White coaches should not coach black clients unless they have invested in cultural competency training, bias awareness training, and/or anti-racism training -

yeah, I am saying it out loud.

Let me tell you a story with permission from a client we will call Grace.

Grace was having issues at work. She had worked for the same company for almost twelve years and loved her career. But then... change happened. The CFO she once reported to was out, and a new one stepped in. Almost overnight, things began to feel different.

Within a month, the new CFO had a laundry list of issues with Grace:

• He didn't like her attire and wanted it to be more traditionally professional.
• He found her laugh too loud and asked her to tone herself down while in the office.
• He thought she seemed unapproachable and possibly unconstructively angry with subordinates even though there had never been a complaint from a subordinate.
• Bizarrely, he asked for proof of her master's degree.

This was just the beginning. It was a tense few months, to say the least. So, in hopes of navigating this minefield, Grace hired a coach who came highly recommended by a white colleague. This well-meaning coach (white) started advising Grace on how to be "more traditionally professional". She even dropped hints about Grace's style being too "urban and not in a Manhattan kind of way”.

This coach spent a lot of time talking to Grace about how to be more approachable and told her to visualize pleasant interactions with her new boss. She also suggested Grace casually check-in frequently to appear more friendly and create lots of opportunities to get feedback.

This coach, for real, explained code switching to Grace as if she’d invented it and code switching was a good thing. Grace was so shocked by this conversation she wondered if it was a joke of some sort. However, as their work went on, the coach routinely gave her tips on how to communicate more professionally and suggested several books on mastering corporate communication.

Grace, like many black women, has a sixth sense for this sort of thing. Yet, she wanted to keep her job. So she tried adjusting. It was soul-crushing.

Months down the line, she opened up to her brother about starting antidepressants because she was feeling lost and demoralized. She’d even been passed over for a raise for the first time ever.

Her coach's solution? More professional development courses.

Her brother's advice? Ditch the coach and get a lawyer.

He was right.

To the white coaches reading this:

Some will see no issue with the coach's approach.

Some will say, "I'd never be that coach."

Yet, every person of color will nod, recognizing the pattern all too well.

I hear stories like this way too often because most white coaches believe they aren’t “racist” -  therefore they think they know everything they need to know about coaching people who come from different cultural backgrounds.

We don’t. Our blindspots can and too often do cause harm.

My point is this:I fundamentally believe there are not enough black coaches and no black or brown client should have to choose a white coach because they don’t have options. If a POC is willing to take a risk and  pay a white coach, that coach needs to be accountable for a level of training and awareness that goes beyond self-identifying as not racist.

At The Coaching Guild, we're fortunate to have the best experts like Iyabo Onipede and Leah Ardent, who are helping our students learn more about themselves, cultural competence, bias awareness while working on our own self-awareness and working with clients. With their guidance, our students (including yours truly) emerge more informed, sensitive, and ready to address the nuances of coaching in a multicultural world.

None of us are perfect, but we are learning and growing so we can serve all our clients with less risk of harm. At the Coaching Guild, we know this goes beyond taking a couple classes and calling yourself cured of white supremacy culture. We know this is a life-long work.

If you are a dreamer, rebel, artist, misfit, creative, or good troublemaker who wants to deepen your coaching skill set or learn from the best in the industry, then check out The Coaching Guild, where coaching gets a smart and sassy makeover .

Slide into my DMs for a no-pressure, no BS chat about the transformative world of coaching. Let's explore together!

The Coaching Guild is a training coach training program specifically designed to nurture dreamers, artists, creatives, outsiders, rebels, and good troublemakers. It is a multi-instructor, multi-disciplinary approach to training that prioritizes learning innovative foundational coaching skills and marketing training.

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