Earlier this quarter, along with 23 of my peers, we kicked off our Organizational and Leadership Coaching Certificate Cohort. In the opening session of a certificate class, one of the activities I enjoyed most was reflecting on the movie the "King's Speech" and discussing our observation of the coaching relationship between Logue and the King. I had all of my thoughts organized and was very excited to share them with the group however I was caught completely off guard when our professor asked "who was the client?".
In my mind, there was no question - it was the King, the person receiving the coaching.
If we are to view the King's situation from an executive coaching lens, we could draw a parallel with the monarchy as the organization, the Queen as the sponsor, and the King as an executive who needed coaching to better serve the organization, any of which could be considered the client.
When I think about it now having spent some time learning about the different forms of coaching and consulting, I can appreciate what an important question that is, as it will dictate whose goals I remain most loyal to as the coach.
Can they all be considered my "client"?
Comments