Supervision – More than just coaching for coaches

The word 'supervision' doesn’t do us coaching supervisors many favours. As your supervisor, am I checking up on you? Am I the expert who knows how coaching should be done and will point out where you're going wrong?

The short answer is no! For me, supervision is somewhere a coach can step away from their immediate work and have a proper look at what’s going on.

That might mean talking about a particular client they’re challenged by or something that happened in a coaching session. But we might also wonder about what else might be going on and, importantly, what haven't we noticed yet?

A pattern watcher and a helpful disruptor

My own supervisor once referred to themselves as part pattern watcher, part helpful disruptor.

When we coach, we're inevitably part of the work. We aren't neutral observers who leave ourselves conveniently outside the coaching space. We get drawn in, like some clients, find others difficult. We want to rescue, we make assumptions and we occasionally get things wrong.

While that's normal, the interesting bit is noticing it – and sometimes you simply can't see it on your own.

Through supervision, another person can help with the noticing – be it something in the story, in the way you're telling it, or even in what's happening between you and your client that you hadn't spotted.

Because they're not standing where you're standing, not because they're cleverer or more experienced than you.

Supervisor as expert?

I prefer to think of supervision as a meeting of equals, yet that doesn't mean a supervisor has no particular responsibility. They absolutely do. Supervision has a role in helping coaches pay attention to ethics, boundaries, competence and the possibility of harm.

There may be times when a supervisor needs to say, "I'm concerned about this", rather than simply asking another curious question.

However, most of the time I don't think my job as supervisor is to tell another coach what they should do.

I’d rather help them see more of what's there and make their own thoughtful choice about it.

Not just coaching for coaches?

There is obviously a lot of overlap. Both coaching and supervision involve listening, curiosity, challenge, reflection and helping someone think more clearly.

But supervision looks more deliberately at the coach in relation to their work.

We can look at the client, the coach, the relationship between them, what's happening inside the coach, what's happening between coach and supervisor - even what's going on in the wider organisation.

All in service of helping the coach see more clearly, work more safely and keep developing while staying resourced.

Models as maps, not checklists

As in coaching, models are useful when they help us see something we couldn't see before. But I don't particularly want someone to feel as though I've just done a model to them.

Peter Hawkins' Seven-Eyed Model can help to remind us to move around and look at a situation from different places. Ideas from Nancy Kline's Thinking Environment can be valuable because sometimes people need enough space and attention to hear themselves think. And my natural leaning towards Solutions Focus means I’m usually interested in what's working, what's already available and what might help create some movement.

In my supervision spaces, models are maps, not instructions – and sometimes we don't need one at all.

What should you actually get from supervision?

In the coaching world, I notice rather large claims for supervision can occasionally be made. Can it guarantee quality, reduce risk, improve coaching outcomes and demonstrate return on investment?

I'm not (yet) convinced we can confidently say yes to all of that. Having supervision doesn’t automatically make somebody a good coach.

I believe the real value of supervision is more modest. It can help coaches notice things sooner, manage boundaries, explore an ethical niggle, question assumptions, see a situation more systemically, understand personal reactions to a client, or simply get sufficiently untangled to go back and do useful work.

The benefits may be largely invisible or much harder to measure, but I'm not sure that makes them less valuable.

If supervision is making a difference to how a coach thinks, the choices they make and how they practise in service of their client, that seems a pretty useful contribution to me.

For me, supervision is a regular place to bring your work and have a good look at it with someone else – including the things you're pleased with as well as the things that are bothering you.

It's somewhere for all of us who coach to think, notice, question, be supported and occasionally be helpfully disrupted.

My hope is that coaches leave supervision with me seeing a little more clearly, perhaps noticing something they hadn't before, and with more choice about what they do next.

If you're a coach thinking about supervision, looking for a new supervisor, or simply curious about whether the way I work might suit you, you're very welcome to get in touch for an initial conversation.

Enquire through the link below or email kim@kimnewtonwoof.com.