Building the Foundation

• the process for building a successful coaching relationship
• how to prepare for your first meeting or interview with a prospective client
• how to determine if the client is ready for coaching and if you will be a good fit with the client
• ethical standards for coaches

Introduction: Jennifer’s Case

Walter is vice president for a large, professional services corporation. Despite a career of over 25 years at the company, he has performed less than satisfactory in the last few years. Changes in mission and stakeholder expectations have been a source of deep disappointment to Walter. He has had difficulty adjusting to new performance expectations, and he believes the company is making dire strategic mistakes. He resents that the chief executive officer (CEO) no longer listens to him and that he no longer feels valued for his services.

Jennifer is a new internal coach based in the human resources department. She has had one previous client, a team leader in the finance department. Jennifer has had five years of experience in the company, her first job out of graduate school. She has an advanced degree in human resources and experience in employee relations. She has taken a couple of courses in coaching at a local university. The CEO recently asked Jennifer to coach Walter to be more on board with the new company direction.

During Jennifer’s meeting with the CEO, he also informed her that Walter has a drinking problem and that he had a complaint filed against him for sexual harassment. The CEO said that if Walter didn’t improve his performance in the next six months, he would be fired. When Jennifer asked, the CEO admitted that he has not shared this potential consequence with Walter, but that he would prefer thinking positively about Walter’s potential for improvement with coaching.

During Jennifer’s first meeting with Walter, she found him to be pleasant and receptive to a coaching relationship. However, Walter spent most of the hour-long meeting complaining about how the problem was the strategic direction of the company and how resentful he was that his contributions were no longer valued. Jennifer found it difficult to stop the flow of his comments long enough to set up meetings and logistics. Walter said that he would prefer meeting Jennifer after work hours at the restaurant down the street because he is so busy. Jennifer initially agreed to this request. When Jennifer suggested an interviewing process to gather feedback from others, Walter said, “Sure. You’ll find that all my working relationships are excellent. The CEO just doesn’t understand how good my work really is.” Jennifer ended the meeting by offering to write the questions she would ask when interviewing Walter’s direct reports and colleagues.

If you are speculating that Jennifer’s coaching relationship with Walter is not getting off on the right foot, you are right! Building a solid foundation for the coaching relationship is critical and contributes to successful performance outcomes. It is important to determine if the client is ready, willing, and able to be coached. You and your client should spend adequate time at the beginning of the relationship making agreements about how you will work together effectively. Such agreements should include expectations, activities, roles, responsibilities, mutual accountabilities, logistics, and planning considerations. This will help prevent misunderstanding or confusion later on. And it is critical to discuss ethical considerations to help you prevent missteps that can result in awkward, ethical, or even legal consequences. Building the foundation for a successful coaching relationship does not happen in one sitting—it is a process that is often revisited and developed over time. Consequently, this activity is presented within the process side of the organizational coaching model in figure 3-1. Throughout this chapter, we will refer to Jennifer’s potential coaching problems and what she might have done differently to ensure that Walter achieves his goals.

The Right Fit

The right fit between coach and client is necessary for a successful coaching relationship, whether the coaching client is an individual, a team, or the entire organization. In table 3-1, we identify some of the elements to consider for determining the right fit in a coaching relationship.

Interviews Between Coaches and Clients

Ideally, a coaching client should have the opportunity to interview several prospective coaches to determine the right fit. Of course, we realize this may not be possible in some organizational coaching programs. Even if a pre-determined coaching match is made, the coach should be prepared to answer the following questions during an interview or first meeting with the coaching client:

• What is coaching?
• What experience have you had in coaching?
• What’s your business background?
• How did you get into coaching?
• What skills or expertise do you have?
• What kind of coaching training have you had?
• What experience do you have with my issues?
• What managerial levels have you worked with?
• How many coaching clients have you had?
• What is your focus or philosophy of coaching?
• What do you expect of me?
• How often should we meet?
• What is your approach for each coaching session?
• Can I communicate with you between coaching sessions?
• How confidential are our conversations?
• What kinds of clients do you prefer to work with?
• What kinds of clients do you not work effectively with?
• What kind of communication will you have with my boss?
• How will I know if the coaching has been successful?

From what we know about Jennifer and Walter’s first meeting, it does not appear that Walter had any questions about Jennifer or the coaching relationship. This should have been a red flag for Jennifer. She then should have taken the initiative to open dialogue about the meaning of coaching, mutual roles and responsibilities, and expectations and agreements. Walter appeared to be pursuing a different agenda, and Jennifer did not take control of the process.

Client Readiness

Building a good foundation for a successful coaching relationship requires assessing not only the elements of a good fit and successfully answering interview questions, but also client readiness for coaching. After all, coaching is a partnership, and both parties have responsibilities toward achieving the stated objectives. The client has actions to accomplish, and the coach has processes to control and monitor.

The ideal scenario from the perspective of readiness is when the client wants to engage in a coaching relationship and personally reaches out to a coach. The other extreme— and one that every coach dreads—is the client who is resistant to coaching or is forced to be in a coaching relationship. Before you jump to the conclusion that coaching will not work with this client, try asking the following questions:

• If you were open to coaching, what would be your goals?
• How willing would you be to commit to these expectations if there was a high probability you could achieve the desired goals you just stated?
• What kind of agreements could you and I make that would create the kind of coaching relationship that would be comfortable for you?

Using questions such as these can move the client toward a higher state of readiness. The evolution of coaching has seen a shift from using coaching to fix performance problems to using coaching as a developmental tool focusing on future goals. Although some organizations still require employees to participate in coaching, it is often a prescription for failure because it is reminiscent of the old performance improvement mentality.

Another indicator of readiness for coaching is the client’s willingness to make coaching meetings and the work between meetings a priority. Clients who may not be fully ready may recite reasons why regular meetings are difficult to schedule and focus on how busy they are. This is an important area to address in creating a coaching agreement with your client. Be assertive in your expectations for your client’s accountability to make coaching meetings a priority. Mary Beth O’Neill, author of Executive Coaching With Backbone and Heart (2000, 16), defines “backbone” as being able to state your views clearly. Be prepared to address what you need from the client to ensure a smooth process and to prevent misunderstandings.

Clients are ready for coaching when they show willingness and even eagerness for the coach to gather feedback data from co-workers about their effectiveness. If your clients are resistant to data gathering, inquire as to their reasons for the resistance. Address the concerns. In our experience, coaching clients occasionally did not want anyone knowing they had coaches. Again, what is the reasoning? What does having a coach mean to them? You may want to test the assumption that having a coach means being a failure and needing help. Additional lines of inquiry might be to discuss the consequences of not getting feedback from others and relying only on self-assessment.

In the case of Jennifer and Walter, it appears, at least on the surface, that Walter is open to Jennifer gathering feedback data from his colleagues. However, his comment that he expects only positive feedback may signal problems ahead. Would he be so eager if he suspected any constructive feedback? Would he be willing to change in response to constructive feedback? Is Walter willing to change any of his behaviors? If Jennifer had asked more skillful questions he might have uncovered the answers to these questions.

Ethical Conduct

The International Coach Federation (ICF) is a not-for-profit, individual membership organization formed by professionals worldwide who practice business and personal coaching. ICF has published a set of ethical standards that ICF members pledge to uphold. While the coaching profession is not licensed—as are clinical psychologists or social workers—the growing influence of ICF’s standards on coaching practice indicates how much the coaching profession has grown and evolved. It is appropriate to review and even hand out a set of the ICF ethical standards as part of your conversation with your coaching client about your coaching agreement. Below are the major topics covered by the ICF standards, but the complete set of standards and guidelines may be found at www.coachfederation.org:

• Be an advocate for coaching.
• Be truthful in coaching claims.
• Honor others’ coaching approaches.
• Be vigilant about misuses of coaching.
• Seek professional assistance as needed.
• Conduct coaching research with integrity.
• Honor confidentiality of clients’ information.
• Set appropriate boundaries regarding physical contact.
• Do not engage in sexual contact.
• Construct clear agreements with clients.
• Identify coaching qualifications truthfully.
• Do not exploit coaching relationships for advantage.
• Respect the clients’ right to terminate the relationship.
• Refer to other professional services as appropriate.
• Disclose conflicts of interest.

In Jennifer and Walter’s conversation about their coaching relationship, a number of potential ethical issues could be problematic. Certainly, coaching could be misused in this organization, given the information the CEO shared with Jennifer. Jennifer was not vigilant about its possible misuse. Another red flag is the meeting location—the restaurant after working hours. Given the fact that Walter has been accused of sexual harassment, Jennifer should have set more appropriate boundaries. Also, if he has a drinking problem, perhaps Jennifer should have asked the CEO whether or not Walter is receiving professional help. And, obviously, Jennifer did not construct a clear agreement with Walter other than to collect data. Many aspects of a coaching agreement were left undiscussed.

Coaching Agreements

By now you probably realize that you should come to the first meeting with your prospective coaching client ready with a number of topics to discuss. Exactly right! Depending on whether you are an internal or external coach, you may need to construct a formal contract with your client following this meeting. The checklist in exhibit 3-1 provides topics you should cover in the coaching agreement conversation with your prospective client. Some examples for each checklist point are also noted. We encourage you to design your own coaching agreement format to fit the particular needs of your organization and clients.

This chapter addresses the elements needed to build a solid foundation for the coaching relationship. These elements should be considered in establishing the right fit between coach and client, determining the client’s readiness for coaching, and applying guidelines for ethical conduct.

	We will hold regular coaching meetings. Example: We will hold meetings every two weeks beginning on May 1.
	We will hold a minimum of six coaching meetings beyond the data feedback meeting. Example: After the data feedback meeting on May 31, we will hold six coaching meetings by August 31.
	We will communicate outside of coaching meetings using a combination of phone and email. Example: Between regular face-to-face meetings, we will return one another’s email and cell phone messages within 24 hours.
	We will use an agreed-upon protocol for postponing or canceling meetings. Example: The client and coach will give 24-hours notice for postponing or canceling a coaching meeting for reasons other than a personal emergency.
	We will use an action plan format for documenting actions and progress. Example: The client will be responsible for the agenda at each coaching meeting. The coach will document client progress at each meeting following the elements of the coaching action plan format discussed and agreed upon.
	The coaching partnership is based on the performance expectations of the coach and the client. Example: The coach’s performance expectations are to support the client in progressing toward achievement of coaching objectives in improved teamwork, organization, and interpersonal communication. The client’s performance expectations are to achieve measurable results as documented in the coaching action plan toward improved teamwork, organization, and interpersonal communication.
	The coaching partnership will employ methods for measurement of results both before and after coaching. Example: A 360-degree survey method will be used for both pre- and post-coaching data collection to measure behavior effectiveness of the coaching objectives.
	The coach will go beyond superficial talk to explore desired outcomes, fears, and feelings. Example: The coaching conversation is a safe place for confidential dialogue. The coach will ask probing questions designed to inquire into the client’s reasoning; test the client’s assumptions; and surface beliefs, feelings, and ideas for action.
	The coach and client will set a protocol for handling problems in the coaching process. Example: If the client or coach perceives any issue that affects adversely on the effectiveness of the coaching partnership, both parties agree to identify the issue for dialogue. If mutual dialogue does not satisfy the needs of both the client and the coach, they agree that the director of human resources may be consulted for further action.
	The coaching partnership is confidential. Example: The coach follows the ICF Ethical Guidelines and provides a copy of these guidelines to the client. All coaching conversations are confidential except those conversation elements specifically agreed to by the client as not confidential.
	The client is ensured final decision making in choosing a coach. Example: The client is given a slate of three potential coaches to interview and chooses the coach the client determines to be the best fit.

Moving Ideas to Action

Referring to the examples presented in exhibit 3-1, answer the questions in table 3-2 for your particular program planning. You can also answer these questions separately for each coaching partnership.