Bravo Kathy for writing about a topic that needs to be "outed" in Agility. Abuse of Power!!
I have to say this struck a real cord in me. I have attended several seminars where the presenter was less than professional when it came to the ethics that Kathy talks about. This presenter did not treat everyone with respect, not even close. There was rudeness, bulling, and intimidation. I am not a weak person so at some point I do fight back against the intimidation. But I walk away from seminars vowing to never attend another seminar again. They have an impact on people's lives, but is that really the impact that they wanted to have? I think not since they earn a living giving seminars!
A quote from the article "The good coach will be concerned primarily with the well-being, safety, protection and future of individual performer. There must be a balance between the development of performance and the social, emotional, intellectual, and physical needs of the individual" - Code of Ethics of the British Institute of Sports Coaches.
There are so many reasons for treating your students and seminar attendees well, and very, very few for treating them poorly.
- It gets them to take another seminar/class from you if they feel like your words were valuable, and encouraging.
- We ALL try to treat our dogs with respect, kindness and reward often. Why then do teachers not treat their students like that? Click N Treat works for all animals, even humans.
- Good information is to be guarded? No, if we all contribute to raising the level of competition and competence, doesn't that make the competitive environment more fun. Isn't a fair race more fun to win then having an overwhelming advantage?
- If students are allowed to question what you are saying it contributes to your depth of understanding of the topic as well. You get something positive back.
Way to go Kathy and as my mother would say "you can catch more bees with honey than vinegar".
