coachee must feel reasonably comfortable with those choices, but the client
should be the ultimate decision maker.
Who Is the Client?
When defining who the client is, a gray area may exist between who is being
coached and who is paying for the coach’s services. To some degree, this am-
biguity is inherent to the confidentiality and trust necessary to the coaching
relationship. A vocal minority of coaches is very clear that the coachee is their
client. Although the organization is paying for their services, and the achieve-
ment of organizational goals is the ultimate objective, the relationship be-
tween coach and coachee is akin to a doctor-patient, or lawyer-client one.
The main concern in this approach seems to be confidentiality and trust.
Other coaches, perhaps the majority, are equally clear that although trust and
confidence between coach and coachee are inviolable, the coach is being hired in
service of the organization. Clarity in that relationship moves the ball along.
The
coachee knows that his or her agenda must be aligned with the
organizational agenda, and that success or failure will be measured on those
terms. During times of disagreement, the organization’s wishes are
paramount. If the coachee is to believe that he or she is the client and in control,
a very different dynamic might result.
The actual client is almost always the coachee’s superior. In those frequent
cases when the CEO is the coachee, the client and the coachee may be one.
Regardless of who the client is, the coach is always working to the best of his or
her abilities for the betterment of the coachee.
What Is the Role of Human Resources?
Frequently, Human Resources is given the opportunity to provide a list of
appropriate coaches. Although this can
become tantamount to actually se-
lecting the coach, it should not. Human Resources, with its insight into orga-
nizational and behavioral change, may be well informed about an individual
leader ’s needs—especially when it is involved in executive development, suc-
cession planning, and organizational strategy. But the selection decision
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