The coach’s ethics

Behind the work of coaches, there are values and ethical principles that guide their work.

Coaching, like any other discipline oriented to intervene in people and organizations, is no stranger to the field of ethics. It is not only an instrument that can be "applied" on individuals or teams, behind the actions that shape the coach's work there is a series of values and morals without which his work would have no reason to exist.

However, the coach's ethics cannot be individual and totally private and subjective: if it were, it would be disconnected from society and could not fit with the interests and goals of those who hire their services or come to them for professional help.

That is why there are a number of ethical standards that guide coaching. In this article we will take a brief look at these key ideas behind coaching ethics. key ideas behind coaching ethicsstarting with a definition of the basic concepts.

What is coaching? What is ethics?

Let's start with the main thing, clarifying terms. What is coaching? It is a discipline based on the intervention in people, teams and organizations with the aim of detecting their potential and taking advantage of it, taking into account their values taking into account their values, goals and operating philosophy, breaking old dysfunctional inertias and opening new possibilities for action.

The work of the coach is always positive, not so much to palliate or mitigate severe psychological and behavioral problems but rather to discover latent talents, rethink objectives and ways of working, and to promote personal development processes or ambitious professional projects..

Thus, the work of the coach has to do both with helping individuals (students of competitive examinations, elite athletes, people who want to reformulate their professional career or who seek to give a boost to their personal development) and companies and senior managers with people in their charge.

Some of the most common coaching topics are leadership, motivation, stress management, team dynamization, conflict resolution, concentration management, work performance, and more.

On the other hand... what is ethics? It is the field of philosophical thought that delimits the concepts of right and wrong, i.e., desirable actions, and so forth.that is, desirable actions and actions to avoid. Thus, ethics does not have a merely descriptive function, but is normative, pointing out not what is but what ought to be.

Ethics is a joint endeavor, in the sense that it creates norms that go beyond the individual, and aims to create rules that can be applied rationally and systematically. rules that can be applied rationally and systematically, without discriminating arbitrarily or giving rise to favored treatment.without arbitrary discrimination or favored treatment. In this way, from ethics can emerge behavioral guidelines that make it clear in advance which actions are appropriate and which are a breach of norms and consensus.

It can be said that practically all professionals have an ethical dimension, given that in all of them there is social interaction, and that is why it is increasingly common to create codes of ethics in which the ethics on which the activity of a "guild" or sector is based are established. And coaching is no exception to this trend.

Is there a coaching code of ethics?

To date, there is no universal code of ethics for coaching, in the sense that not all coaches need to accept a set of specific rules and behavioral guidelines in order to be a coach. However, there are There are, however, entities in which many coaching professionals are grouped and represented, and which have created codes of ethics that a large number of coaches follow. followed by a large number of coaches. These ethical standards can overlap and complement each other.

Along these lines, it is worth noting that the International Coaching Federation (ICF), the largest international coaching organization with more than 35,000 members, has its own code of ethics that sets the standards of professionalism and good practice.

This includes the values that should guide the coach's work (i.e. the key concepts that define this type of work and the professional relationship established with the client/coachee), the ethical standards of responsibility to the client, to professionalism and to society, and the commitment to the ethics of the coaching professional.

Do you want to train in coaching?

If you are interested in specializing as a coach or incorporating the theoretical and practical knowledge of coaching into your work, you may be interested in our courses and postgraduate programs.

At European School of Coaching we have been offering training, consulting and coaching services for individuals, professionals and companies for more than 15 years. In addition, we follow the standards and requirements of the International Coaching Federation, and the coaches we certify must sign the ICF Code of Ethics.

For more information about our services and the way we work, please contact us or visit our website.