Ethics

Agile Coaching Ethics - Front AND Center

Agile Coaching Ethics - Front AND Center

An agile coach, who I’d never met before, reached out to me the other day to have a conversation. She was from India, working in Europe, and had a woeful tale that she shared with me…

It seems as if she had two similar experiences as part of different agile coaching teams. In each case, a lead agile coach (who was male, white, and experienced) misused their authority and positional power when collaborating with her and other female coaches on their teams.

Apparently, those coaches/leaders were…

  • Authoritarian to the point of abusing their positional authority;

  • Intimidating, overpowering, and dismissive to women;

  • And, when confronted with their behavior, they ignored all feedback AND made things worse.

Because of the corporate culture around her, the poor coach felt that there was no place to go for help. So, she simply tolerated it until she found a way to leave the job.

As I said, this repeated itself one more time at another organization.