Coaching Institute - Code of Conduct

Every BL Faculty member in our Learning Network Agrees to this Code of Conduct

The goal of this Code of Conduct is to set the tone and shared standards for how we will work together to leadership development and build a better, more just society. While we know that everyone has the best of intentions, it is very important to us that we also have clarity and alignment on the non negotiables related to being a BL Faculty member. Because you are being put into a featured position of leadership within our BL Faculty Network, we rely on you to represent us and each other in every interaction you have. We are all in this together and we must all share this Code of Conduct.

We Respect Everyone Involved in BL Institute’s Network & Believe we are all Equal

BL Institute believes that every human is equal, regardless of where they were born, the color of their skin, the religion they choose to follow, their gender association, their age and/or their physical abilities. We do not value people who have made more money or have more fame than others who have less. We do not celebrate hype more than we celebrate hard work and strong character. We recognize that every single person has something to offer and something that they need and when we are engaged in any relationship within, or on behalf of, BL Institute we treat each other with respect and dignity. We offer what we can and we learn what we can from each other. There is absolutely no allowance for bias, discrimination, prejudice, racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, homophobia or any other point of view that results in us treating someone differently or poorly because they are different than us.

Everything we Do, Say, Think or Create is Social Equity First

We are a mission first institution and we have been built to serve and support development of leaders who will advance social equity across countries. Every decision we make will always be about “social equity”. That means that we listen to the needs of our learners and their communities, we advocate for them always, we show up and we do the hard work that is required to actually help them advance social equity through their leadership and changemaker projects. In order to truly be development impact first, we recognize that the following will always be true.

· Product decisions, new features and everything related to how we build BL INSTITUTE™ and anything else we do is driven by feedback from our learners and adaptive challenges of their constituencies as they strive to advance social equity.

· Team members who join BL Institute must share this value and join knowing that their job is not just about their own advancement, but they are at BL Institute to serve and support the BL learners that we work with. We will always choose this value over talent and skill set when hiring and firing.

· New Business Opportunities will always be evaluated with the primary question “will this help advance social equity through leadership development?”. If the answer is yes we will figure out the business model and the resources to make it happen. If the answer is no, regardless of what the opportunity is, we will not pursue it.

· Financial Decisions will always be made with the social equity first mentality and when doing what is best for changemakers for social equity is not the same thing as what is best for BL Institute’s finances we will be smart, strategic and innovative to find solutions.

We Accept Responsibility & Take Leadership for Creating a Safe Space for BL Learners

· Start With Understanding: As BL Faculty we understand that the greatest gift we can give a BL Learner is understanding. We empathize with the realities that they are going through, share our own experiences as changemakers that are similar, share that we have had your own ups and downs and around, and share that we understand the emotional toll and challenges of being a changemakers. This is so that we do not show up as a coach or a consultant, but instead, someone who has been where they are, understands what they are going through, and can connect with the changemaker's reality in a way that very few others can.

· Hold Space For Emotion: Understand that for most of the changemakers we will speak with having no one else to talk to honestly and frankly about their finances, their opportunities, and their challenges. The Strategy Call each month might be the only 60 minutes a month where they can vent, speak freely, and share their emotions. We are always prepared for frustration, tears, joy, and every emotion in between and don’t shy away from it. We hold the space for it.

· Ask Questions: We do not have to know all of the answers. We operate with the primary belief that these changemakers actually ultimately know what to do but need a sounding board and outside perspective to help them get to clarity (like ALL humans do!). As a BL Learner shares, we try to ask as many questions as possible to help them think through their reality and to make sure you understand it fully before sharing your own experiences and thoughts.

· Be 50/50 Tough and Love: “Tough Love” is the way we should all approach our BL Learners but it has to be 50/50 – if there is too much tough or too much love the dynamics of the relationship will no longer be safe. 50% “tough” means we hold them accountable, we remind them of their commitments, we keep them focused on their goals and their action plan and we hold them to the highest version of themselves. 50% “love” means we understand that this is a really hard journey and that there will be ups and downs and arounds and we connect with them at a heart level and advocate for them as they are on this journey. Too much tough and the relationship becomes difficult and the learner will shut down. Too much love and the relationship becomes too personal, more like a therapist, and no longer effective in terms of driving BL INSTITUTE™ results.

· Be Patient: Behavior change takes time. Many BL Learners struggles with focus, discipline, consistency, and the basic things that BL INSTITUTE™ is trying to instill in them. It is more than likely that every BL Faculty will have BL Learners miss calls, show up unprepared and not have their BL plans updated. We all choose to be patient. We often see that these basic behavioral elements that we work hard to help them install take months, not days. Remembering the last time we tried to get fit – we probably missed appointments at the gym, avoided our workouts, ate the wrong thing sometimes, and struggled to maintain the rigor that was necessary to hit our goals. This is the same behavior change process our BL Learners are in and we are there to drive the change – as frustrating as that can be sometimes!

· Monitor Bias: BL Learners choose us so we will be assigned a completely random “portfolio” of changemakers who will have diverse backgrounds, personalities, and perspectives. As we work with these BL Learners it is incredibly important that we do not bring any of our own bias into these conversations. We have our own experiences and points of view based on the place we were born, the body we are in, and the businesses we have built. That experience is individual and it is not better or worse than our BL Learners’ experiences. We are 100% committed to not letting accents, bad internet connections, businesses that are very small, or any other factor somehow bias us to think that those BL Learners and their work and their goals are any less important than others. We show up fully for every business owner. Always.

· Do Not Engage In Political or Religious Conversations With BL Learners: It is more than likely that politics, religion, and opinions will come up with your BL Learners, and in some cases, you may be aligned and in other cases, you may not. Do not engage in these conversations. Do not explicitly agree or disagree with them and if you have a conflicting point of view, do not share it. Your job is only to hold space for them – whatever their reality is. If these topics come up, hold space for them to share, empathize with them as humans, and then redirect the conversation back to their BL INSTITUTE™.

We are Aligned with & Committed to Representing BL Institute’s Brand & Culture

· Live the BL Institute Values! As BL Faculty we are excited to be an advocate and supporter of changemakers in our day to day lives and choose to spend our time and money working with changemakers.

· Use Approved Materials: If we ever send an external party information about BL Institute, we only use the approved communication tools that are on the website or have been provided by a BL Institute Team Member with confirmation that they can be shared.

· Update LinkedIn: We can add that we are BL Faculty to our LinkedIn Profiles and if we do, we ensure that the update is connecting to the official BL Institute Page.

· Post freely on social media but always respect confidentiality and never mention a specific changemaker that we know or work with through BL Institute. All BL Institute related posts will include the hashtag #blinstitute.

· Presentation: Always show up to all BL INSTITUTE™ Strategy Calls and other BL Institute events looking professional. We are a casual company so business attire is not necessary but we do show up well groomed and with business casual attire on.

· Contribute Solutions Not Problems: We do hard work and so there will always be challenges and problems that arise. We do not sit in the problems. Instead, we bring solutions and ideas and innovations that will help to make BL Institute’s work more effective and that will allow us to increase our impact together.

· Have Fun! Really! We are doing quite serious and oftentimes hard work. But BL Institute has an incredible group of people who touch our work. Have fun with each other, connect, learn together and enjoy being in this hard work together!

We Honor BL Institute’s Vision to Serve all Changemakers with a Consistent & Equal Experience & Commit to Following Process

· Show up to BL Institute Strategy Calls On Time: We always show up to every BL INSTITUTE™ Strategy Call at least 2 minutes before the Call start time.

· Be Prepared: We always review the BL Learners Profile in BL Institute, check all stats and read the Learning Log before a Strategy Call so that we are well prepared and able to offer maximum value during the Strategy Call.

· Camera On: We have our cameras on for deeper connection during all Strategy Calls.

· Log Into the BL Faculty Zoom Account: We attend all Strategy Calls logged into the specific BL Faculty Zoom account provided to us during Onboarding.

· Do BL Institute 1 – 2 – 3: During every BL INSTITUTE™ Strategy Call we take the changemaker through BL -1-2-3 ensuring that in the Call we talk about their GROW. We agree and understand that if we are not using BL INSTITUTE™ to guide the conversation during the BL INSTITUTE™ Strategy Calls then they are lovely conversations, but they are not BL INSTITUTE™ Strategy Calls!

· Send all BL Learner questions to support@ and NO other individual or person at BL Institute. Those emails can get lost and do not get tracked in our systems. We will always always always tell BL Learners to email support@smallbizsilverlining.com with ANY and ALL questions or needs that they have.

· We will always send all of our BL Faculty questions to strategists@bridgingleadershipinstitute.com and NO other individual or person at BL Institute. While we have great relationships with the BL Faculty Team at BL Institute, we know it is always best to email the strategist@ email so that it can get captured as a ticket and handled by our team.

· Do Not Communicate With BL Learners with personal email or phone.

· Terms of Engagement

· Passwords and Access to BL Faculty Certification, BL Institute and all other proprietary information provided by BL Institute are not to be shared without receiving written consent from a member of the BL Institute Team.

· There is to be no business dealings between BL Faculty and BL Learners without communication with BL Institute and a full release signed in advance of any business arrangement being formed. This includes BL Faculty investing in BL Learners, doing contracts with them or engaging in any sort of formal business relationship.

· There is zero personal promotion, pitching or upselling to a BL Learner. BL Faculty operate with complete integrity and do not sell personal consulting services or any other type of products of services that they can gain from to any BL Learner.

· BL Faculty shall not provide advise outside of their accepted areas of so called expertise, but rather shall refer or delegate to appropriate specialists. In particular, in complex financial, business and personal matters BL Learners should always be advised to consult an accountant, lawyer and/or therapist.

· Personal Boundaries are always in place and while we endeavor to be warm and connected and empathetic and in relationship with our BL Learners, we understand that this is a business relationship and we are there in service of them. We agree that it is inappropriate for the conversations to become too personal and for any BL Faculty to overshare about their current life circumstances or realities.

Adapted from SLAPStragegist Code of Conduct: https://slapstrategist.com/codeofconduct