By: Sam Magill January, 2018

From time to time, we must stop to ask, “Why should people care about ethics?”

Why should we care? After all, we ICF members sign the Code of Ethics when we obtain our credentials and renew them, right? (So do members of other coaching associations!) How often do we think about the Code after that? If a complaint is ever filed against us, we sure think about it! To be found in breach of the ICF Code of Ethics and be compelled to take some sort of remedial action is unnerving and, in all likelihood, very embarrassing. It can be career ending.

Part of the problem is that we tend to look at the Code as a set of things we should not do. Sometimes the Code elements seem like traffic rules: I hope I don’t get caught if I speed just a little thereby ruining my perfect driving record.