RGalen Consulting Group - Agile Moose
Agile Coaching – Code of Ethics
Draft, v.1.0
Last modified: April 11, 2020; edited/updated in July 2023
Above all else, I enter each engagement with an overall view of doing no harm and leaving the client better than I found them. It’s my Prime Directive.
I will enter each client business & coaching relationship with a focus on client readiness, open-mindedness towards change, and a willingness of the leaders to engage.
I will not sign a contract with a client with revenue being my primary driver or cost being the client’s primary driver. The focus should be on achieving Organizational Agility, Business Agility, and Business Outcomes.
I enter with a goal of partnership, shared work, and shared outcomes. I will not engage a client in a client/service or contractual model as our primary working relationship.
I will hold all client contexts, whether we include them under NDA or not, in the utmost confidence.
I will endeavor to be a truth-teller to my clients even when they struggle to handle the truth. Included with that will occasionally be telling them no, I can’t do that, they’re making a mistake, or they should get another coach. I owe them nothing less than honest feedback during our engagement.
I will endeavor to model the behaviors I expect from my clients, including:
Listening to Understand
Honest and Radical Candor
Transparency in Everything
Continuous Improvement
Walking my Talk
Leaving my Baggage at the Door
Respect for their History & Results
Respect for their Leaders
Focus on Customer First
I will always enter a client engagement via a Discovery process. That is, exploring their goals, teams, and culture and then proposing a path of (agile training, consulting, coaching) that I believe will achieve their goals. I will not simply deliver what the client asks for or thinks they need.
As part of my early client engagement process, I will take some time to share my Code of Ethics and make it part of our coaching agreement and general operating understanding. It’s the foundation of any / all contracts or statements of work.
As an Agile Coach…
As a coach, I will not coach in areas where I have no direct (only academic) experience. And I will disclose these gaps to my client.
As a coach, I will always endeavor to meet my clients “where they are” instead of where I want them to be. That being said, I will push them hard.
As a coach, I will adopt a coaching stance with my clients and teach, mentor, consult, and guide them as appropriate for a partner. The point is—I won’t make them come up with everything independently.
As a coach, I will not take over the client’s actions, ownership, or ultimate results. Yes, we’re partners, but ultimately, they must own their actions and behaviors.
As a coach, I will endeavor to model the agile principles and my coaching agreements/ethics in every client interaction. I am showing them agile principles and behaviors by example.
As a coach, I will not become a party to evaluating the performance levels (or agile readiness/evolution) of the client’s employees, including the client themselves. No judgment.
As a coach, my philosophy is to teach my clients to fish and “put myself out of a job” as soon as possible. That being said, it takes time to “become agile.”
As a coach, I will pair-coach as often as possible because it increases the impact of my coaching and the value to the client. It also raises the skill, performance, and learning of the coaches.
As a coach, I will treat my coaching clients with respect, as I would expect to be treated in all interactions. I will also call out inappropriate actions as I see them within the client environment.
As a coach, I will fully support deep diversity and inclusion in each client’s ecosystem.
As a coach, I will approach all client interactions without past/historical judgment. Applying a mindset that they tried their best given the situation and historical context. The point is—we will learn from the past but focus on the future.
My Coaching Partners…
I will treat my coaching partners (of any sort) the same way I treat my clients. I’ll treat them even better because then my clients will benefit.
I will endeavor to compensate my coaching partners more fairly and more than typical market values. While I value revenue, I value their partnership more. Profit sharing will be a norm. As will transparency in every transaction.
I fully support each client and my coaching partners, “holding me accountable” to my ethics. Please Call Me On It if you ever feel I’m missing the mark in walking my ethics.
Other References
Bob has signed the Agile Coaches Oath and subscribes to its tenets and principles. We also align with the following Code of Ethics
Tom Cagley
https://tcagley.wordpress.com/2018/10/02/time-for-a-code-of-ethics-for-agile-coaches/
Agile Alliance
https://www.agilealliance.org/resources/initiatives/agile-coaching-ethics/
Scrum Alliance Code of Ethics
https://www.scrumalliance.org/code-of-ethics