Taking care of yourself and growing as a coach: necessity and responsibility

I recently launched my new websitewhere you can find different support services for my work as a professional coach: Coach SupervisionMentoring, and Coaching for entrepreneurship. Today, with great enthusiasm, I also inaugurate this blog, as a window to the world of professional development and coaching for coaches.

Because, as experts as we are in accompanying others, coaches also need to take care of ourselves! Cultivating our knowledge and well-being is as important for us as it is for our clients. It allows us to be effective in our coaching processes, to keep learning and to enjoy our work more.

Coach Supervision and Coach Mentoring are two different ways to care for and grow as a coach, although the terms have sometimes been used interchangeably.

Mentor Coaching

ICF defines Mentor Coaching as follows:

"For certification purposes, mentor coaching means that the coach works with a mentor to improve their coaching competencies, rather than on how to build their business, their life balance, or other topics unrelated to coaching skills development."

That is, if a coach wants to improve his or her technical competence, become aware of which coaching skills are his or her strong suit and which others he or she could polish to be more effective, he or she can turn to a coach mentor. In many cases, the mentor will observe the coach in action, live or through recorded sessions with a real client, to give specific feedback, and to explore and practice with the coach different ways to increase the impact of the coaching on the client. It is very revealing and useful work for coaches who want to pass an exam and achieve the next level of certification, and is required by ICF to renew an ACC certification.

I have had the privilege of accompanying many coaches through this process until their certification, and sometimes I also encountered questions or doubts from the coach that were not answered in the coaching competency domain. The coach would notice that something was not working in the coaching, and wonder if perhaps they should improve their level of listening, or review their ability to be present with the client, if perhaps they had not created a clear agreement for the process, or even if they should not refer the client to another professional. And while it is always good to review the technical level of your intervention, sometimes the key is not in the skills but in what is happening in the coach-client relationship, and that is where Coach Supervision comes in.

Coach Supervision

According to ICF, "Coach Supervision is a collaborative learning practice to develop the coach's capacity on an ongoing basis through reflective dialogue, and for the benefit of their clients and the system around them in general."

It happens to all of us that we don't quite know how to move forward with a client... That's why coach supervision, as a supportive process, respects both the professionalism and the humanity of the coach, and builds on both aspects to create a space for empowerment, self-discovery and development.

Through the Coach Supervision methodology, the coach explores the actual processes with which he/she feels challenged, blocked or uncertain, and becomes aware of the dynamics that are operating in the coaching relationship. He discovers more about himself as a coach, and the patterns that may appear in certain circumstances, and how they influence his clients. It is also an opportunity to process the emotional baggage you have accumulated and take away new ideas to enhance your intervention with the client.

In addition, since 2014 Coach Supervision is a recognized source of CCE credits for ICF certification renewal. Each hour of coach supervision, whether group or individual, counts as one CCE Core Competency credit.

USEFUL LINKS

For more definitions on Coach Supervision, please refer to the ICF website: https://coachfederation.org/coaching-supervision

More information from ICF on how the activities and trainings add up to valid credits for renewal you will find here:
https://coachfederation.org/icf-credential/professional-development