Coaching Supervision: Towards a Systemic Coaching Supervision Framework

Abstract

Coaching supervision is an emerging and at the same time a contentious development intervention to improve coaching practices (Grant AM, Int J Evid Based Coach Mentor 10(2):17–33, 2012). While professional supervision is strongly recommended by coaching bodies and coaching organizations (Standards Australia, SAI Global Limited under licence from Standards Australia Limited, Sydney, 2010), its rate of development and uptake varies considerably across the world with potentially more coaching supervisors trained in UK and Germany than the rest of the world combined (Hawkins P, Smith N, Coaching, mentoring, and organisational consultancy: Supervision, skills and development. McGraw-Hill Education, Maidenhead, 2013). Given an increasing awareness regarding the role of supervision in professional development and in enhancing standards of practice (Lawrence P, White A, Coach Int J Theory Res Pract 7(1):39–55. doi: 10.1080/17521882.2013.878370, 2014; Passmore J, Supervision in coaching: Supervision, ethics, and continuous professional development. Kogan Page, London, 2011), very little attention has been paid in the published literature to the need for specific training, anchored in theoretically-grounded and evidence-based programmes (Grant Am, Int J Evid Based Coach Mentor, 10(2):17–33, 2012). As scientist/practitioners it is therefore imperative to firstly understand the broader landscape in which coaching supervision training will take place. From a systems perspective the landscape includes all the different components which need to be considered in designing a coaching supervision training programme. In the light of this, the aim of this chapter is to present a coaching supervision framework based on a systemic approach to supervision, according to which the training and development of potential supervisors can be structured. A systemic perspective highlights the multitude of components that shape the supervision process. The chapter further aims to stimulate discussion regarding the critical building blocks included in the framework from a multicultural perspective and a number of design questions are therefore posed at the end of each section. These questions also represent areas for future research in coaching supervision. The framework emerged from a conceptual analysis of current practices, scholarly research and the collective experience of the authors as leadership and executive coaches who also provide supervision.