As a coach I value the coaching supervision I take part in and over the years have made a considered commitment to this either as part of a peer supervision group or by receiving one to one coaching supervision.
Why? For me it is four-fold:
- Because I value my personal development as a coach, that is also about me being congruent to what coaching is
- It is about being challenged and held to account around my profession as a coach and coaching supervisor
- It is about the value I bring to my clients in the coaching & supervision I do
- And as a coaching supervisor, I am demonstrating a commitment to what the process offers and brings
I have been coaching now for over 25 years either as an internal coach or as an external coach, and for the last 6 years, I have been supervising too. A few years I decided to undertake a balance and check on my coaching supervision and completed the ILM level 7 in Coaching Supervision.
Reflecting on the completion I really enjoyed being challenged, having a robust approach to learning and demonstrating my level of knowledge, skills and ability. What did surprise me and still does is the low number of coaches who undertake regular supervision, beyond using it to gain accreditation! Even though coaches have signed up to codes of ethics and practise as members of coaching bodies they aren’t undertaking supervision or even considering it.
When we ask our clients to prepare for and reflect on their coaching, to follow through on developmental actions they discussed and to work towards the goals they have set with us as the coach, I wonder why then don’t coaches see the importance and value of doing just that themselves via supervision! If you are interested in having a conversation about Supervision do let me know and get in touch via the contact form.