Mentoring and Supervision
Every coach needs regular supervision and mentoring to ensure that their skills comply with the requirements set by the profession, and develop a healthy relationship with clients.
Coach is only human with life challenges like any other person. They have the same emotions (yes, also anger and sadness), thoughts (also irrational thinking errors) and often a tough childhood experience. It means that the coach, in cooperation with a client, can transfer their experience to the client and interpret the client’s situation through an angle that prevents neutrality and a healthy relationship. Supervision helps recognise these transfers and maintain professional relationships, while mentoring is a great opportunity for coaches to learn from colleagues by sharing their coaching approach, techniques and experience.
Coach Supervision
- The process of supervision is regular cooperation with a more experienced colleague or
a group of colleagues. During the process a coach shares their coaching work experience, being involved in reflective dialogue and a shared learning process. - In supervision a coach’s experience and reflection on skills, competencies (by using the
competencies and Code of Ethics developed by the International Coach Federation) and
conduct is used. - During supervision sessions ethical issues and situations are also reviewed, thus ensuring that a coach provides a good and professional service to clients.
- Supervision is a safe and confidential place to be to study professional experiences and reveal unconscious behaviours or prejudices that may become an obstacle for healthy and productive cooperation with a client.
Coach Mentoring
- In order to acquire an ICF certification level (ACC, PCC, MCC), a certain number of mentoring hours are necessary to be able to achieve and demonstrate the level of competency established by the requirements.
- Mentoring is for developing certain coaching competencies (by using ICF competencies
and Code of Ethics). - A mentor trains specific skills and abilities by using feedback and observation of competencies (role plays, real-life sessions or their records).