The questions that my fellow coaches ask me when I act as a supervisor make me wonder if it is necessary to have the figure of the supervisor in our profession. It is true that Professionalism and experience are helping us become more aware of what we are experiencing, but I would be a poor supervisor if, as a coach, I didn't understand that I also need supervision.
- «My coachee is not progressing, we are in a vicious cycle.»
- «My coachee bores me»
- «They're asking me for advice, should I give it to them?»
- «I have a coachee with a teenage son, and they have the same problems I do with mine. Will I be able to support them through this?»
In a coaching intervention, emotions, interpretative models, beliefs and values are investigated, so something that is addressed always touches upon or resonates with the coach's own approach. In my case, I'm always fortunate enough to encounter a coachee who highlights my need for continued growth, because they reveal something in me that still needs solidifying.
The role of the coach's supervisor
And this is where it comes in the invaluable role of the supervisor. Your role can be mentoring and we can look for advice in it, a tool for action to be able to solve issues. However, I understand essential your role when my need has to do with with what's happening to me with the work the coachee is doing, when I perceive that my client's work is being hindered by something that I myself am experiencing with the topics being worked on.
Difficulties as a coach supervisor
descarrilado. proposed supervisions in which the fellow coach proposed to maintain greater distance with that case which he felt most moved or overwhelmed by. From my point of view, this option is a return of the situation, because it does not help the coach to strengthen their role, but rather sustains an area pending resolution or development.
On other occasions, these types of situations arise from a feeling of powerlessness: «I'm not able to help my coachee develop,» «I feel like they're at a standstill.». It's difficult to help a coachee find alternatives if the coach themselves is at the same crossroads.
I also remember times when the coach would say to me, «Well, but if I don't want to touch this part of me, because it's a cost I don't want to pay right now, that doesn't stop me from continuing with my profession.» In these cases, what was maintained was a clear blindness to the cues the coachee was giving, about where the possibility for development might lie, and which the coach was missing.
If a coach isn't prepared to deal with their own stuff, how will they be able to tolerate the discomfort their coachee might feel about that option?
The possibility of a coach receiving periodic supervision is a free choice for each professional, and so is the format. In my opinion, my responsibility in supporting others in their growth goes through the belief that I still need to grow myself, in order to put this growth at the service of my profession.
What difficulties do you have? What might be your blind spots?
