1st Edition
Ethical Case Studies for Coach Development and Practice A Coach's Companion
Providing both a depth and breadth of examples of ethical dilemmas which coaches may face as part of their practice, this book is the first comprehensive handbook of case studies in the field, supporting coaches in developing their ethical awareness and competence.
The world of coaching has become increasingly complex over the past two decades. While the professional bodies have all released codes of conduct or ethical guidelines, these at best deal with general principles and serve as a point of reference for reflection. Ethical Case Studies for Coach Development and Practice is an essential accompaniment for coaches. Written by seasoned practitioners, this companion coaching case study book offers a more personal perspective on ethics in practice. Its simple structured layout and focus on ethical dilemmas make it an attractive course supplementary text and resource for practitioners. Divided into two sections, the guide explores the following themes: ethical development, coach education, one-to-one coaching, individual and group supervision, team coaching, external coaching assignments, internal coaching, digital and AI coaching, power in coaching, and the promotion of coaching.
This book is a vital resource for coaches at all levels of experience in their professional coach journey, and for those with more experience in the development of ethical thinking and practice such as supervisors, consultants in leadership development, human resource professionals, and students on coaching postgraduate programmes and in private coach education.
PART ONE Working with case studies for coach ethical development
1 Ethics case studies for coach education and development
WENDY-ANN SMITH AND DAVID CLUTTERBUCK
2 Case formulation: A tool for working with coaching case studies
DAVID A. LANE, MICHAEL CAVANAGH, AND WENDY-ANN SMITH
PART TWO Case studies
3 One-to-one coaching
Case study 1 Coaching the “boss from hell”
HAESUN MOON
Case study 2 Just because a coach can coach, should they coach?
ANNALISE ROACHE
Case study 3 Death of a parent: Coaching or therapy?
YANNICK JACOB
Case study 4 Protecting boundaries:One coach, two clients
CHARLINE S. RUSSO
Case study 5 Focusing on the whole person: Co-creating successful coaching outcomes in organizations
ALISSA M. MANOLESCU AND SASHA E. RADIN
4 Supervision
Case study 6 Collusion brought to coach supervision
EVE TURNER
Case study 7 When mental health shows up in cross-professional group supervision: Listening to different perspectives
ANNE CALLEJA AND CAROL WHITAKER
Case study 8 How many hats?
EVA HIRSCH PONTES
Case study 9 Intersectionality and supervision through bereavement
MONGEZI C. MAKHALIMA
Case study 10 Dual roles: Coach educators serving as coach supervisors
CARRIE ARNOLD
5 Team coaching
Case study 11 Is it about ethics or values?
INGELA CAMBA LUDLOW
Case study 12 Conspicuous contracting in team coaching
DAVID MATTHEW PRIOR
Case study 13 Navigating an unpredictable team leadership inheritance
DUMISANI MAGADLELA
Case study 14 Coach competency in unchartered waters
EVA HIRSCH PONTES AND DAVID CLUTTERBUCK
Case study 15 Working with confidentiality in team coaching engagements
COLM MURPHY
6 External coaching
Case study 16 To coach or not to coach: Clients with few resources
EVA HIRSCH PONTES
Case study 17 When stakeholder priorities collide in a coaching engagement
SAM ISAACSON
Case study 18 Three-way contracting: What are your legal and ehical responsibilities?
MARIE STOPFORTH
Case study 19 Between a rock and a hard place: Coaching clients within the same organization
INGA ARIANNA BIELINSKA
Case study 20 Multi-layer alignment
JO LEYMARIE
7 Internal coaching
Case study 21 Internal coach and mental health
ANDREA GIRALDEZ-HAYES
Case study 22 Navigating the constantly moving pieces of organizational change
LORRAINE S. WEBB
Case study 23 Internal coaching: Prejudice against women leaders
ROSIE EVANS-KRIMME
Case study 24 Power challenges with autocratic leadership
F. K. TIA MOIN
Case study 25 Where the coaching topic overlaps with the day job
8 Digital and artificial intelligence (AI) coaching
Case study 26 Managing digital records in the event of an unexpected death
EVE TURNER AND DAVID A. LANE
Case study 27 The coach and the FinTech digital expert
RAMÓN ESTRADA
Case study 28 Handling a data breach out of your control
ALEXANDRA J.S. FOURACRES
Case study 29 The new team leader in an AI environment
DAVID CLUTTERBUCK
Case study 30 AI: The future of coaching?
DAVID CLUTTERBUCK
9 Power in coaching
Case study 31 Cultural translations
SILVINA M. SPIEGEL
Case study 32 When a woman’s power is weaponized against her
CAROLINE ADAMS MILLER AND WENDY-ANN SMITH
Case study 33 Under one condition: A case of identity-based aggression
Case study 34 Power play: Shifting roles and the ripple effects of legacy leaders
MONICA MURRAY
Case study 35 Coaching in the neurodivergent landscape
JONATHAN DRURY
10 Promotion in coaching
Case study 36 Ethical challenges of sub-contracting the delivery
of coaching work to associate coaches
KIM MORGAN
Case study 37 The best business coach
FRANCINE CAMPONE
Case study 38 Coaching is your dream career
FRANCINE CAMPONE
Case study 39 Ethical challenges in contracting with organisations and their stakeholders
ROB KEMP
Case study 40 Head of Learning and Development hangs her coaching practice plaque
WENDY-ANN SMITH, EVA HIRSCH PONTES, AND DUMISANI MAGADLELA
Appendix A: Coaching and psychology bodies
Appendix B: Associations and forums
Appendix C: Coaching codes of ethics
Biography
Wendy-Ann Smith is a coaching psychologist, researcher, and educator. She is the Director at her coaching boutique Eclorev, co-founder of the Coaching Ethics Forum, founding editor of the Journal of Coaching Ethics, and is a Visiting Fellow, Centre of Positive Psychology, Buckinghamshire New University, UK. Her recent publications are Positive Psychology Coaching in the Workplace and The Ethical Coaches’ Handbook: A Guide to Developing Ethical Maturity in Practice.
Eva Hirsch Pontes is an independent coach and a pioneer in coaching supervision in Latin America. In her previous career in the corporate world, she worked for over 25 years as an executive in the shipping industry, holding several key positions including director and board member.
Dumisani Magadlela is an executive team coach from South Africa. Dumi is co-principal at The Coaching Centre (TCC) and is core faculty at the Global Team Coaching Institute (GTCI). At the time of writing, Dumi was chair of the International Coaching Federation (ICF)’s Global Enterprise Board.
David Clutterbuck is one of the last survivors of the original pioneers of modern coaching and mentoring. Author or co-author of more than 75 books, he co-founded the European Mentoring and Coaching Council and leads a global network of coach educators, Coaching and Mentoring International.
'We learn best through real stories, and this book offers us 40 riveting examples of actual ethical coaching dilemmas. What would you do if you were the coach? Sneak behind the scenes with the expert coaches as they navigate through very tricky waters. The answers may not be as simple as you think!'
Brian O. Underhill, PhD, PCC; Founder and CEO, CoachSource, LLC
'This new book provides a wealth of material through a case study approach, exploring many of the contemporary ethical dilemmas faced by coaches today from AI to race and from gender to managing multiple stakeholders. This text will be an essential addition to every coach's library.'
Prof. Jonathan Passmore, Henley Business School, UK
'What I loved about this book is that, at the same time as clearly having serious, theoretical or research-based underpinnings, these case studies are immensely readable and the lessons to be learned from them are clearly spelled out. I love a good case study and here we are spoiled for choice. Their strength is the way that they bring theory to life. We can talk about ethics in coaching and supervision at a conceptual level until the cows come home but the learning really begins when our CEO client walks into the coaching space at 10am and we can smell whisky on their breath. What do we actually do? The case studies that make up this very helpful book explore both straight-forward and very complex issues and cover one-to-one coaching, team coaching, and supervision in both internal and external coaching scenarios. The sheer breadth of ethical challenges presented is ultra-stimulating and a great way of helping the reader to examine and explore their own prejudices, biases, beliefs, and values and how they affect the decisions we take in and outside the coaching/supervision room. The later chapters explore the ethical challenges that the digital age has brought with it - managing digital records, avoiding data breaches, the role of AI, etc. - and handling challenges around diversity in its many forms. Very thoughtful stuff. This book would be a worthwhile addition to any coach's bookshelf.'
Katharine St John-Brooks, Author of Internal Coaching: The Inside Story
'This book represents an important contribution in the exploration of ethics in coaching. The introductory chapter explores how learning in coach education and development is significantly enhanced using case studies. Chapter Two provides a thorough summary of how case studies have been used as a learning tool in well-established fields of study and offer the coach practitioner an in depth understanding of case formulation, why it matters, and the task is approached. The authors caution us there is no one right way, and they offer the reader several frameworks that allow a coach to maximize in-depth learning from a case study whether in the midst of a coach education experience, coach supervision, or self-directed learning.'
Pam McLean, Co-founder, CKO, Hudson Institute of Coaching
'Ethics in Coaching is core to the sustainability of the coaching profession and the sustainable practice of a coach. Ethical Case Studies book is practical, useful, and essential reading for coaches and coaching buyers. The book may invite coaches to reflect upon their previous and ongoing practice and help them to raise awareness and take charge of their development and refine their coaching practice.'
Dr. Badri Bajaj, Coaching thought leader, President - ICF Delhi NCR Charter Chapter 2019-2021 and 2021-2023
'Kurt Lewin famously noted that nothing is so practical as a good theory. A very close second to that would be good quality case studies to learn from experience, and this book hits it out of the park in this regard.'
Aaron Jarden, Associate Professor, Centre for Wellbeing Science, University of Melbourne, Australia
