Practical Ethics

This course was held on Wednesday, May 09, 2007. Jim opened up with referring a book Law and Ethics in Coaching. He then posed the question, “What struck us about the material?” The concept of ‘under committing and over delivering’ was brought up as significant. Piggy-tailing on this it was brought up that the policies and procedures help to spell out what we are committed to. How does this play out in marketing your business? Being careful that you come across as a coach and not a therapist, this is a boundary issue. You can keep these boundaries clear by being forward focused, stating what the client can expect from you and discussing expectations, defining your own ethical standards and sharing your approach to coaching.

Ways to evaluate something from an ethical standpoint: ask questions that have filters to attract the type of clients that have the same standard of ethics, talking with the client about what their level of ethics around a certain issue (it may not be the same as ours), and trusting our gut…if something feels ‘off’ listen to our conscience it may be telling us something.

Indicators that we may be moving into therapy instead of coaching: if client is exhibiting a decline (hopelessness), if they have intrusive thoughts (unable to focus), if they are overly bothered by a significant event, unable to sleep or sleep too much, sudden decrease or increase in appetite, feelings of guilt because others have suffered, feelings of despair – hyper alert, outburst of anger, impulsive or risk taking behavior (stealing), thoughts of death, suicide or harm to others. If we have clients that move toward these things we should refer them to a therapist or mental health professional.

I feel good about where I stand ethically. I believe that my Christian discernment and my desire to live a Christ-like life will help me keep those lines clear. I know there will be areas that may come up that seem a little more gray but I believe that ethical behavior is a part of who I have developed to be and feel confident that I will conduct my coaching business in this way.