How confidential is the coaching? 
...What about employer or parent-sponsored coaching?

Coaching is completely confidential.       Or, as confidential as you want it to be... 

Here's what we mean:

• The coach agrees never to reveal the names of their clients without permission from that client, and never discusses the content of the coaching conversation (unless a "coachee" indicated to the coach that he or she planned to do harm to themselves or to another person.  That's a whole other ball game.  Then the coach would want to seek outside assistance). 
  

• Even if a company has hired the coach for the employee (or parents have hired the coach for a young adult), the coach will only discuss the content of the coaching with the person being coached.  The coach needs the person being coached to feel safe and fully trust the coach.  Without trust, you might as well save your money because coaching won't work. 

• The person being coached is free to tell anyone that they have hired a coach and who that coach is if they want to.  Unless they don't want people to know and then the fact that you are being coached is just between you and the coach.  

• The person being coached can also tell anyone they want about the content of the coaching sessions or keep it to themselves.   The coach won't tell anyone about your conversations. While others can suggest topics to the person being coached that they feel needs to be covered, the agenda of each session is up to you.

• If your employer (or parents) have hired the coach, they'll know you are being coached, but it would be reasonable to ask that nobody be told about the coaching who doesn't need to know if that's the agreement you want.  And you should have an open discussion if they feel others have a true need to know.  There shouldn't be any secrets from you.

• If your employer brought in the coach, there will be a few people that will need to know,probably including your boss, and any key people from whom you'd like feedback on your current behavior and strengths to serve as a foundational baseline for the coaching.  The feedback will be garnered one on one by the coach, discretely.  Only you will see that feedback.

• Won't my employer (or parents) want to know what's going on in the coaching?  Yup, they will.  And they need to hear about it from you, not the coach.  The coach can confirm that you have shown up on time to all coaching sessions, that you have participated willingly and openly, that you are showing true interest in whatever desired transformation caused you to come to coaching in the first place.  But beyond that, updates need to come from you.  And since your employer (or parents) won't get updates from the coach, it's important that they get them from you.  They are spending their money on the coaching and a status update at agreed upon intervals is a reasonable request.   And you should use the update meeting opportunity to tout all your successes and improvements to your employer (or parents)!
  

• There might be special exception agreements made upfront between everyone regarding content-related matters.  Obviously, intention to cause harm is not a content-related matter that can stay confidential.  Talking to a coach is not like talking to a lawyer.  The coach should let someone know if concerning issues arise.  Also, an employer may want a guarantee from the coach that if the person being coached confides in the coach that they plan to leave the company, then the company may want to ask the coach to terminate the coaching at that point, as it's not fair to ask a company to pay for a person's improved on-the-job performance skills if that person plans to apply those skills at another company.  Now, that said, the coach can simply terminate the coaching by telling the employer that the coaching doesn't seem to be likely to improve the original circumstances for which the coach has been hired, and leave it at that.
  

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