Ethics of coaching

When dealing with any subject related to ethics, we must unquestionably refer to morals. When we perform or fail to perform a certain action, as a result of moral aspects, we are building our ethical principles and values. That said, professional ethics is the concept that defines our behavior in terms of our conception of what is right or wrong, framing our actions towards society, our competitors and our clients.

During the development of this guide we will be addressing the issue of coaching ethics, outlining some of the basic aspects that revolve around the coach and that make up the duty of their professional performance towards third parties.

Client information must be preserved

As in other professions such as psychology, the information provided by the client has a high value and must be preserved, regardless of whether or not there is a confidentiality agreement. When a client comes to our services, he/she places his/her trust in us, voluntarily agrees to communicate to us aspects of his/her personal life that may be sensitive and that would generate considerable damage for him/her in case they were put in the public eye.

That is why one of the characteristics by which we must be identified within our professional sector is discretion. Once our meeting with the client is over, the information must be treated as a highly valuable asset that is in our safekeeping. This is the only way to guarantee that the following meetings will take place in complete confidence and that our client will be able to evolve in a secure environment.

We should not accept work for which we are not prepared.

When we are about to deal with a particular problem of our client, we must be able to distinguish whether it is within our scope of work and whether we are competent to deal with it effectively. Our client will always appreciate it if we are sincere in case we do not know how to help them, before we accept a job just because we do not have the courage to recognize that we are not qualified to do it.

Respect for our work and the needs of those who demand our services, must begin by being aware of what is what we can really help and what we should not interfere in, because in order to solve a problem, we may end up causing a bigger one.

Show a sincere interest in our client

Many coaches limit their scope of work to the time of consultation and work with the client, after that they completely disengage from it and do not take the trouble to perform at least a minimum follow-up of the problems that have been addressed and the effectiveness of the recommendations made.

Showing interest in our client is also showing respect for our professional performance.

A life coach is not a person who sells a product and never has to interact with the client again. The coach is the one who has generated the path to follow and should at least be interested in checking if the proposed path has been effective and if the client has found a solution to his or her problem. Empathy begins with knowing how to identify with other people, this skill is extremely necessary for a profession as human as that of the coach.

Do not limit your relationship with clients to offering your service, worry about the results of these and take them as an indicator of your efficiency and degree of satisfaction of your clientele. When the client appreciates the coach's interest, he/she understands that the support he/she receives for the services paid for is not limited to the payment of the services, but rather mediates human aspects that strengthen the relationship between the client and the coach.