Taking a Coach Approach to Addressing Ethical Dilemmas
Ethical dilemmas are not rare events in the life of a CPA—they are a regular feature of work life. What is rare is feeling prepared to navigate them with confidence, clarity, and care for the people involved. This course equips CPAs with a practical, people-centred skillset for doing exactly that.
Grounded in the IESBA's five fundamental principles of professional ethics and guided by a "coach approach," this course explores four situations every CPA is likely to encounter: someone brings you an ethical dilemma and needs help thinking it through; you need to point out that something appears unethical; you and another person are in conflict over the right ethical course of action; or you are the one facing the dilemma yourself.
A coach approach is not about avoiding giving advice or dodging difficult conversations. It is a mindset shift—from expert to thinking partner, from fixing to enabling—that helps the people around you develop the clarity, ownership, and courage to act ethically.
This course is designed for CPAs working in any sector who lead, advise, or influence others and, most of all, want to always act ethically.
FCPA, FCMC, ACC
With more than 25 years of experience advising and coaching organizations and leaders in complex contexts, I have established a strong reputation for helping organizations and individuals to realize their goals. I have designed, delivered and facilitated hundreds of presentations and group meetings. As co-owner of an executive search and HR consulting firm, I led and managed the firm’s growth and national expansion. I’ve been a consulting partner and principal with two large public accounting and consulting firms and have held senior finance leadership roles in the public sector and in a global not-for-profit organization. I have taught at the university undergraduate and high school continuing education levels. I am a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants, a Certified Executive Coach and Associate Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation, a Fellow Certified Management Consultant, and have a Master of Business Administration Degree. I am certified to interpret Gallup Clifton Strengths assessments, the Hogan Assessment, and the Management Research Group LEA Self-Assessment and LEA 360 Assessment.
This portal is provided as a training and development resource for City of Markham employees. Every course is delivered by a qualified subject matter expert or learning organization, is quantifiable in hours, and is verifiable — you receive a documented certificate of completion for every course you finish, stored on LearnFormula indefinitely.
If you hold a professional designation (for example in engineering, accounting, human resources, or law), courses may be counted as professionally relevant, verifiable learning activities toward your continuing professional development. Individual practitioners are responsible for confirming that an activity meets the requirements of their professional body. For questions about the City of Markham's training and development policies, please speak with your people leader or Human Resources.
