According to Jackie Arnold (2014), the role of a supervisor is to “promote a deeper level of understanding around the dynamics of coach/coachee interaction […] share ways of working more effectively […] and provide nourishment and consolidation”. Based on this, the supervisor appears to be the leading person in the coaching supervision, the person that holds all the answers and can support, educate and challenge the supervisee to improve their practice. However, the supervisor’s approach will determine how they view their role, and this may differ depending on the person. From this we can infer that the role of the supervisor must be defined through the contracting process according to the needs of the supervisee and the experience and practice of the supervisor. In practice, for example, the supervisor can outline their supervision approach and perception of their role in the contracting process. Thus, they are effective at ensuring that the supervisee (and any stakeholders) is aware of the responsibilities and expectations of all parties. To this end, the role of the supervisor is that of facilitator to the more significant understanding of responsibilities within the supervision. If we assert that the development needs of coaches will vary and therefore so will the “style and emphasis of supervision”, we can conclude that the principal role of an effective supervisor is to facilitate a clear understanding of the responsibilities of the supervision contract (Hodge, 2016).

What naturally follows therefore, is that the principal responsibility of an effective supervisor is to ensure that both parties and any stakeholders in the supervision are aware of and act on their responsibilities also. If supervision is a collaborative and co-created relationship, which would be the case with a person-centred approach for example, the contract itself must be co-created and agreed. According to Hodge (2016), responsibilities revolve around the following key language: co-creation, purpose, feedback, preparation, exploration, learning styles, wellbeing, reflection, ethical practice, respect for boundaries and confidentiality and CPD.  For example, without agreed and established responsibilities, the supervisor cannot be effective at creating an effective supervision environment. This may risk creating a critical, imbalanced relationship that undermines the fundamental principle that the coach knows what they are doing, therefore, limiting their development, which has a direct impact on the coach’s coaching and their client’s experience as a result.

Click here to reach out to discuss how supervision can benefit you.

References

Arnold, J. (2014) Coaching Supervision at its BEST 1^st ed. Carmarthen, Wales; Bethel, USA: Crown House Publishing.

Hodge, A (2016) The value of coaching supervision as a development process: Contribution to continued professional and personal wellbeing for executive coaches [Article] in International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring Vol. 14, No. 2, August 2016 Page 87 vol14issue2-paper-06.pdf (brookes.ac.uk) [accessed 02.11.24]