaining around the watercooler (or wherever else they gather today!). But where the culture of coaching is present, complaints are often replaced with comments such as “I could sure use some coaching in . . .” or “That sounds like you should call your coach.” Although coaching is a burgeoning profession, it can be a powerful culture once adopted in the workplace and fueled by internal sponsorship, training, and encouragement; and organizations can choose to be comprehensively coached at all levels of the workforce.

When coaching skills are taught to managers, they will then assume the role of coach on occasion. However, because they are not assuming the job of professional coach but are just using some coaching techniques, they are not required to follow the ethical principles of the profession of coaching. It is a wise company that teaches its managers not only the skills and tools of coaching, but the ethical guidelines as well.

Coaching Tools and Their Ethical Application

In the modern-day workplace, coaching utilizes theories and practices that have been around quite a while. These tools, an important part of coaching resources, include Group Dynamics, Johari Window, and 360 Feedback assessments that allow clients to recognize blind spots—those Achilles’ heels of behavioral tendencies that block effectiveness—and hidden strengths that could be used more effectively. Style assessments or inventories (such as FIRO-B, Myers-Briggs, Peoplemap, Personal Style Indicator, and DISC) help people learn how to relate to others most effectively. (You can read more about the ethical application of assessments in coaching in Chapter 7.)

For example, Daniel Goleman’s model of emotional intelligence (EQ) is very popular, especially because it reinforces what everyone always knew but did not want to admit—that relationships within the workplace are important to the overall success of the organization. Businesses improve (and show healthier bottom lines) if their employees are happier and communicate and function as a team that works well together and resolves conflict early (Buckingham & Coffman, 1999).

Clients in individual coaching obtain results from these assessment tools and make discoveries about themselves; working with a coach helps them understand the information derived from the assessments, determine what changes they want to make, and plan the strategy to reach their desired goals. The coach elicits ideas for how clients can change behaviors. A coach does not tell the person, but instead helps the client arrive at a strategy for change. Coaching involves motivational interviewing, directed questioning for discovery, intentional listening, appreciative inquiry, empowerment, consistency, and accountability. Law and Ethics in Coaching covers the ethical aspects of the coaching relationship, and the case studies included illustrate the concepts throughout (for example, the proper use of assessments, corporate coaching, and personal or life coaching).

Carol came to me for executive coaching to improve her role as vice president of a department in a major international bank. Carol was generally very happy with her work, but she was having difficulty with her team. Specifically, team members often saw her as an aloof tyrant, which was not her intention. Carol sought coaching to learn how to be a better manager. What she learned, however, was that a better manager is really a coach, rather than a supervisor. A good manager brings out the best in team members, ensuring that the team works efficiently and smoothly. Carol had already completed both the Myers-Briggs assessment and 360 Feedback with her staff. I introduced her to Peoplemap (which contains only 14 questions), and she was amazed at the report her answers generated. Carol’s profile showed her general tendencies to be Leader-Task, the most common combination for managers. I coached her using the strengths and blind spots of her personality type, which correlated perfectly with what both the Myers-Briggs and 360 Feedback assessments revealed. Carol learned how to communicate more effectively with the other personality types on her team and to appreciate each person’s unique contributions, as well as to anticipate potential conflicts. During coaching, Carol also discovered that she needed to delegate more responsibility to her staff, coach her team rather than manage it, and find opportunities to have more fun while maintaining vision for both herself and the team.

Carol realized that an effective team is like a family, and that relationships can sometimes manifest personality conflicts. Learning the concepts of emotional intelligence helped Carol understand that each team member also has emotional needs in the workplace. Carol administered Peoplemap with the members of her team, and she held two follow-up conferences with them to review the results. Everyone felt acknowledged and empowered to work more effectively as a team, and all members appreciated Carol’s openness and willingness to change. She became a model for her team as she also became a coach herself.

Important Distinctions

Coaching borrows from many fields and applies the innovative thinking of their great pioneers. However, it is important to recognize the major distinctions between coaching and other disciplines such as therapy, mentoring, and consulting. Table 1.1 summarizes some of these distinctions in the context of each discipline’s focus, the professional–client relationship, the role of emotions, and the fundamental process each discipline follows.

Table 1.1 Distinctions between Coaching and Other Disciplines

“Part therapist, part consultant, part motivational expert, part professional organizer, part friend, part nag—the personal coach seeks to do for your life what a personal trainer does for your body.”

—Kim Palmer, Minneapolis–St. Paul Star Tribune, 1998

With coaching, minimal attention is given to the past; rather, the focus is on developing the person’s future. This philosophical shift has taken root in a generation that rejects the idea of sickness and seeks instead wellness, wholeness, and purposeful living—both personally and professionally. The coaching relationship allows the client to explore blocks to great success and to unlock dreams and desires. The shift from seeing clients as ill or suffering a pathology, toward viewing them as well, whole, and seeking a richer life, is paramount to understanding the work of coaching. Therapy is about uncovering and recovering, while coaching is about discovering.

Ethics in Coaching

To become a recognized profession, coaching must have professional standards, definitions, ethical guidelines, ongoing research, and credentialing. Beginning in the early 1990s, the coaching phenomenon intensified with the creation of several coach training schools and two major profe...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Title
• Copyright
• About the Contributors
• Preface
• Chapter 1: The Profession of Coaching
• Chapter 2: Foundations of Professional Ethics
• Chapter 3: Ethical Choice
• Chapter 4: Competence
• Chapter 5: Developing and Maintaining Client Trust
• Chapter 6: Multiple-Role Relationships in Coaching
• Chapter 7: Ethical Use of Assessments in Coaching
• Chapter 8: Legal Issues and Solutions for Coaches
• Chapter 9: The Intersection of Culture and Ethics
• Chapter 10: Coaching to Come
• Appendix A: ICF Code of Ethics
• Appendix B: Professional Coaching Language for Greater Public Understanding
• Index