Coaching Supervision

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I have been a supervisor since 2004, working with executive coaches, coaches in training, and forensic scientists. I am accredited as a Coaching Supervisor by the Association for Professional Executive Coaching and Supervision (APECS). I was trained by the Bath Consultancy Group and have a Certificate in Coaching Supervision. I also act as a Mentor Advisor for the Association of Coaching Supervisors, on all matters related to mentoring.

I help coaches (and other professionals including mentors, consultants, advisors and trainers) ensure the quality of their work, maintain their resilience, and develop professionally. I work with individual coaches, groups and with organisations offering supervision to their own coaches.

My approach to supervision is informed by my training in Psychosynthesis, the 7-Eyed Model, the Three Worlds 4 Territories model, and by ideas around presence, values clarification, and stages of leadership development.

My supervision supports coaches in being the best coaches they can be. It focuses on:

  • ensuring that they are developing effective working relationships with their coachees

  • facilitating their personal and professional development

  • developing their coaching competencies

  • ensuring that the their work and approach is aligned with the needs of the coachee and of the client organisation

  • helping them make the personal shifts that will enable them to help their coachees make the shifts they need to make.

Benefits

The benefits of Coaching Supervision include:

  • developing new choices when "stuck" in your work

  • exploring ethical dilemmas in a safe and confidential environment

  • balancing your responsibilities both to the organization and to your individual clients

  • learning new skills and approaches

  • acquiring new models and frameworks to guide your coaching

  • understanding the culture or ecology of organisations in which you operate

  • knowing how to work effectively within an organisational setting

  • controlling the flow of information, particularly 'double bind' information

  • seeing the coaching within the context of the wider organisational needs

  • developing your coaching presence by increasing your Self awareness and your ability to use your perceiving, thinking, feeling, intuiting, and wisdom in service of your clients and the systems they operate in.

The frequency of the supervision sessions depends on the volume of coaching work being undertaken, the experience of the coach, and the nature of their work environment. (The CIPD recommends that coaches should receive supervision at least once every 2 months or one hour for every 35 hours of coaching.)

For further information see my entry on the Association for Professional Executive Coaching and Supervision website.

What My Supervisees Say About Working With Me

I've truly valued every session I've had with Mike in the two years since he became my supervisor. I love the way he keeps me focused and offers thematic feedback as we explore complex organisational and team dynamics, ethical dilemmas, and at times tricky one on one relationships. Working with him helps me stay grounded, open and curious about my coaching, my clients and my responses. 

 If you're after powerful insights from a supervisor who treats you as an equal, is comfortable with metaphor and somatics, and has an uncanny ability to pose the question that needs asking, Mike would be a great choice.

Carole Osterweil, Executive Coach at Visible Dynamics, Working in the UK and across the globe

"I had been looking for a new supervisor and was fortunate to find Mike. I have been working as an executive and team coach for around 25 years, and also work as a human performance coach. I needed an experienced supervisor who could provide both a depth of experience and a breadth of vision in exploring my own practice, not just from a psychological perspective but also from a systemic, and holistic, perspective. This is not easy to find. Mike has been an invaluable asset as a supervisor and has helped me explore a diverse range of topics, and dilemmas. He brings a wealth of life experience and understanding, and is able to help create a reflective space that is both calm and stimulating at the same time. I would describe him as an 'elder' in the world of coaching supervisors and would highly recommend him as a supervisor."

Ben Clayton-Jolly, Executive and Performance Coach, Inspiring Performance GmbH, Austria

Mike is absolutely invaluable to me in developing my capability and ensuring I deliver the best service to my coaching clients. I appreciate Mike's deep knowledge and experience, which means he is insightful in each of our supervision calls. This enables me to stretch my thinking and get to the heart of the matter on each and every occasion. I always find Mike professional, supportive and genuinely interested in me and the cases I present - this underpins our conversations and helps me focus absolutely on what's needed. Finally, he is flexible and responsive if I need a quick check-in, which I appreciate.

Rose Padfield, The Padfield Partnership

Working with Mike as my supervisor delivers a wealth of learning: clarity of thought, overcoming blockages and creating new perspectives, wisdom and a guiding hand, greater awareness within client relationships, and nourishment for the soul. This relationship is integral to my professional practice and personal and spiritual outlook.

Steve Rawson, Director, Lettoch Associates