Beware the shadow of your coach

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"Shadow of the therapist" or "wounded healer". In a clinical environment, these are terms descibing an undesirable relationship between a therapist and his client when the therapist abuse the client's treatment to treat his own mental health problems. The same type of relationship occurs in coaching programs as the "shadow of the coach". Managementhelp.org therefore pointed out to the signs of "toxic" coaching to mind carefully. The signs include particularly the need of a coach to:

  • constantly check the agenda of the relationship with his client,

  • create an imbalance of power in the relationship and feel to be the stronger one,

  • achieve a relationship of the client's dependency on the coach

  • assume the role of a savior,

  • hear praise and admiration from the client,

  • give the client instructions and sermons,

  • reveal too much details about himself,

  • require gratitude from the client,

  • lead the coaching relationship as a therapy,

  • pathologize the client's problems,

  • accuse the client of the failure of the coaching relationship,

  • show the client his supposed intellectual superiority.

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Article source managementhelp.org - rozsáhlá manažerská knihovna
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