Do I need a Coach Supervisor?

Yes, yes, yes! If your clients keep you awake at night and you find you are getting emotionally involved, if your clients appear to have the same issues as you do, if you are concerned about consistently meeting professional coaching standards, if you need ongoing professional development, if you need guided reflection, if you want to get deeper insights into your practice and your clients in order to be the best coach you can possibly be…and much more.

All professionals are supervised in their practice. If we are really serious about our standards then this is not an option. The 2009 CIPD Report “Coaching Supervision Maximising the Potential of Coaching” stated that “Coaches see the main benefits of supervision as developing coaching capability (88%) and assuring the quality of their coaching (86%).”

Do you know what referral means, how to notice the clues that mean you should be considering referral and then who to go to? Are you absolutely convinced that your ethical and boundary management is all that is should be?

What is your personal development plan? How do you implement and review it? How do you choose what to include and leave out.

All this and more is covered in your personal supervision which is a thinking partnership between two professionals. It is not co-coaching.

When choosing a supervisor ensure you have one who is qualified, experienced, who understands your needs and can hold the mirror up to your practice. You should be able to discuss anything with him/her that may be affecting your coaching work. S/he should contract with you, agree objectives and agendas for sessions and carry out regular reviews. Some coaches use multiple supervisors for differing aspects, others may have mentors as well. Sessions usually last for an hour and are on the telephone, however you can choose a whole day (maybe on the beach or in different surroundings) or even join a small group and enjoy a fishbowl exercise.

You then need to keep notes and reflect and a beautifully bound, enticing journal with a special, easily flowing pen can help you to organise your reflections and keep motivated to complete them.

I am so committed to supervision that I offer an affordable rate of £75 per hour plus VAT to ensure that even those coaches starting out can afford and commit to it. I also have a network of qualified supervisors available. I  run supervision webinars to explain the process e.g. ICF Italy on 26th October 2016 and I supervise professional coaches around the world so distance is no excuse!

If you are not in supervision – what’s the real reason and how do you justify ‘going it alone’?

By the way, this applies equally to NLPers!