Naming the Engagement¶

The umbrella for KCG's engagement-framing work. The diagnostic move is being explicit about what an engagement is, what it isn't, and what's required of both parties — before any work begins.

The problem it solves¶

Engagements fail more often from misaligned expectations than from poor technique. A client thinks they're getting advice; the coach thinks they're providing reflection. A leadership team thinks the consulting engagement covers strategy and execution; the consultant thinks it's bounded to advisory. A founder thinks the advisor will lead the strategy work; the advisor thinks they're providing review. The mismatch surfaces three weeks in, by which point trust has been spent on a misunderstanding rather than on the work. This umbrella prevents that mismatch by establishing — before any work begins — exactly what each party will get, what they will not get, and what is required of both for the engagement to function.

Where this applies¶

The naming move — being explicit about what the engagement is, what it isn't, and what's required of both parties — applies across three practice domains:

Individual development. The coaching engagement frame: scope, partnership, reflection-naming-clarity, no advice.
Organizational strategy. Project and consulting engagement scope: what this engagement covers, what it doesn't, what counts as done, who has to agree.
Business growth. Advisor, vendor, and partnership relationships: explicit scope-setting before work begins, to prevent the misaligned-expectations failure mode at higher stakes.

Courses in this umbrella¶

Overview of Coaching — Course 02. The first and currently only course in this umbrella. 12 lessons across 3 modules.

Glossary terms anchored here¶

What this umbrella hands off to¶

Once the engagement is framed, the diagnostic skills begin. Naming the Cause is the next umbrella — the discipline of separating symptoms from causes before designing any intervention.