Balancing client data confidentiality with multiple executives. How do you ensure each one feels secure?

Trust and relationships go hand-in-hand. It's important in establishing any relationship that clear boundaries are established and upheld. Trust grows from that point. As trust is established, then relationship partners feel more confident to be vulnerable and share - knowing that sharing any vulnerability is a chance to grow and learn, becoming better at what we do. It's important in all stages of the relationship's development that we walk the talk. Integrity is another cornerstone of an effective and fulfilling partnership. People need to know that they are valued; that they have dignity - and that they are not just another piece of data. Each person has a story to be celebrated, enriched through using data for improvement.

Building and maintaining trust is a unique challenge when working with multiple leaders in the same organization. Grounded in a belief that the arrangement provides value to your clients—a focus on transparency and vigilance is required. At the beginning of the engagement, it's crucial to be transparent about your work with others and enforce the confidentiality of each relationship. With teams, members are aware you're coaching their colleagues. This is different from knowing you coach others in the organization. Regardless, early and often reinforce your ethical commitment to client confidentiality and remind them they are the client.

Maintaining confidentiality is fundamental to the coaching process. Coaching works when the client feels safe in being vulnerable to share what they are holding within. Trust needs to be established with the client through multiple ways: 1. Terms laid down in a formal contract 2. Oral reinforcement of coaching ethics 3. Answering all questions and doubts 4. Clear agreement around who gets to receive what kind of data. Specially in organizational projects where top leadership/sponsor, manager and HR/ L & D folks may be involved. In individual coaching assignments, the personal relationship or strength of reference through which the coaching relationship gets initiated matter a lot for the trust to be there between the coach and client.

I take this very seriously. When I’m having a discovery call and when I’m onboarding - We discuss my policy regarding confidentiality. It’s very simple: Our discussions are 💯 % confidential. The only things I comment on are meeting frequency and level of engagement. I’ve worked inside major organizations for years, in part because the trust is so high. And I’ve lost some assignments because of this approach. That’s ok. Besides trust being such a personal value, when we become credentialed through ICF we agree to the highest of ethical standards.

For me it starts with a robust system that is password protected and using 2 factor authentication. Plus a data policy working with GDPR compliant services, e.g. Dropbox. In public areas I always use VPN, make sure I am not overheard, no one can record the session and everything is done in strictest confidentiality. A lot of it is around trust and confidence for the client to open up and get the best results.

The International Coaching Federation (ICF) has very clear ethical guidelines on information storage and security, and they're available to the public as well as members. With my own clients, I take very few notes and don't store them, risk is considerably reduced.

Mi experiencia desde la atención personalizada, considera: 1.- saber que cada cliente es único y particular lo que puede servir a uno no necesariamente le sirve a otros. 2.- conocer el sistema que habita el cliente. Su cultura, valores, conversaciones, experiencias, fracasos, éxitos, qué tiempo de feedback es más recurrente, paradigmas etcétera 3.- conocer si es más bien reservado o extrovertido. 4.- resguardar la confidencialidad desde los acuerdos que se tomen conjuntamente y respetar confidencialidad de las conversaciones y acciones que se generen para el y su equipo. 5.- siempre preguntar si le parece que yo pueda compartir imágenes o actividades que surjan de mi acompañamiento donde se encuentre mi cliente, equipo o empresa.

Provide comprehensive training on data security best practices to all executives. This should include information on password management, recognising phishing attempts, and handling sensitive information. Regularly update and reinforce this training to ensure everyone is aware of the latest security measures. Utilise strong data encryption techniques to protect client data both at rest and in transit. Encryption adds an extra layer of security, making it harder for unauthorised individuals to access or decipher the information.

Creo que la AI es una herramienta muy buena pero la verdad de las cosas es que siempre se debe contemplar que estemos atentos la calidad humana con la que estamos viendo el soporte en los equipos de trabajo

Para complementar la atención personalizada, la integración de la inteligencia artificial puede ser fundamental. Utilizar IA permite ofrecer recomendaciones precisas y adaptadas a cada cliente, mejorando su experiencia. Es como tener un mayordomo robótico que siempre sabe si prefieres té o café, y que además recuerda la cantidad exacta de azúcar. Esta precisión no solo impresiona, sino que también hace que los clientes se sientan valorados y comprendidos, como si cada uno tuviera su propio asistente personal que anticipa sus deseos antes de que ellos mismos los piensen.

One of the best ways to ensure clear boundaries is to meet with a client and their sponsor or client team together. The risk of miscommunication is reduced if we review roles, discuss reporting, and align on goals in the same room. The role discussion includes reinforcing that the client is the individual being coached—your discussions are confidential. Clarify what is to be reported back to the sponsor with transparency. Facilitate a discussion that leads to alignment on goals. Your goal here includes identifying and removing any ambiguity that could impact the success of the engagement.

One thing I've found helpful is keeping strict policies around access. Keeping clear guidelines around which executives need access to which information is straight but critical. When that is combined with secure data storage and password protected access then the focus can be on the overall desired outcomes for the enterprise and each executive in the program.

Conduct regular audits and monitor access to client data. This allows you to quickly identify any suspicious activity or potential breaches. By having a robust monitoring system in place, you can promptly address any security concerns and take appropriate action.

Para los canales de comunicación, también la IA puede ser un aliado indispensable. La implementación de sistemas inteligentes asegura respuestas rápidas y eficientes, evitando que los clientes se sientan como si hablaran con una pared… o peor, con un fax. Con IA, cualquier inquietud se atiende de manera oportuna y precisa, haciendo que la experiencia de comunicación sea tan fluida como conversar con un amigo que siempre tiene la respuesta correcta. Así, podemos transformar esos frustrantes “manténgase en la línea” en agradables y útiles interacciones en tiempo real.

Create a work environment where trust and responsibility are valued. Encourage open communication about data security concerns and provide a platform for executives to raise any issues or suggestions they may have. This helps foster a sense of collective responsibility towards maintaining client data confidentiality. By implementing these measures, you can create an environment where each executive feels secure and confident in their ability to protect client data. It's important to regularly review and update your data security practices to stay ahead of potential threats and ensure ongoing confidentiality.

Not to be trite - but simply put - your role as a coach is to keep the utmost trust and confidentiality with every client. Reassure each client in advance of engaging that these are core competencies alongside ethics of this industry. As a coach even if you work with executives at the same organization- your role is to keep impartiality and refrain from judgement.

I think keeping confidentiality of client data is crucial as part of the overall ethical behavior that any coach must show his or her client, which includes yet goes beyond the data dimension. This ethical behavior should include: 1. Personal integrity and honesty in interactions with clients. 2. Being sensitive to our clients’ identity and environment. 3. Using appropriate, respectful language. 4. Spelling all of this in the coaching engagement agreement. 5. Avoiding misconfigurations of client data access, which Gartner says accounts for over 99% of cloud data breaches. 6. Distinguishing between coaching, consulting, psychotherapy and other support professions. 7. Referring to other professionals if the case so requires.

1. Communicate, Learn and Adapt. A balanced mix of effective communication, mitigating strategies and assesment of expected outcomes is critically important. When executives understand security protocols and their implication, they can learn and adapt, especially in situations where they overule procedures due to poor knowledge of associated risks. 2. Balancing Goals Security teams are committed to safeguarding assets of the organization, whilst the senior executive are laden with the more robust objectives of the organization. So, by mutual understanding of roles and expectations, effective communication, collaboration, education and awareness, conflicts can be managed successfully without distrupting the business.

You should be talking in your chemistry call about confidentiality and share your ethical standards document after the call. Unless it is a group coaching situation, they should not even know who you are coaching.