Dear Dan,
Thank you for the question.
Our leader, Marshall Goldsmith, emphasizes anonymity to enable people to be more open and candid about the leader being coached. However, he also notes that the boss’s comments are important to share. “That person has a unique vantage point,” he says, “and his or her feedback can be crucial.”
Marshall’s comments make a lot of sense. However, I go at the issue of confidentiality a little differently. During my initial 360° assessment work, in which I use the 3–3–1 method described here, I start with the premise that everything shared with me is confidential, regardless of its source.
Sometimes the leader’s boss shares with me things that I can understand why he or she doesn’t want them shared. However, I always ask the boss, “What am I authorized to share with the leader I’m coaching?” I also ask, “To what extent has what you’ve shared with me been shared with the leader directly?”
If anything hasn’t been shared, I inquire into the reasons and usually encourage the boss to share these things directly so that the leader doesn’t hear about it from me first. I strenuously resist being a conduit between boss and the leader I’m coaching.
I hope this helps.
Best,
Jathan
Jathan Janove is a Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching Master Coach and Practice Leader. You can learn more about him here. If you have a question you’d like him to address, please email us at AsktheCoach@mgscc.net.
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