What happens in Coaching Supervision?
If you haven’t experienced coaching supervision before it can feel like a mystical place of the unknown. Maybe you’re clear in what happens in coaching (obvs), in therapy, mentoring and consulting. Well, this post is designed to help you gain clarity on what happens in supervision.
Firstly, a bit about the language…
Let’s clear up what is meant by ‘supervisor’. I don’t know about you but it makes me think of my first job, it was in retail and meant having a ‘supervisor’ checking I had given the right change, folded the clothes in the right way and I was smiling at all times. Basically looking over my shoulder and highlighting when I was doing things wrong.
This is NOT what a coaching supervisor does. Think of them more as a guide. I see supervision as therapy for your coaching practice and a place for you to focus on your coaching craft, you as a practitioner and how all the things you are experiencing might be showing-up in your work. Its a place to reflect and do some high quality thinking and reflecting about you as a coach and your work. You get to decompress, celebrate, release, strategise, plan, reset and be.
In supervision, the primary goal is to support and enhance the professional (and personal) development of coaches, I’m here to help keep you well as a coach and keep your practice well so you are doing your best for your clients.
Here's what typically happens during coaching supervision:
Reflect on Your Coaching Practice: This is your space for self-reflection on your coaching practice. In coaching supervision, you share your experiences, client interactions and specific cases.
Feedback and Assessment: As your coaching supervisor I’ll give you feedback and advice where warranted and requested. You can talk about what's going well and where there's room for improvement.
Tackling Tough Stuff: If you've faced any tricky situations, dilemmas or difficulties in your coaching, you discuss these here. We problem-solve and navigate these issues together.
Ethical Considerations: If there are any ethical dilemmas, your supervisor helps you figure out what's the best thing to do. This goes beyond simple right and wrong; you explore the entirety of the ethics, helping you come to your conclusion while considering professional standards and codes of ethics.
Learning and Developing New Skills: It's a space to learn and get guidance on new coaching techniques, communication skills, and strategies to better serve your clients. I share useful tools, resources or knowledge to help you with your practice.
Your Self-Care and Well-Being: Your well-being is at the forefront of my mind as your supervisor. You get to discuss how you are taking care of yourself in your work and life to ensure you are mentally and emotionally prepared for your coaching work.
Professional Development Goals: As your supervisor, I help you make a plan to reach your goals and provides support and guidance on how to achieve them. As well as offering support as you do the all important implementation.
Accountability: You might establish action plans for implementing improvements or addressing specific challenges discussed in supervision.
Exploring Client-Centered Issues: Your supervisor helps you gain insights into how you can further understand your clients, their behaviour, patterns, and progress or if there are any issues coming up in the sessions. I help you to deeply explore the situation from all different perspectives and lenses, highlighting any blind-spots.
Emotional Support: Coaching supervision provides a safe and confidential space for you to truly express your emotions and real feelings related to your coaching work. And it's unlike any other conversation you have with colleagues, friends, family, therapist, coach or mentor. You are welcome to bring anything to the supervision table and its my job to guide as into what this means for your work.
Knowledge Sharing: I share my knowledge and expertise, offering resources, tools, or relevant research to help you in your work.
Trust and Confidentiality: Most importantly, everything said in coaching supervision stays between you and I. It's like having a trusty confidant you can share what is going on professionally that you cannot share anywhere else. I take great pride in creating safe, self-responsible and brave supervision spaces which facilitate deep exploration and insights.
Coaching supervision is a collaborative and reflective process that aims to help you as a coach to improve your skills, address challenges, and ensure you’re providing the best possible support to your clients. It serves as a valuable resource for continuous learning and growth in the coaching profession. And my belief is that it has a huge contribution to make in raising standards in the coaching industry.
If you’re interested in Coach Supervision with me. Book a call and let’s see if we are a good fit.