Ethical and Professional Behaviour
Here is a checklist for ethical and professional behaviour, including questions to ask yourself to assess how ethical and professional your behaviour is:
Strive for excellence in all aspects of the role
This means aiming to carry out every part of your role to the highest standards possible. This applies not just to the Coaching Processes, but to all areas of the High Growth Enterprise Coach Competency Framework.
Checklist questions:
- Did I do the best I could possibly have done?
- How can I improve for next time?
- Do I have any areas of weakness, in which I need to develop?
Operate within both the letter and spirit of the law
This means ensuring not just that you do not do anything which goes against the literal interpretation of a law or rule as it is written, but also that you do not do anything which goes against the intent of those who wrote it. For example, if it is part of your Code of Ethics not to coach those involved in the same industry at the same time, but because of your desire to take on a new client, your persuade yourself that they are not really in the same industry as an existing client when you know in your heart that they could be competitors, then you could be breaking the spirit of your own law.
Checklist questions:
- Do I take advantage of any loopholes in laws or rules?
- Do I sometimes take a literal interpretation of laws or rules to enable me to justify doing something?
- Do I sometimes think ‘well of course that doesn’t apply to me’?
Behave with honesty and integrity
Behaving with honesty and integrity is about ensuring that your actions are consistent with your values and beliefs. Honesty and integrity are key to the development of trust, which is key to establishing credibility. Try to recollect if you have ever been in a meeting with someone who wanted something from you, who quickly changed his point of view about something, when he discovered that you thought differently. Unfortunately for the salesperson, the impact of this is generally not the one expected, as it actually demonstrates his lack of integrity and results in a lack of trust. Behaving with honesty and integrity is about being true to yourself. A sure fire way of knowing that you are not behaving with honesty and integrity, is that is likely to make you feel uncomfortable.
Checklist questions:
- Have I ever said or done anything that made me feel uncomfortable (other than due to being outside of your comfort zone)?
- Are my actions always consistent which my beliefs and values?
Protect confidential information and respect confidences
This means not passing on to anyone information which could be considered confidential. It relates particularly to clients, but could also apply to information about anyone. It also covers the storage of such information safely, so that it cannot be accessed by anyone other than yourself.
Respecting of confidences means specifically not passing on information which someone has expressly asked you not to pass on. There may be occasions, when you are required to pass on information concerning clients to an official body such as the police. You should make it clear in your agreements with clients that if you need to disclose information in order to stay within the law, you will do so.
Checklist questions:
- Am I ever guilty of gossiping about my clients, in however well-meaning a manner?
- Do I keep all of the information about my clients securely? (This could mean not leaving client files in the car or having password protection on your laptop.)
- Do I think before I speak about someone, whether the information I am about to relay could be considered confidential?
Treat everyone equally
This means not discriminating against people in any way because of factors such as their gender, age, race, disability, religion, dependants or sexuality. It does not mean literally treating everyone exactly the same as there will be occasions when you have to adapt your own behaviour to meet the particular needs of an inidvidual. For example, if you typically hold coaching sessions in a first floor room, with no elevator access, it would be inappropriate when coaching an individual who uses a wheelchair, not to find an alternative venue, which they could access easily.
Checklist questions:
- Do I ever make assumptions about people’s ability based on one of the factors listed above?
- What adjustments could I make to my services to make them more accessible? (This could include where you advertise or the times at which you are prepared to carry out business coaching.)
Do not benefit or profit from confidential information
There are some very obvious examples of this which in the UK are legislated against, such as insider trading. However, there are many more examples. This is a difficult area as it is not possible to ‘un-know’ information once you have become aware of it. However, the important thing is not to act on information which was not given to you with the intention of you benefiting from it. If you are not clear about the intention, then ask. If you feel uncomfortable asking the question, this would suggest that you should not act on the information.
Checklist questions:
- Have I ever benefitted from confidential information which I came across in the course of my work?
- Would I feel uncomfortable telling a client how I benefited from some information he shared with me?
Be aware of potential real or perceived conflicts of interest
As a coach you will often find yourself in the position of having access to confidential information and helping people to achieve something. It is important that you do not take on clients who could potentially be competing in the same markets, and should take care if working with clients who interact in some other way, for example as client and supplier. This does not mean that you should never work with clients who trade with one another, but that you should not use information gained from one client to help another. For example, working with one client on how to reduce costs, when you also work with one of their key suppliers, could place you in a potential conflict of interest situation. As with the previous point, if you are uncertain about whether a particular situation would result in a conflict of interest, ask.
Checklist questions:
- Have I ever used information gained from one client to help another, without obtaining their permission first?
- Do any of my clients compete in the same markets?
Only undertake work within limits of own competence
This is a key responsibility of a coach who will be engaged by clients on the basis that they can help the client in improving their performance or that of their company. The High Growth Enterprise Coach Competency Framework and Self Assessment Tool can be used as a way of identifying which areas you consider yourself to be competent in. You can then ensure that you only undertake work within the limits of your own competence. This can be further helped by ensuring that you understand fully the nature of the work to be undertaken by completing Terms of Reference. This will help to prevent a situation where you find yourself ‘out of your depth’ part way through a client assignment.
Consider how you can illustrate your competence to potential clients in the Engaging part of the Coaching Process. Methods could include qualifications held, client references and case studies of assignments previously undertaken.
You should consider your competence, not just in terms of the Fundamental Skills that you have, but also in relation to areas of Business Acumen but also Sector and Industry Specialisms and Specialist Knowledge and Capability.
Checklist questions:
- Have I ever given a client or potential client the impression that I know more about something than is actually the case?
- Have I ever had to do a lot of research in order to keep ‘one step ahead’ of a client?
- Have I ever exaggerated the part that I played in a client’s success, in order to gain new clients?
Never knowingly violate others’ values, beliefs or principles
This requires you to do your best to understand others’ values, beliefs or principles, which again can be achieved during the Engaging part of the Coaching Cycle. This does not mean that you have to agree with all the values, beliefs or principles of others, but if, having ascertained what they are, you realise that they contravene your own, you need to decide whether you can work with that person or not. There are a wide spectrum of values, beliefs and principles that people hold, which range from strongly held religious beliefs which might prohibit working on certain days, or using computer equipment, to principles relating to the time period after which they are prepared to pay invoices.
Checklist questions:
- Do I adapt my behaviour so as not to violate others’ values, beliefs or principles?
- Do I endeavour to find out as much as possible about others’ values, beliefs or principles, in order to not violate them unknowingly?
Be objective, truthful and transparent
Being objective is about basing your decisions and actions on what you observe and not letting your emotions or prejudices affect them. Being truthful means not just always telling the truth, but also not lying by omission, which is not disclosing a piece of relevant information because it was not specifically requested. Being transparent can apply to several areas of your practice. It can relate to being clear about what your charging policy is – this can be achieved by specifying this clearly in your terms of business. It can relate to being clear about your previous experience or exactly what it is that you can do for a client. Essentially, it is about being open with people.
Checklist questions:
- Do I make my fee structure clear to my clients?
- Do I make it clear to my clients what it is that I am able to do for them?
- Do I make it clear to my clients what it is that I will need them to do?
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