Cathy Liska Bill was hired by a company to coach one of their high potential employees, Devin. The company was interested in developing Devin as a leader and putting his career on the fast track.
Bill and Devin discussed skills for Devin to develop and explored possibilities for increasing levels of leadership. Devin worked diligently to learn, enhance his abilities, and take on more responsibility.
After working together for six months, Devin confided in Bill that he planned to leave the company and was actively seeking other opportunities. Because Bill was being paid by the company, he thought about reporting this news.
Bill is a member of the International Coach Federation and reviewed the Code of Ethics. He read the information on confidentiality and that permission to release information was required first. Because Devin did not want this information shared, Bill could not ethically report it.
Bill continued coaching Devin and they began discussing what Devin wanted in his career. They discussed different jobs Devin was considering.
Bill was worried and checked with his coach. His coach asked him how Devin felt about his current employer. Then Bill’s coach asked about the pros and cons of Devin leaving and whether him leaving would be on a good note or a bad note. Then Bill was asked by his coach if it was possible that Devin decide to stay with his current company. Through this process, Bill realized several things:
- While Devin remained employed by the company his performance level was much higher because of the coaching.
- If Devin did leave the company he would leave on a good note because of the positive impact of the coaching.
- It was possible that in exploring different options Devin would discover that his current position was best.
Because of this Bill realized the company that was paying him to coach was receiving the benefit they wanted from his services.
