We’ve discovered that leaders as coaches face ethical dilemmas around boundaries, dual relationships, and confidentiality; let’s turn our attention now to conflicts of interest. What do you do when the talented person you are coaching in your organisation tells you that she is looking to take her career outside the organisation? The organisation sees her
For leaders
Ethical Dilemmas for Leaders as Coach: Confidentiality
As a Leader as Coach, you are becoming aware of ethical dilemmas facing you. We’ll turn our attention today to confidentiality. You know that you are bound to keep anything that happens in coaching confidential, between you and the other person. It is up to them who and what they tell. Sometimes you will be
Ethical Dilemmas for Leaders as Coach: Dual Relationships
Dual relationships are one element to think carefully about for the leader coach The leader coach encounters as many, if different, ethical dilemmas as an external coach, dual relationships are one of them. For example, you may be coaching two people on the same team, and they may tell you things about each other. It
Ethical Dilemmas for the Leader as Coach
We’ve talked about the skills we need as a leader as coach, and the underpinning beliefs, but what about our ethical dilemmas. What about our ethical position? Every coach is guided by an ethical code, I am guided by the International Coach Federation Code of Ethics, for example. Ethical dilemmas don’t always have black and white
Ethical Dilemmas for Leaders as Coach: Boundaries
When should you coach, when should you not coach, what are your boundaries? It’s important to know what your boundaries are, where you feel ok to coach, and where you feel out of your depth. When you are out of your depth, that may be the time to refer to someone else, either another coach
Pacy coaching: Go slow to go fast
I’m going discuss pacy coaching; some people think that asking questions that enable a person to think through a solution for themselves is slower than telling people what to do. They are right, but only in the short-term. In the long-term, however, telling people what to do does not develop their capacity to think for
Underpinning beliefs: Leader as Coach series
As we bring this series for the Leader as Coach to a close, let’s reflect on some underpinning beliefs that support the application of the ICF competencies. These beliefs guide our actions and keep us acting in the best interest of our people. As the leader, we can sometimes be torn between the needs of
Managing Progress and Accountability: Leader as Coach Series
In coaching, it’s the other person’s responsibility to manage progress and accountability, not the coach’s responsibility. But in our coaching role, we can still help them to hold themselves accountable by asking a simple question towards the end of the session: How will you keep yourself accountable? There are many possible answers to this question,
Leader as Coach: Planning and Goal-setting
Your coachee has come up with various options of what they could do to resolve their issue. Now it’s time to pin those down with planning and goal-setting. Which of the options are they going to choose to take forward, when will they do it/them, who might they need to ask for help or resources?
Leader as Coach: Designing Actions
Coaching is about change. To change, we need to take action of some kind. Before we can take action, we need to consider the possibilities, designing actions, and then make a choice about which action(s) to take. Sometimes, people have come to coaching feeling like they have just two ways of going forward. But neither
Leader as Coach: Creating Awareness
Creating awareness comes bit by bit, and then all at once. Slowly, slowly, we (the leader as coach) help the other person to get clear on what they want to figure out; we ask questions that get them to a place of new knowing; we listen in a way that allows us to play back
Leader as Coach: Direct Communication
Leaders need to get comfortable with direct communication in coaching conversations. No flannel, just directness. I am frequently asked the question, “how can you be non-directive at the same time as providing direct communication? Aren’t those diametrically opposite?” Direct communication is an offer, to which we should be unattached. If it doesn’t land with the
Leader as Coach: Powerful Questioning
The most powerful questioning does not require a question at all; but silence. That silence that allows the person to take their thinking where they need to take it, rather than where you think it should go next. That’s it. That’s all there is for today’s post! That’s not true, but I want you to
Leader as Coach: Active Listening
Active listening is as much about silence as anything else. Silence is golden. That includes in your role as leader coach. Silence allows the thinker to think. So, get comfortable with silence. And when the thinker does speak, pay attention. Notice what they are saying, but also how they are saying it, and what their
Leader as Coach: Establishing Trust and Intimacy
Establishing Trust and Intimacy with the person you are coaching is paramount if they are to do their best thinking. They need to feel confident that they can be vulnerable and share their truths, their whole truths and nothing but their truths. If they keep certain things to themselves for fear of being judged, they
Leader as Coach: Establishing the Coaching Agreement/ Contracting
In this series about coaching competencies, we move to establishing the coaching agreement, or in one word, contracting. If you add contracting to your conversations, those conversations are much more likely to be transformational, as they will be focused rather than meandering. There are three aspects to contracting: The Big C contracting before the coaching
