Coaching supervision is not a luxury, but an essential tool for every coach
You’re a coach and you’re dedicated to helping your coachees achieve their goals, overcome challenges, and activate their untapped potential. However, have you ever considered who supports you in your own professional growth and development?
Many coaches view coaching supervision as a luxury or an optional extra, but in reality, it is an essential tool that every coach needs in their toolkit.
Hello, I'm Amanda (Livermore), a passionate advocate for re-discovering the potential within individuals. With over 20 years of specialised experience in Coaching, Coach Training, Training Design, and Facilitation, I have been privileged to witness first-hand the profound growth and development that coaches experience when they engage in the practice of supervision. Plus, I regularly participate in both group and individual supervision myself.
Why coaching supervision is essential
Ensuring ethical practice and client welfare: As a coach, you have a responsibility to adhere to ethical guidelines and maintain professional boundaries. Coaching supervision provides a safe space to explore ethical dilemmas, work through complex situations, and ensure that you are always acting in the best interest of your thinking partners. By prioritising ethical practice, you build trust with your thinking partners and maintain the integrity of the coaching profession.
Continuous professional growth and development: Coaching supervision is not just about addressing challenges – it's also about continuously growing and developing as a coach. Through reflective practice and feedback from your supervisor, you can identify your strengths, and areas for improvement, and set professional development goals. By investing in supervision, you demonstrate your commitment to excellence and your willingness to invest in your own growth.
Enhancing coaching skills and techniques: Coaching supervision provides a space for you to refine your coaching skills and techniques. Your supervisor can help you identify areas where you can improve how you partner with others, your communication, listening, questioning, and facilitating skills. They can also introduce you to new coaching approaches and tools, helping you expand your coaching toolkit and better serve your thinking partners.
Providing emotional support and building resilience: Coaching can be an emotionally demanding profession, and it's essential to have a support system in place. Coaching supervision provides a safe and supportive space for you to process your own emotions and reactions to your coaching work. By sharing your experiences with your supervisor, you can gain new perspectives, develop strategies for self-care, and build resilience to prevent burnout.
Increasing confidence and credibility: Participating in coaching supervision demonstrates your commitment to professional excellence and ethical practice. By working with a supervisor, you signal to your thinking partners and the wider coaching community that you value continuous learning and are dedicated to providing high-quality coaching services. This can increase your confidence as a coach and enhance your credibility in the marketplace.
Choosing the right supervisor
When selecting a coaching supervisor, it's essential to find someone who aligns with your values, coaching style, and professional goals. Look for a supervisor who has extensive experience in coaching and supervision, and who holds relevant certifications or credentials. It's also important to find a supervisor with whom you feel comfortable and can build a trusting relationship.
As a certified Mentor Coach and ICF Approved Coaching Supervisor, I offer both ACC and PCC-level coaches mentor coaching using the framework of the ICF Core Competencies. My approach blends empathy with challenge, creating a supportive yet growth-oriented environment for coaches to explore themselves and their practice so that they can have insights on how to maximise their full potential.
The powerful outcomes of coaching supervision
Coaching supervision is really not a luxury – it's an essential tool that every coach needs to thrive in their profession. By engaging in supervision, you invest in your own growth, ensure the safety and well-being of your clients, and contribute to the ongoing development of the coaching profession.
As a coach, you have the ability to deeply influence and shape the lives of those you partner with. Coaching supervision can help you to discover your untapped capabilities, refine your coaching techniques, and provide even more meaningful support to those you work with.
Sharing some of my own experiences of coaching supervision:
Overcoming Impostor Syndrome
When I first started my coaching journey and more lately, when I started to increase my coaching activity as recently as 2-3 years ago, I struggled with impostor syndrome.
I questioned my abilities and wondered if I was truly making a difference in my coachee’s lives. Through coaching supervision, I learned to recognise and overcome these self-doubts. My supervisors have helped me identify my strengths and provided me with the tools to build my confidence as a coach. Thanks to supervision, I now approach my coaching practice with a greater sense of self-assurance and trust in my skills.
Exploring ethical dilemmas
I once faced a challenging ethical dilemma with a coachee. I felt uncertain about how to proceed and was concerned about the potential impact on their well-being.
Through coaching supervision, I was able to explore this dilemma in a safe and confidential space. My coaching supervisor helped me through the complexity of the situation, ensuring that I upheld ethical standards while prioritising my thinking partner's needs. This experience completely reinforced the value of supervision in helping me maintain the integrity of my coaching practice.
Accelerating my personal development
When I was first introduced to supervision through my training, I naively underestimated how much personal growth there would be. Being a supervisor, means I am consistently confronted with internal dialogue or feelings that when unaware, could mean I collude, dismiss or tread all over the coach, their clients or the situations that are presented.
Investing in personal supervision has encouraged me to develop my reflective practice to expand my awareness and reduce my ignorance a little more with regard to how I think, feel and respond in situations. This is helping me to increase my effectiveness within my practice and day-to-day life.
By making coaching supervision a core part of our professional practice, we can create a coaching community built on a foundation of continuous growth, development, and unwavering ethics. When supervision becomes the norm rather than the exception, coachees can trust that their coach brings the process expertise, self-awareness, and commitment needed to provide an exceptional coaching experience.
If you are an ICF-credentialed coach at ACC or PCC level and you're ready to take your coaching practice to the next level, I invite you to explore the profound benefits of coaching supervision. Whether you're a seasoned coach or just starting out, supervision can provide the support, guidance, and accountability you need to excel in your coaching career, reach out for a conversation, by emailing me here.