Developing leaders and coaches internationally

In her role as Assessor with the Accreditation team at the Association for Coaching, Lorenza reads and thinks in depth about the different manifestations of coaching competences at all levels. She understands, recognises and can choose to use many different methodologies in her coaching.

Coaching is a broad church. Lorenza's interest in the function and merit of different approaches has led her to obtain training and certification in many approaches over her professional life.  She has great skill in identifying your particular strengths to feedback, and areas to explore and develop. You'll find her curious and non-judgemental. Should you be preparing for accreditation, it is good to know you are in knowledgeable hands.

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Are you willing to put in the hard-thinking to get the development and confidence in your practice it brings? Supervision makes that complex, reflective-work more joyful, more productive and accelerates the developmental process from other CPD work. It returns value by preparing you for the contact you have with your clients, improving interactions at all stages of the life-cycle.

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In our research during 2019/2020 with the AC and AOCS, summary published in Coaching at Work magazine, we show that we are working with the big twin themes of value and developing enduring trust. 

100% of coaches agreed that finding a supervisor you feel you can really trust is the most important aspect to being ready and willing to open up to developmental scrutiny, which we know can leave people feeling vulnerable. We are not here to judge, but to open up and enable your own enhanced and discerning judgement.

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We found that new coaches like to find a supervisor who is of the same modality as them, initially. While experienced coaches find great value comes from conversations about contrasting experiences, where we can unpack the concepts and the coach's relationship with those concepts, attending to thoughts, feelings, resistance and flow.

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The "perception barrier" of not having adequate time or money for supervision, which is held by two thirds of coaches who are not in regular supervision,  vanishes in the face of value gained for those in our research who took up regular consultative support to deal with the complexity of the work with an accredited coaching supervisor. In discussion with two large groups of supervisors, the lack of understanding of the potential benefits is what allows this barrier to continue. 

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So where does value come from in coaching supervision? Our research showed that:

Initial value comes from:

• Time to think, safe from judgement

• Focus on the coach in their practice

• Addressing issues and situations arising in their practice

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Later value arises from:

• Non-judgemental reflection space

• Deepening of the relationship

• Developmental areas uncovered

• Increased capacity to serve clients

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Continuing with the same supervisor for more than a year led to value from:

• Deepening of trust in the relationship

• Addressing of patterns in challenges

• Growth of deeper client relationships

• Becoming known, respected and valued

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The value of having a different or additional supervisor (experienced coaches reported having more than one):

• The contrasts in skills, experience and modalities

• Fresh perspective, different presence and focus

• New affirmation and challenge from a different angle.

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With this knowledge, let’s move forward with even greater confidence toward valuable supervision and better practice for all coaches, and accreditation for as many as possible of those who prioritise the reputation of themselves and their profession above and beyond profit.