Many of my coach associates do not have a coaching supervisor. The big question is; does this actually matter?
Well, yes. It does.
Let’s begin with some stats.
A quick internet search reveals that at this moment in the UK there are around 100,000 “life” coaches practising 1 to 1 work in many forms and in organisations and privately.
This is great news for the UK coaching community. Coaches are trained to help us look after our wellbeing, our health, our aspirations and goals. The more coaches in our society who have and are using their skills effectively, the better our society will be.
However, coaching is still an unregulated profession; how many of these coaches are working without coaching supervision?
According to the CIPD, approximately 44% of the coaches who responded to a questionnaire on coaching supervision, had a coaching supervisor. One of the reasons for not having a supervisor was “I couldn’t find one”. Clearly coaching supervision is not being used by the majority of coaches and one of the reasons points to a lack of accessible coaching supervisors.
Why do we need coaching supervisors?
The profession of counselling recognises that for a counsellor to be effective, they need to have supervision. Indeed, it is a requirement to be a member of the British Association of Counselling.
The reasons are simple: to support the counsellor and to improve the support they give their clients.
It’s the same with coaches.
As a coach, I feel responsible for improving the experience of all those people receiving coaching but I also need space and support and time.
- I need time to reflect on how well I use coaching principles and techniques in my own life.
- I need time to improve and expand my repertoire of coaching techniques and philosophies so I can deliver a better service to my clients.
- I need time to consider whether what I’m doing is improving and benefitting people’s lives.
The sessions with my Coaching Supervisor give me this. As a result, I am a happier person and a better coach for it.
In short, we need Coaching Supervisors because they are essential to the health and well-being of both ourselves and our coaches.
Here is my contribution
As a proud member of the coaching community in the UK I wanted to help improve the quality and outcomes of coaching while at the same time supporting those that coach.
In 2014, I developed a Coaching Supervision Training course which was subsequently endorsed by the Institute of Leadership and Management. I have delivered the course to participants from local authorities, including the police, MOD, fire and rescue and the ambulance service. All courses were enthusiastically received and I have been requested to run more.
So, if you are heading up a coaching organisation and want your coaches to be at their best, consider training them to be Coaching Supervisors.
If you are a coach and want to up your game as well as contributing to the coaching community then consider Coaching Supervision training.
Together, we can support those 100,000 coaches – imagine the impact that is going to have!