Working as part of a team of coaches means coming together to align around shared values to ensure the group’s efforts will be cohesive and effective. While it’s essential to recognize each coach’s unique strengths and perspectives, a unified foundation ensures that everyone follows the same underlying principles in client engagements. So, how can a team of coaches agree upon their shared values and principles while simultaneously honoring individual approaches?
Here, 12 members of Forbes Coaches Council share strategies for building a values-driven team of coaches and the nonnegotiable core values that guide their work. Their insights below provide actionable steps to ensure a coaching team will have a lasting collective impact.
1. Keep The Dynamic Collaborative
It’s a lot like how you play music, according to my friends who play music: It’s all about collaboration and select improvisation in some of the best live music. With coaching, the dynamic to me is always live and never stagnant. In the best collaborations—musically and in business—nobody’s ego is hurt if someone takes the lead. Nobody should be offended if someone else has the best idea for the client. - John M. O’Connor, Career Pro Inc.
2. Find Harmony Through Balance
Fostering a culture of balance and interconnectedness inspired by the wisdom of yin-yang is the key. Opening dialogues to understand this concept and aligning our actions with our collective mission would be the strategy to embrace it. A nonnegotiable core value is harmony through balance, ensuring that every decision supports our synergy and serves the greater good of the team and our clients. - Joseph Sudhip, Declutter Minds
3. Hold Alignment Sessions
To ensure a team of coaches embraces shared values, I prioritize open communication and alignment sessions. In these sessions, we collaboratively define our values, coaching philosophy and approaches. Regular check-ins, feedback and continuous learning reinforce our principles. My top core value is integrity—ensuring honesty, transparency and principled behavior with both clients and the team of coaches. - Maryam Daryabegi, Innovation Bazar
4. Design Alliances
It is standard practice to design an alliance with each unique group. If we all are seen, heard and included in designing the container we are participating in, we can collectively maintain the integrity of why we are working together and how we show up and contribute toward a common outcome. The top core value lends itself to authenticity within the group. - Alecia Wellen, Alecia Wellen Coaching
Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
5. Encourage Open Communication
In a team setting, ensuring alignment on shared values starts with open communication and collaboration. I encourage everyone to express their values and collectively define guiding principles. Regular check-ins and feedback help reinforce these. My nonnegotiable core value is integrity—upholding honesty, transparency and ethical conduct to build trust within the team and with those we support. - Damodar Selvam, Equifax Inc.
6. Build Authentic Relationships
To foster shared values, I prioritize building strong, authentic relationships within the coaching team. We hold regular conversations about our principles, ensuring everyone’s voice is heard, and we’re aligned in our approach. My nonnegotiable core value is relationships—creating genuine connections based on trust and mutual respect, both with clients and within the team. - Krystyna Larrave
7. Show Vulnerability
Authenticity is nonnegotiable. In working with other coaches, there needs to be a shared understanding that the path to greatest success lies in our ability to be authentic and vulnerable. Those shared principles will enable us to accomplish the greatest aspect of coaching, which is to help clients make that transformation from the problem to the solution. - Lynn Smith, Lynn Smith Media & Communications
8. Align Coaches’ Vision With Learners’ Goals
I ensure our team embraces shared values by aligning our vision with each member’s unique goals and recognizing their efforts toward our learners’ success. This fosters passion, enthusiasm and dedication. Coaching is about building confidence in specific skill sets to achieve goals. My nonnegotiable core value is to build self-confidence in every learner, inspiring them to achieve their goals. - Sarat Chakravarthi, LeadYouth Education
9. Build Trust With Open Dialogue
I make sure we all agree on the same values and principles by having open discussions. We share what is important to each of us. We also set rules for how we work together. My nonnegotiable top core value is trust. I believe trust is the base for everything. If we trust each other, we can better help our clients and create a strong team. - Gamze Acar Bayraktaroglu, Motiva International
10. Always Presume Best Intent
The presumption of best intent is our No. 1 value. We have to believe that we all want to do our best when working together. This promotes trust and psychological safety. This also avoids drama and a variety of unproductive behaviors. It ensures that we produce our collective output more quickly and effectively as well. - Evan Roth, Roth Consultancy International, LLC.
11. Hold Visioning Sessions Together
To ensure our coaching team embraces shared values, I hold regular visioning sessions where each coach shares their aspirations, fostering ownership and alignment. Collaboration is my core, nonnegotiable value, as listening to individual perspectives helps create a unified, forward-thinking approach that leverages our collective strengths for future success. - Dr. Adil Dalal, Pinnacle Process Solutions, Intl., LLC
12. Illustrate Values Through Storytelling
Create regular opportunities to engage in storytelling around your shared values. Open all-hands and other meetings by inviting people to offer appreciation for others who have gone above and beyond to serve customers, or who exemplified one of your values. These stories make the values real and build a shared knowledge base of how to live them. - Ronica Roth, The Welcome Elephant