Ethics and Standards!

In terms of the International Coaching Federation (ICF), ethics and standards really come into play if you are doing things that you aren't supposed to be doing. 

A couple examples would be:

Failing to maintain the confidentiality of the coaching relationship

    - If you bring up another client or talking about how you will share parts of that coaching session

Saying something that is offensive to the client

    -It seems obvious but you've got to be aware of where the client is coming from. It's a relationship after all; how can you expect to have a regular conversation let alone one where you are both vulnerable if you insult them.

Consulting

    -Coaching is about the client, not the coach. The client has all the needed skills and materials to do what they need to do. If you are consulting, you are telling the client what they need to do. But, really, you probably don't know what they need to do. You can't know the totality of the situation so let's just focus on the client. Let them figure out what they need to do.

Therapy

    -Coaching isn't about trying to heal or explore the pain in the past. You are focused on the here and now and what the future holds. 

ICF is clear with its standards of what coaching should consist of (and what it shouldn't): you shouldn't stack questions, interrupt the client, talk more than the client, not listening to the client, of asking poor questions (wordy/leading/closed). 

All of these things fall under a more specific set of competencies which ICF will grade but, at a high level, these give an indication that the prospective coach has an understanding of what coaching means. 

Each of these deserves (and will get) their own post but this is an overview of the Ethics and Standards with respect to ICF.


Thanks for reading!

What do you think about these ethics and standards? Is there anything missing? Leave a comment below to let me know!

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