CLC Coaching Ethics & Professional Standards 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client discloses they are experiencing suicidal thoughts during a coaching session. What is the coach's primary ethical obligation?
- Continue the session and explore the feelings as coaching material
- Refer the client immediately to a mental health professional and provide crisis resources (Correct answer)
- End the coaching relationship permanently
- Contact the client's employer for support
Correct answer: Refer the client immediately to a mental health professional and provide crisis resources
Mental health crises exceed the scope of coaching; the ethical response is immediate referral to qualified mental health professionals and providing crisis resources.
Question 2: How should a CLC coach handle a situation where two clients in the same organization have conflicting interests?
- Coach both clients and mediate between them
- Disclose the conflict, obtain informed consent from both, or decline to coach one (Correct answer)
- Keep the conflict confidential and continue with both clients
- Ask both clients to change their goals
Correct answer: Disclose the conflict, obtain informed consent from both, or decline to coach one
Conflicting interests between clients in the same organization create a conflict of interest that must be disclosed and managed transparently.
Question 3: What is the purpose of a 'coaching agreement' from an ethical standpoint?
- To protect the coach from legal liability only
- To establish mutual expectations, boundaries, confidentiality terms, and the coaching framework (Correct answer)
- To document the client's personal history
- To set specific performance targets for the client
Correct answer: To establish mutual expectations, boundaries, confidentiality terms, and the coaching framework
A coaching agreement establishes clear mutual expectations and ethical boundaries including confidentiality, scope, and process.
Question 4: A leadership coach realizes they have strong personal opinions about a client's industry that may bias the coaching. What is the ethical response?
- Share the opinions openly to be transparent
- Engage in supervision or self-reflection to manage the bias, and consider disclosing if it could affect the work (Correct answer)
- Proceed normally since personal opinions are always separate from coaching
- Immediately terminate the engagement
Correct answer: Engage in supervision or self-reflection to manage the bias, and consider disclosing if it could affect the work
Coaches are ethically responsible for recognizing and managing personal biases through supervision, self-reflection, or disclosure when appropriate.
Question 5: Under ICF standards, which action would violate the principle of client autonomy?
- Asking powerful questions to challenge the client's thinking
- Directing the client toward a specific outcome the coach believes is best for them (Correct answer)
- Supporting the client in identifying their own solutions
- Exploring the client's values as a basis for goal-setting
Correct answer: Directing the client toward a specific outcome the coach believes is best for them
Client autonomy means the client determines their own direction; a coach who directs toward a predetermined outcome undermines this principle.
Question 6: A coach is asked to provide coaching services that include psychological assessments they are not licensed to administer. What should they do?
- Complete the assessments if they feel confident enough
- Decline that component and refer the client to a licensed psychologist for assessments (Correct answer)
- Use informal versions of the assessments instead
- Request that the client self-administer the tools
Correct answer: Decline that component and refer the client to a licensed psychologist for assessments
Coaches must operate within their professional scope; licensed psychological assessments require appropriate credentials the coach may not hold.
Question 7: What does 'maintaining appropriate boundaries' mean in a leadership coaching context?
- Keeping sessions short to avoid emotional topics
- Ensuring the coach-client relationship remains professional and does not develop personal, financial, or romantic dimensions (Correct answer)
- Avoiding all feedback to prevent discomfort
- Never meeting clients outside of scheduled sessions
Correct answer: Ensuring the coach-client relationship remains professional and does not develop personal, financial, or romantic dimensions
Maintaining boundaries means keeping the coaching relationship professional and free from dual relationships that could compromise objectivity.
CLC Coaching Ethics & Professional Standards 3
A client discloses they are experiencing suicidal thoughts during a coaching session.
What is the coach's primary ethical obligation?