As with any ethical situation, there is rarely a clear answer. However, expanding your ethical curiosity can affect your ability to think, reflect, and consciously avoid ethical blind spots. The ethical awareness of confidentiality is fundamental to trust between you and your customer. Ethical knowledge not only shows your professional responsibility, but can also be used to boost your self-confidence as a coach. I have never thanked this client for helping me realize the importance of ensuring that everyone involved in the coaching engagement is aware of confidentiality from the beginning. In fact, this conversation led to the creation of a statement that is still in my service contract today: In a work environment, absolute confidentiality is not only rare, but also quite difficult to achieve. The fact that there are more stakeholders could complicate confidentiality in certain circumstances. Basically, a coach will not disclose the details of coaching conversations unless it has been agreed from the beginning to share things such as public goals or outcomes that would have been agreed upon by the coachee and other stakeholders such as HR or supervisors. In addition to the coaching contract, the documentation of the process plays an important role. You may also ask yourself questions such as There is a widespread belief that everything in coaching is absolutely confidential.
This is not true, as even a court can force a coach to reveal a client`s existence or even share the details of their session. A coach is also required by law to disclose information about a client to third parties in certain circumstances, e.B. if the customer engages in illegal behavior or presents a danger to himself or a third party or even to national security. “Due to the nature of the coaching relationship and in accordance with the ICF Code of Ethics, any information the coach receives, whether through assessments, interviews or coaching conversations, will remain strictly confidential. This information belongs to the customer. The only exception is when confidentiality can no longer be maintained. This may occur in cases or cases of “illegal activities, pursuant to a valid court order or subpoena; immediate or probable risk of danger to oneself or to others” (ICF Code of Ethics, June 2015), situations that I have not encountered for more than a decade of client coaching. Limited Liability.
Except as expressly provided in this Agreement, Thriveworks makes no warranties, representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, with respect to the Coaching Services negotiated, agreed upon and provided. In no event shall your Coach or Thriveworks be liable to you for any indirect, consequential or special damages. Notwithstanding any damages you may incur, Thriveworks` entire liability under this Agreement and your exclusive remedy will be limited to the amount actually paid to Thriveworks by or on your behalf under this Agreement for all coaching services provided by and including the date of termination. With the help of coaching questions, the tripartite meeting often provides additional information that can support client development and clarify open-ended questions. This is an opportunity to put everyone on the same page and ensure that clear expectations are set. It is also an opportunity for the client to express what feedback is useful and what kind of support they expect from their supervisor. Many tripartite conversations led a manager to discover a thing or two about their own leadership style – such as the moment the manager realized that their comments only pointed to the client`s challenge areas and that she never praised them, so the client doubted they were a good candidate for their role. Reactive approaches have more to do with evaluation than coaching. In fact, confidentiality is the only clear distinction between a coach and an evaluator.
Essentially, as a customer, you own your information. ICF certified coaches are bound by a code of ethics that protects your privacy. The information belongs to you and belongs to you alone. And only you can decide if or how you want to share it. In addition to the formal contract, you may want to add an individual agreement on the coaching process itself. This could include: ICF certified coaches have a duty to maintain confidentiality: not to disclose information they received during the coaching engagement without the client`s permission. Privacy is your right as a customer. Your coach should address this topic early in the coaching engagement and make sure you clearly understand that you have full control over your information and that you can set the boundaries. If coaching takes place in the workplace, it should also be communicated to your supervisor so that everyone is on the same page. Confidentiality refers to the coach`s duty not to disclose information obtained in the context of the coaching relationship without the express consent of the client. The right to privacy belongs to the client, not to you as a coach. Therefore, your customer can set the limits of privacy.
However, it is your duty as a coach to ensure that these limits are clearly agreed in an oral or written agreement with the client and any sponsor. Remember that even with a clear agreement, there is always a conscious practice that must be performed by you as a coach. Impulsive behavior, as well as insensitivity – lack of empathy and compassion for your customers` needs – can lead to unethical behavior, including breach of confidentiality. This also applies to executive coaching or if you work with an organization. Here`s a general rule you can apply: When you work with one person, everything that separates you remains confidential, and when you work with an organization to coach its employees, everything between you and the employee is confidential. However, discussions about illegal, criminal or unethical behaviour should not be subject to the confidentiality agreement. When I started working in organizations, I discovered that part of my role as a coach was to educate all parties involved in coaching engagement, including those who purchased the services, about the importance of confidentiality in the client and coach relationship while adhering to the overall goals of the organization. Confidentiality is perhaps the most delicate of all ethical standards in coaching. Regardless of how they are ultimately determined, the onerous effects of privacy breach complaints can have detrimental effects on the coach`s reputation, including his livelihood. As a client working with an ICF certified coach, you can trust your coach to be trained and engaged to build trust and relationship with you, and know that they are guided by a code of ethics and are required to work within the framework of a code of ethics, including “adherence to the strictest levels of confidentiality” (ICF Code of Ethics, June 2015). .