Supervisors : are you walking your talk?

I can still remember years ago at a coaching conference, a conversation with an experienced practitioner about our own supervision arrangements.? It was during a presentation on supervision, and we were invited to discuss a question with the person next to us.? I don’t recall the precise question we were asked to explore – but I do remember that when I asked her about her supervision she told me about the kind of practitioners that she worked with … both individuals and in groups. It was a European conference and English was not her first language, I smiled and remarked positively about her client work and then clarified that I was asking about the supervision she received. I was in training as a supervisor myself at the time (so around 2009) and offered examples of my own supervision – some provided by the University where I was studying, some individual supervision paid for privately along with some more informal peer arrangements.? She put her head to one side, gave me a curious look and said something along the lines of … “no you misunderstand me, I am a supervisor myself – I don’t need supervision”.? I most certainly did misunderstand her… my mouth dropped open, my brain tried to search for words… nothing came out – I was most definitely speechless!

So…..what do you think?? Was she accurate in her position that if we are trained in supervision then we can self-supervise?? I am still wondering how many other supervisors would take this stance and also how many coaches might also imagine that this is true of supervisors.

I am open to the idea that there may be some truth in her statement – when trained as a supervisor we begin to understand more about the parallel process and we learn frameworks and models that can help broaden our perspectives.? When we have a robust individual reflective practice we are also more able to see patterns and themes in our reflections which gives clues about our opportunities for development.? But is this enough?

I know I have high expectations of myself that when I enter into my own supervision, that I “should” have peeled the first layer of the proverbial onion so that I can work on the deeper layers with my supervisor… it helps me justify the cost if nothing else!? In reality I sometimes haven’t made the time I intended to give to reflection and so “free-wheeling” with my supervisor is my first proper exploration of a niggle that’s arisen. It’s a cathartic process AND he takes me to places I might not have wandered into alone.? I also chuckle at myself when I think I have nothing to take to supervision – as I know from experience that once the supervision dialogue begins – we’ll find something. Indeed I notice that feeling like I have nothing to bring to supervision, is in fact, something to bring to supervision!

The field of coaching and coaching supervision is still an un-regulated market and therefore I respect the reality that each practitioner will make their own choice about what kind of quality assurance and governance they want to wrap around their client work. That said, the idea that anyone, even a highly trained ?supervisor, is capable of accessing that which lies just outside their awareness,? is able to see their own blind spots and biases or simply believes that one perspective on their client work is sufficient… I find deeply, deeply disturbing. ?This is probably connected to my view on leadership – as a manager I would never ask someone to do something that I was not prepared to do myself and I believed that while my words might be heard, it was my actions that were noticed and which influenced how others behaved. The mantra “be the change you want to see in the world” – served me well as a leader and I believe it serves me well now as a coaching and supervision practitioner. Like it or not, a degree of “role power” comes with the privilege of being a supervisor …. And with it comes an opportunity to be a role model for others in our community.

So, contrary to any accusations that “supervision for supervisors” is a pyramid selling opportunity, I believe it’s about congruence – an opportunity for supervisors to “walk their own talk”. Together we can build the cornerstones of the quality assurance of the multitude of coaching assignments that take place every day in organisations and in everyday life and we can accelerate the development of the many, already brilliant, practitioners who work in service of their clients. Oh – and through the process. we get to offload and re-energise ourselves in a confidential space too.

The question that then arises is how?? Well if the supervisor has already been in supervision for their coaching work that is a natural place to go….isn’t it? Well maybe!? In my upcoming blogs I will be sharing my own experiences about the benefits and difficulties of doing just that and how this has led me to develop supervision services specifically for supervisors.

If you are a supervisor who is wondering if your own supervision is truly suitable for your growing practice, then please do get in touch. It would be great to have a conversation about what else might serve you and your clients.