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Coaches should challenge unethical clients

Liz Hall — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:07:25 +0000

What should coaches do when they think clients are doing something unethical? Should they challenge them? This is a real hot potato at the moment, especially given the fallout from the banking sector, the environmental pressures and the continuing lack of confidence in the current business model. And according to the Index of Leadership Trust, released earlier this month (October), leaders are widely perceived to be prioritising profits over principles.
Some think we should stop playing god and remember our place- which is to serve the client sitting in front of us, and the organisation sponsoring the coaching where this is the case. Others think coaches have a responsibility to speak up, with some- including Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) chairman Peter Cheese going as far as to wonder whether the current crisis might have been averted if more executive coaches had voiced concerns earlier on. Speaking to Coaching at Work, for our news story on coaches’ responses to the ILM’s Index of Leadership Trust it has just published with Management Today, Cheese said that “The coach acts as a mirror to the individual so they have better understanding of the context they are operating in and of what is good practice. Historically if they had been doing that really well, maybe we wouldn’t have had the problems we had.”
Cheese questions the basis of any coach-client relationship where the coach keeps quiet when they see issues in decisions, where they are compromising ethics. According to the report, less than two-fifths of CEOs place ethics at the heart of business decisions, hence the spotlight being once again on what coaches think they should do when faced with potentially dodgy client behaviour.
In the same issue of Coaching at Work (November/December, Vol 6, Issue 6), Neela Bettridge, executive coach and founder of sustainability consultancy Article 13 writes that “An integration of who we are, with what we do, what we say and how we say it has never been more important, as we approach the perfect storm of a changing business model, rising economic powers and environmental pressure.”
I think she is absolutely right. That goes for our clients too, especially leaders under the spotlight. Personally, I feel we should reflect back what we think we see, including where we think clients may be acting unethically, albeit unconsciously. This is not about getting too big for our boots, or having our own agenda. This is about acting as a mirror, considering the wider picture, not colluding with our client, and not being scared of our client. Most clients will thank us for it.
• What do you think? Should coaches challenge clients on ethical issues? Take part in our online poll here: http://www.coaching-at-work.com/discussions-and-polls/
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Coaches need to step up to the challenge, says John Whitmore

Coaching at Work — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 18:58:47 +0000

We can’t avoid the challenge of change even if we want to. Global instability will be with us for a lifetime anyway, so what are our roles and our goals as coaches? In the immediate term there are fewer clients in the market for most of us, and yet the need for what coaches have to offer is everywhere. Never has there been more urgency for people, all people, to take more personal responsibility for their lives. Is that not a principal outcome of coaching? The failures of leadership in banking, in politics and in Copenhagen are all too apparent, and many of us are saying that this is the time of the people to take more personal responsibility, to lead the way, and a better way.

Large corporations are deeply invested in resisting change, being competitive, and in growing their business. Some employ coaches to help them do that, which provides coaches with a living, and that is easier if we stay on our clients’ old obsolete agenda. However all that is past; that is the old world, the world that does not work anymore, the old thinking that does not serve humanity well. The future is collaboration, sustainability and innovation. That is what our clients really need – and often are afraid of.

Radicals and change agents are not popular with the old guard, even though they know that change must come – but not just yet, they cry! The harsh reality is that we coaches may find ourselves in a paradox; we want to contribute to positive change in our chosen arena, but so doing may not always put bread on our table. If we divide our time between the two, we could be doing good with one activity and harm with the other.

I believe that this is the time for all of us to trust the emergent process; to do the right thing for the good of the whole and that itself is a great reward, even if we can’t eat it. Yes, times are going to be tough for most of us, but not half as tough as they are for many more people all over the world. We coaches need to become more savvy about the multiple global crises we all face, and ask better questions to awaken clients to help the world, not just themselves. Who needs consumer rubbish anyway? Recycle your 4 X 4 and your Louis Vuitton handbag, and get a life – and coach others to do the same.

We are facing the most exciting choice in all of human history; to remain asleep or to wake up. Are we ready to question our most fundamental conditioned beliefs and assumptions, to find out who we really are and to believe in ourselves and our ability to make a difference? As I have said before, coaching is much bigger than coaching, it is a way of empowering those around us, a truly convivial way of being in the world.

What do you think?

Calling all bloggers and wannabe bloggers….

Coaching at Work — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:53:53 +0000

We’re looking for challenging, interesting, provocative, stimulating, well-informed bloggers. Please let us know if you’re interested in blogging for Coaching at Work liz@coaching-at-work.com