Hi The coach zone,

Welcome to this weeks Get COACHd on Friday.

I have been thinking about a frequent conversation about the boundaries of coaching and counselling that we like to create. My thinking takes me further and invites me to think about wider boundaries that we work with within our wider life.

For example,

When at school, our children have a playground that they play in. This is generally a safe area where they can explore their energies.

The boundary in this instance is similar to the one we work with in coaching. We understand the risks of the environment that we invite our coachees into and protect them from extrinsic factors such as cars, buses and other unwelcome guests.

Sometimes, events, situations, and conversations can lead us to a position where we may feel a little uncomfortable.

We are approaching the Boundary Zone and need to become increasingly aware of our capabilities. But what is this boundary?

I am a gestalt thinker. We all come into a situation with a back story created through our own experiences, learnings, or doings. This backstory helps us to understand what is a ‘red flag’ (an area that we won’t feel comfortable going into) and also those areas that we are comfortable working with (ok, so competence is also a factor here, and we need to be cognizant of becoming overly confident in an area where we have low skill).

I invite you to think a bit more about what is on your ‘red flag’ list.

Note that I have not defined the differences between coaching and counselling. I find such things unhelpful and confusing. What helps me, is understanding my areas of capability based on my backstory as well as legal aspects such as duty of care and legal obligations such as insurance.

So, what is on your red flag list. What won’t you work with a client on?

Enjoy the reads below.