Purpose

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to describe the purpose of a coaching agreement and name its key required components.

Lesson Explanation

A coaching agreement is an explicit understanding, established before formal coaching begins, connecting directly to the informed consent principle covered in Part 1, Lesson 4. It typically covers several specific components:

Logistics    — session frequency, length, and format
Confidentiality — what stays private, and the narrow exceptions
Scope        — what coaching will and won't address, connecting to Part 1's scope-of-practice boundary
Responsibilities — what the coach commits to, and what the client commits to
Fees and cancellation — cost and policy, stated clearly upfront

A genuinely important, specific reason this agreement is established upfront, not assumed informally: it prevents a genuinely common problem where a client and coach have different, unstated assumptions about what coaching actually involves — for example, a client who unconsciously expects direct advice (more like consulting, Part 1, Lesson 1) may feel unsatisfied by a coach who consistently, appropriately, asks questions instead.

Establishing this agreement explicitly, rather than leaving it implicit, directly reduces the risk of this kind of mismatched expectation derailing the coaching relationship later.

Practice Questions