Applying the ethical foundations

Applying the ethical foundations is the coach staying faithful to professional boundaries and to the word they have given. It is the first of the ICF competencies and forms the ground on which everything else is built. This includes protecting confidentiality, avoiding conflicts of interest, and knowing where coaching ends and another form of support begins. Ethics is less a list of rules than an attitude that keeps the client's benefit foremost in every situation. When the coach stays faithful to this foundation, the client's trust finds a solid ground.