ABSTRACT

This chapter aims to demonstrate the importance of ethics in an internal coach's practice and offer some ideas for those occasions when a dilemma is that bit trickier to resolve. It explores: contracting; ethical maturity and ethical sensitivity; a framework for ethical decision making. The chapter then explores what unethical behaviour looks like and the three levels of factors—personal, situational, and organisational—that can make it more likely to occur. At the beginning of every coaching relationship is a conversation about each party's expectations of the other and what the ground rules are. Sometimes it is only when a difficult situation arises that a new coach appreciates the crucial importance of the contracting phase. The chapter also focuses on a story which illustrates a situation where a different decision would have been taken if the coach had articulated her rationale and tested it out with someone.