Abstract
This paper will focus on the meaning of the executive coach and the ethical codes which he or she must abide by while coaching other individuals; whether the coaching is conducted within an organization, or it is a one on one coaching session. In addition, we will also review ethical breaches that may often occur while under the practice of coaching. When a service professional consider themselves to be an executive coach, they must be willing to implement integrity and uphold the ethical codes which they swore by, even in the most difficult situations. Throughout this paper, we will closely examine the guidelines that are helpful tools for the executive coach to adhere to. Other such topics will be the actual code of ethics, further challenges within this profession and how to manage these difficulties, or avoiding ethical breaches altogether. We will conclude this discussion on understanding the appropriate moment to draw a line between the client and coach relationship.
Introduction
Executive coaching is a distinctive way of working with individuals to sort through their issues and to seek solutions. It consists of relating, or practicing empathy in its highest form to open the individual’s mind who is being coached to more possibilities and various ways to look at their problems that they are currently facing. “The historical culture behind executive coaching is embedded in a commitment which aims to forecast future occurrences and then proceed to control human behavior through the cultural aim” (Selman & Fullerton, 2016).
Additionally, the aspect of coaching is not a formal role within an organization, instead it is a body of competencies, or a specific way of being which empowers other individuals. Therefore, the professional individuals who represent themselves as an executive coach must be willing to adhere to the highest expectations, or standards and take the necessary accountability if any negative blame was to come on the executive coach, or in the event, they might themselves violate the code of ethics.
In the next section of our discussion, we will take a closer look at the guidelines for how executive coaches are expected to behave within an organization. Not to be confused with the actual code of ethics, these guidelines are also considered to be standards, or procedures which are handy tools to abide by to display the highest level of professionalism while coaching.
Guidelines
Executive coaches and their guidelines, as previously mentioned are standards which guides their work. The guidelines consist of the following: a) having respect for individuals and the organizations they work for, b) being aware and sensitive to the differences in others that they are coaching, for instance, their client race, disability or cultural background, c) demonstrating the need for justice or fairness, d) being open to new skills or knowledge within their coaching industry which brings more quality in their work and finally, e) striving to enhance the autonomy within individuals ("Performance Coaching International", 2016).
These guidelines or coaching values will greatly impact the professional decisions in the areas of arranging and engaging within coaching relationships and boundary management. In order to arrange a successful coach/client professional relationship, the coach must establish the ground rules from the beginning of the goals which will be worked on. The confidentiality agreement must be signed, along with the code of ethics agreement as well. If there happens to be any misunderstandings, or inappropriateness, the executive coach must immediately communicate to the client their limitations in such a matter, both from a legal and professional perspective.
Next, the boundary management aspect focuses more on the confidentiality in which the executive coach must maintain the privacy of their client; whether if it through the client’s personal information, other individuals which was communicated about in the session, or commercial confidentiality pertaining to other sponsoring organizations. The only way that this boundary must be broken is if the client is engaging in risky behavior which imposes a threat to themselves, or other individuals. In this case, this should be reported to the proper authorities immediately.
Ethics
Although there are many code of ethical provisions the executive coach must abide by, for the purposes of this discussion, we will only examine the ethics which best apply within the areas of conflict of integrity, or ethical breaches. According to the executive coach code of ethics, it specifically states, “the executive coach must be conscious of any potential conflict of interests, communicate the conflicts to their superiors and remove their self from the matter. Next, a coach must avoid any romantic or sexual relationships with the client because it imposes an incredible threat to the organization. When the executive coach takes an oath to these ethics, they verbally and physically agree to be alert to any possibilities of any potential future relationships and may pass the client to another executive coach if the feeling becomes unbearable” ("Code of Ethics", 2016).
When the code of ethics is broken, which we will see in the next section of our discussion, not only does this break the professional coaching relationship and may further damage the client’s emotional capacity, but the executive coach places themselves in a bind as well which violates the code of ethics, places the organization at risk to lose future clients, lawsuits and possible permanent business failure.
Ethical Breaches
Ethical breaches can come in all shapes and forms. Some violations could occur without even realizing it. In this section, we will come to understand the various sorts of ethical breaches an executive coach may endure during their client/coach professional relationship (O'Sullivan, 2014). The first example could consist of a client discussing his past alcoholic behavior and after the coaching meeting, he invites the executive coach for a coke and rum drink at the local bar. In this sort of scenario, the coach could respectfully decline the offer.
However, if the client persists, then the coach could immediately leave the office and ask a colleague to assist in showing the client to the door so there’s a third party witness present in case of any further incident. But in order for this particular matter to become an ethical breach, the executive coach would accept the offer for the drink while there is an ongoing client/coach relationship.
The second example of an ethical breach is the executive coach accepting large amounts of compensation outside the contract fees. The client could be very wealthy and just appreciate the service. The ethical violation in this matter is the executive coach is not allowed to accept these sorts of personal gifts because it sends the wrong message. Not to mention, the client could make false claims, or propose an uncomfortable proposition, therefore, placing the coach in a very rough situation which may happen to be difficult to come out of without legal intervention.
The third example of an ethical breach is the executive coach actually engaging in a full blown sexual relationship with a client, while still being under the oath of the code of ethics for executive coaches. The ethics clearly affirms that this is inappropriate behavior and may result in immediate dismissal from the coaching position. Although it is common for individuals to fall in love and get married in the most uncommon ways, if this were to happen, the executive coach should follow the company’s procedures for conflict of interest and assign the client to another coach, so that he, or she is not in violation.
The fourth example of an ethical breach may not involve a client, but a co-worker. A colleague could confide in the executive coach about not making enough money and lately, they have been robbing the company that their employed with. Additionally, the colleague also suggested that the coach should start taking money as well because it is easy to do so. The executive coach is reluctant at first, but hesitantly decides to go along with this plan. A few days later, between the co-worker and the executive coach, they stole a total of $7,000 from the employer who trusts them within all aspects of the company. The ethical breach within this scenario is the employees cannot be trusted and that they are thieves.
The final example consists of the executive coach setting up the professional client relationship as a side business inside of the coach’s home. Hoping to make extra cash, the coach decides to never tell their employer that they are using the company’s name and claiming it as their own for their own personal gain. This is an ethical breach because it is a direct violation of the code of ethics on all levels. It shows the executive coach is a dishonest person and is considered to be a high risk to the organization. In the next section of our discussion, we will focus on the management of these ethical and legal implications which may arise from code of ethical violations.
Managing the Legal and Ethical Implications
“One of the top challenges for an executive coach is realizing the moment when it is time to blow the whistle on the professional helping relationship with the client” ("Ethical Challenges for Internal & External Coaches", 2016). Executive coaches have to be forward and direct when they feel that they are in a position that may be awkward, uncomfortable, or both. It is critical for organizations to have well developed training programs in place to conquer these difficult situations. Additionally, the executive must fully read the policies so that he or she will be educated enough to make intelligent decisions while dealing with clients, co-workers and their own conscious when making professional decisions.
However, the number of legal court cases regarding executive coaches continue to dramatically increase because “these coaches continuously find themselves being placed in situations which challenge their personal or professional beliefs. When these professional relationships are not well prepared for, then it creates an atmosphere where efforts are compromised and executive coaches place themselves in a position where they are not trusted by the overall community. But in order for coaches to be more well-equipped while dealing with these difficult situation, it is important to understand three various components which could either prevent or avoid the negative outcomes of these types of potential issues.
The first component is the diagnostic aspect because in some cases, the executive coach efforts to help others might be in a developmental context, but the primary focus should instead be performance and other dynamical issues of the organization. As a result of this, however, the important issues which may affect the executive coach might not be communicated or represented properly in his or her offense.
This often occurs when there is ignorance, or a driven passion to show the emphasis of the coaching industry from a positive aspect. In some instances, there might be an underlying mental or health issue that may make executive coaching not be a good solution for the client. Therefore, assessments should be distributed before an executive coach is allowed to meet with a client in order to “understand the depths of the client determination to change their current circumstance, whether if they are open to change, or volatile to it, and if the organization could offer such support” ("Managing the Ethical and Legal Implications of Coaching", 2016).
The second component which will help in preventing ethical breaches or violations is understanding the depth of dependency in the coaching relationship. This component is critical because it brings a certain level of trust between the coach and the client. It allows the client to be able to effectively do their job in accomplishing the goals of the coaching sessions. However, the relationship should not continue once the objectives are met because in these sorts of situations, when there is not anything to work, then this allow time for both the coach and the client mind to wonder, and engage in unethical violations. Organizations must train their executive coaches on the best way to communicate to the client how to gradually terminate the relationship without offending anyone. The final component is boundaries. Executive coaching in an organization can be similar to a family at times because everyone is communicating, including colleagues, clients, among other individuals which enables all of the members to grow comfortable with one another. This comfortableness, however sets the stage for a misunderstanding of boundaries. Companies have to make it a priority to consistently communicate the parameters to the coaches because of the legal implications which could hurt the organization and the executive coach who only was trying to offer professional help.
Conclusion
In conclusion, executive coaching can be a difficult profession when the code of ethics is not precisely followed. Many coaches might confuse the element of ethics with other characteristics such as risk management or compliance because the most difficult dilemmas within a coach and client relationship are not black and white, or well-defined. The code of ethics has to be clearly communicated because the coach is dealing and meeting with individuals from all sorts of educational or technical backgrounds who possess the ability themselves to challenge those ethics to the way they want it to be. Therefore, the executive coach must always be the one to initiate the conversation and show that they are the one who is in control of the situation. It is about utilizing a proactive approach and discussing any ethical disagreements with the client in the opening before moving forward with the professional coaching relationship.
References
Ethical Challenges for Internal & External Coaches. (2016). Theschoolofcoaching.com. Retrieved 26 June 2016, from http://www.theschoolofcoaching.com/alumni-news/ethical-challenges-for-internal-external-coaches/
Managing the Ethical and Legal Implications of Coaching. (2016). Siop.org. Retrieved 26 June 2016, from http://www.siop.org/workplace/coaching/ethical_and_legal_i.aspx
O'Sullivan, M. (2014). Ethical issues in Executive Coaching. LinkedIn. Retrieved 26 June 2016, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141020155435-42104791-ethical-issues-in-executive-coaching
Performance Coaching International. (2016). Performancecoachinginternational.com. Retrieved 25 June 2016, from http://www.performancecoachinginternational.com/about-pci/coaches/ethical-guidelines.phphttp://www.performancecoachinginternational.com/about-pci/coaches/ethical-guidelines.php
Selman, J. & Fullerton, R. (2016). Coaching and Ethics | ParaComm International. Paracomm.com. Retrieved 24 June 2016, from http://www.paracomm.com/coaching-and-ethics/
