The 3 main benefits of coaching supervision

How much do I love coaching supervision – let me count the ways! As an educator of coaching supervisor and a coaching supervisor myself, I am, of course, biased, but I wanted to share with you why I think that taking regular coaching supervision is a really good idea for any coach (and facilitator, trainer, mediator…).

Coaching supervision has 3 main functions: normative, formative and restorative. The normative function comes into play when you are discussing ethical or deontological issues with your supervisor. The formative function is about “formation” in the sense of coach education – when the supervisor helps you to learn something about coaching (be it in the form of “teaching” or in the form of coaching). The restorative function is needed when your professional practice weighs on you in some way and you want to “restore”. All of these functions are beneficial to coaches, but they are not the only benefits coaching supervision can have. Here are some more:

One is the loneliest number

Coaches often work alone and cannot share their experiences with others due to confidentiality. Therefore, coaching often feels lonely. Supervision is a great place to be able to share and talk through your experiences in coaching.

Customized learning and reflection

A coaching supervisor is an expert in accompanying and facilitating learning and development in a customized way. Many coaches are still running after the next shiny model and tool and spend a lot of time and money for further education that may or may not add a lot to their development as a coach. A supervisor will encourage the supervision clients to reflect on their practice and identify the next steps in their learning. Supervisors are specialists in reflection AND in the subject matter of coaching. So, the clients cannot only identify what they would like to learn but also tap into the knowledge of the supervisor to then learn it. If you don’t run after the next shiny thing, going to a supervisor once a month or once a quarter is probably even cheaper!

Safeguarding your clients

We all have “blind spots”. We all live in our own little bubbles, and we all are prone to “group think”. However, what may seem ok for our tribe, may actually not be entirely ethical if examined from a different vantage point. Your coaching supervisor will help you notice when you are engaging in coaching practices that may be ethically questionable and will help you reflect on your actions and potentially develop new ones. By regularly reflecting with a supervisor, you are safeguarding your clients from the things that you don’t see.

Our free meetups and exchanges are no replacement for coaching supervision – but if you want to chat with like-minded people, learn about our classes, feel less lonely as a coach, why don’t you join?

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