Supervisors are experienced coaches who share their wisdom and have a multi-faceted view on your coaching practice.
They show humanity and kindness and provide a safe supportive space.
And just like owls, supervisors are helping coaches to develop their night vision to see below the surface of things, noticing the deep inner dynamics that support or hinder their practice.
For all coaches who would like to become
supervisors and who need supervision,
the Academy of Coach Supervision & Mentoring
(ACSM) has the answer.
Supervision is a must for each professional coach. It provides a safe place to speak about the coaching practice and to maintain a high energy. Now that there are thousands of coaches around the world – external and internal – there is a strong need for professional supervisors.
Behind each Coach, a Professional Supervisor
According to the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC), supervision is the interaction that occurs when a coach brings their coaching work experience to a supervisor in order to be supported and to engage in reflective dialogue and collaborative learning for the development and benefit of the coach, their clients and their organisations.
A clarification: this is not coach mentoring, which focuses exclusively on the development of the eight competencies of the coach, ICF and/or EMCC. Supervision is concerned with the relationship between the coach and their client as well as all related mechanisms and context.
To obtain/maintain EMCC accreditation,
a coach must have one hour of supervision
for every 35 hours of client practice or,
at least, one hour per quarter.
The purpose of supervision is to develop the practice of coaches of all levels of experience and maintain or enhance their wellbeing. Supervision is a powerful vehicle for deep learning; benefits extend beyond the supervisee and include their clients and sponsoring organisations.
We embrace and support both the ICF and the EMCC as global professional associations of coaching and mentoring, and only the EMCC offers an accreditation for coach supervisors – the ESIA (European Supervision Individual Accreditation).
Supervision is a profession practice requiring mastery of specific skills and so requires specific training. Being a coach with some experience does not qualify you to be a supervisor. Many elements are at stake in the relationship: procedural, ethical and psychological in order to create the alliance, the ‘bubble’ in which the coach feels completely at ease to share their client experience.
As the coaching profession has developed, there is a growing need for supervisors in the world. Coaches need to have confidence in professional supervision and accreditation becomes a must to guarantee quality assurance.
A professional supervisor applies eight core competencies:
