The Oxford English Dictionary refers to ethics as “moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity”. These principles are rooted in beliefs and values shaped by an individual’s experiences, including cultural and family influences. They form a person’s sense of what’s right or wrong in a given situation, and inform decision-making and subsequent actions.

We can study ‘about’ ethics by exploring matters of ethos, of underlying principles that – consciously or otherwise - guide choices and behaviour. To have a concern for ethics-in-action in the context of coaching and supervising is to engage in an intricate way with who we are and what we consider to be appropriate in our relationships with others. Without relationship, ethics has no meaning, and our ethics evolve through that relating – everything we do or do not do involves a relationship.

So, attending to ethics includes, although is not limited to, paying attention to what we know, how we know it, what we value and our values, our thoughts, feelings, actions and our stance when we encounter difference or similarity, ideas and other people. How will we be in the moment?

It is reflective and nuanced. It is about wayfinding and navigation. What it is not, is a set of rules.

“We don’t act ‘rightly’ because we are virtuous or excellent, but we develop these qualities through the practice of ‘right’ action.”
- attributed to Aristotle

It is with ethical maturity as with wisdom: “Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.”
Albert Einstein (1954)

“Ethics is an intrinsic part of our everyday life and happens moment-to- moment. We are making decisions based on our backgrounds, our history, the culture we have grown up in, and the norms of our society, as well as our personal values. Rather than taking what can be a simplistic stance around ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.
Turner and Passmore (2019, pp. 37)

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about."
Rumi (Translation)

Discover your moral DNA

Roger Steare, the Corporate Philosopher, created the MoralDNA to help us understand what influences us and what’s important to us. You may like to begin by assessing your moral DNA: https://moraldna.org/

Values in ethics

Iordanou, Hawley and Iordanou (2017, pp. 31-33) ask us to explore our professional and personal values as a coach. They state that values are the bedrock of ethical decision making and shape every decision we take in our coaching practice.

They invite us to be consciously aware of our values that, in turn, shape our attitudes.

• Note 5 prime values that you hold as a coach, whatever the context.
• Reflect on how these values permeate your coaching style and approach.

Building ethical practice

When we refer to a coach supervisor, we mean someone who has completed a formal coach supervision training, and is in regular supervision themselves – receiving supervision on their supervision from a trained, qualified, and preferably accredited, coaching supervisor. In addition, if coaches and mentors are accessing this resource, and would like to deepen their level of understanding of their ethical stance, we recommend that they discuss this with their own supervisor.