Coaching Supervision for Internal and Professional Coaches

We offer a range of coaching supervision that sits alongside our CPD for Coaches programme.  Our supervision includes:

• 1-to-1 Coaching Supervision
• Group Supervision for Internal Coaches 
• Telephone Coaching Supervision

We can provide supervision for:

• Independent professional Business or Executive coaches

as well as offering:

• Fully managed supervision programmes as part of Internal Coaching programmes within Commercial and Public Sector organisations.

Please pick up the phone (0845 456 8217) or email us if you would like to schedule a supervision session for yourself or your organisation.

Our Supervision Team

 

We have one of the most experienced Supervision teams in the UK, who together have supervised almost 300 coaches over the last decade.

Our Head of Supervision is Cathy Lasher and she is also responsible for our supervision quality assurance. Cathy has been formally supervising coaches for 10 years and has personally supervised over 200 coaches over this period both in groups and in 1-to-1 settings. Cathy has 3 supervision qualifications from Chicago-based Center for Development (2000), Coaching Supervision Academy (2005) and Centre for Supervision Training (2009). Having also designed and delivered large scale coaching training she is well versed at supervising coaches who are new to the discipline. She trained nearly 300 coaches in a modular series of coaching training courses she developed, and almost half this group went on to participate in group supervision for up to a year after their training.

Cathy has supported internal coaches working within a public sector (central government department) environment, helping managers analyse and hone their coaching skills following completion of a training course. Many of these managers participated in group supervision after their training, some for as long as five years. Cathy has also worked with a large professional services firm where she acted as facilitator/coach/supervisor to their faculty of coaches. This involved some one-to-one supervision as well as working with groups.

In addition to Cathy our team includes Sue Stockdale, who is one of the country’s most experienced coaches and has both been supervising other coaches for over 3 years each.

 

Sue Stockdale is one of the UK’s highest profile female coaches and the author of two books “Kickstart your Motivation” and “The Secrets of Women Entrepreneurs”. She is a passionate supervisor, facilitator and public speaker.

Full biographies for Cathy and Sue are available in the coaches area of our website.

 

The Benefits of Supervision

 

 

Our supervision provides benefits for individuals, both client and coach, their teams, and perhaps most importantly the partner organisations. Our coaching supervision also provides support and quality assurance, and we assert that the supervision is also for the purpose of enhancing the quality of the work the coaches are doing specifically in order to provide benefits to the individuals involved (both coaches and clients), their teams, and ultimately for the benefit of each organisation in the system.

The specific objectives of our coaching supervision are to:

• Enhance the quality of the coaching
• Provide an external support structure for coaches
• Develop the coach’s ‘internal supervisor’ i.e. reflecting on one’s work constructively / objectively
• Support the end-user clients

 

In the case, where we are providing group supervision, you have the added benefits of

• Learning from other group members, whether that be reinforcing or stretching one’s perspective
• Enhance the ‘observer’ function
• Leveraging the experience of one individual to a larger group
• Extending the knowledge base of coaches efficiently, sharing new tools and best practice
• Networking and connecting with colleagues
• Increased clarity about organisational or system-wide issues

 

Our approach

 

 

We base our supervision on two basic models. The first is Honey and Mumford’s model of learning styles, as derived from the work of Kolb, in which a permanent cycle is set up of action – reflection – theorising – planning – action. All these phases would form part of the supervision session, with a special emphasis on reflection, a stage that is often left out of our work.

The second model we would use is Hawkins and Shohet’s Seven-Eyed Model of Supervision. This model gives us seven different eyes or perspectives through which to view each coaching situation. We would help the coaches to use this model as a tool for self-reflection, to help prepare for supervision, to help ‘supervise’ themselves and for providing a map for working in the group.

 

Bespoke Group Supervision Programmes - for Internal Coaches

 

 

If you are interested in putting together a group supervision programme please contact us and we can design a bespoke coaching supervision programme to meet your organisation's requirements. We can also provide a detailed example group session structure.

We aim to develop programmes that offer our clients the maximum flexibility and also the best return on investment. We can put together a menu of options to meet organisational budgets and individual coaches needs. For example, these could include additional 1-to-1 telephone supervision, as a way of picking up some of the coaches who are delivering higher volumes of coaching hours, or those coaches who have specific issues, without having to go down a ‘one size fits all’ approach.

 

The Coaching Supervisor’s role

 

 

Below are 8 examples of the role of the coaching supervisor:

• Lead the group with an appropriate mix of direct and indirect interventions
• Hold the relevant structures and boundaries
• Create a safe environment for challenging learning
• Provide relevant and helpful tools and ‘bite-sized’ educational inputs
• Hold the appropriate balance between process and content
• Help coaches make the links between their own process and that of their clients
• Model and encourage reflection
• Share best practice examples from outside the organisation and identify best practice examples from within the organisation

 

How often should you have a Coaching Supervision session?

 

 

As an organisation of Coaches, we at Notion, have our own Supervision policies in place and we insist that all our coaches are formally following a supervision programme (which is currently a minimum of 6 sessions a year, although many of our coaches exceed this standard).

There is no definitive recommendation as to frequency, although the following summarises a survey of a number of key professional bodies:

 

• Association for Coaching  - 1 hour to every 15 sessions with a minimum of 1 hour per month
• BPS - 1 hour per month absolute minimum for experienced coaches with a minimal case load. They recommend Group supervision sessions should have no more than 7 members
• CIPD - 1 hour to every 25 hours coaching for experienced coaches or 1 hour to every 20 hours coaching for trainees or newly qualified coaches. They also recommend that the gap between supervision sessions should be no more than 6 weeks
• EMCC, ICF and APECS  - Regular sessions, but no specific frequency suggested
   

 

Preparation for your Coaching Supervision Session

 

 

One of the critical success factors for supervision is learning to prepare properly for it. We will provide resources to help coaches prepare for their supervision sessions as well as sharing tools with the coaches to give to their clients to help the clients prepare for coaching – so enhancing the entire coaching experience.

 

Adding Supervision to your CPD for Coaches programme

 

 

Of you are currently a member of our CPD for Coaches programme, you can add Supervision onto your programme at any time simply by upgrading to the GOLD CPD for Coaches membership. This level includes 1 hour of 1-to-1 coaching supervision per month (via telephone or Skype) in addition to your audio modules. For more information see CPD for Coaches - GOLD membership

 

Please pick up the phone or email us if you would like to schedule a supervision session for yourself or your organisation.

Some Testimonials about Coaching Supervisors

“I first Met Cathy Lasher 10 years ago on a coaching course designed and run by her. The course was exceptionally good - it covered the theory followed by a significant amount of experiential work.

This was the beginning of my coaching career and on completing the course I was so inspired by Cathy that after the group work was completed I asked her to be my 1:1 coaching supervisor. For the next three and half years she steered me through some very tricky times and events in my coaching.

Her supervision enabled me to:
• Understand and develop myself as a coach 
• Work with difficult issues that my clients faced 
• Accept guidance where she thought I needed it or I asked for it
• Expand the range of coaching tools available to me

Cathy Lasher is an exceptional coaching supervisor and coach whom I trust and believe in. I would highly recommend her.”
John Fooks PCC (International Coaching Federation)

 

“In 2005, I asked Cathy to be my supervisor, both to assist in developing myself as a coach. Cathy helped me to be really present with the issues that I was tackling. In particular she helped me to review learning from different clients, and to improve my professional practice, and reflect on what this was showing me about myself as a coach.

The supervision gave me confidence, and certainly made me a better coach. Cathy helped me to clarify the decisions I needed to make about what I wanted to do, how I wanted to present myself, and the sorts of things other people would be looking for.

I am extremely grateful to Cathy, and I am delighted to be able to recommend Cathy Lasher, as a supervisor.”
Kate Graham

“I have known and worked with Cathy Lasher for almost 3 years. During that time she has worked with me one to one as my coaching supervisor and, in the case of one particular high profile client, as facilitator/coach/supervisor to a faculty of external coaches. What makes Cathy particularly powerful as a supervisor is that she not only focuses on the process of coaching others and helping me to work through particular scenarios with each coachee but she constantly challenges how I see my role in each relationship and how my natural way of being and seeing the world is enabling or potentially hindering true success. Her interventions are as much about building my skill confidence as they are about my coachees.

Cathy is hugely positively intended, non judgmental, straightforward and deeply insightful. She is not frightened of saying it the way she sees it and as such confronts difficult issues that others may not.  

When in facilitative mode she is superb at drawing things out from others; when in directive mode she is more than happy to add her own insights, which without fail enable others to see a different perspective.”

Lesley Anne Cox

“I have known Cathy Lasher as a professional coach and supervisor for over 10 years.  
During the time we worked together, Cathy supported me to review my coaching experiences with a view to deepening my self awareness and my range of choices as a coach. Our supervision sessions sometimes involved listening to my coaching on tape and discussing general coaching concerns as well as exploring my more personal patterns and challenges. All this was done in a spirit of openness, acceptance, generosity, curiosity and exploration. Working with Cathy, in this way, was deeply supportive for my coaching practice.”
Janette Blakemore, INSIGHT COACHING

“Sue is very focused and constantly strives to get the best outcome for her supervisee. This is clearly evidenced in her supervision as she encourages me to reflect on my coaching with total honesty, raising my awareness and encouraging me to implement change as required. My belief is that she operates with total integrity, utilising a broad spectrum of skills from leadership, behavioural, and psychological models.”
Annie Richardson, Quantum Corporate Coaching

”Karen is a gifted coach and supervisor. Last year, I had a really great series of sessions with her that really moved me on. I am finding the acuteness of her questioning really helpful. If, like me, you have been thinking of taking on a supervisor, give Karen a go. I highly recommend her.”


Dawn Highmore, Metaphizz

“Karen's particular strength is in creating a space for me to think and feel and she does this brilliantly. The sense of clarity, connectedness and sense of fresh perspective after each session is enlightening. Karen brings a whole new emotional dimension and after every session I feel very much like my brain's reset button has been pressed leaving me feeling focused and in tune.”
Simon Crowe