Coaching Supervision: Voices from the Americas – A recommendation
I have been reading ‘Coaching Supervision: Voices from the Americas’ edited by Francine Campone, Joel DiGirolamo, Damian Godvarg and Lily Seto (2023) and I highly recommend this thought-provoking book to fellow supervisors, coaches and those who provide training for coaches.
The book is based on an ‘ocean of voices’, not only the voices of the many contributors but also the voices of their clients, who describe and explore how cultural norms, values and beliefs influence coaching supervision and coaching in the Americas. It gives supervisors further insight into these communities; how supervision is considered and how to work with such diversity.
New models of coach supervision
The book presents innovative practices and new models of supervision (as well as acknowledging the more well known coach supervision models used globally) which are interesting and eminently transferable to supervisors outside of the Americas.
The role of coach supervision in coach development
The role of supervision in coach development is explored and a number of advantages are outlined including the cultivation of critical reflective practice and self-development and the enabling of coaches to move beyond the learning, influence and models from the school that they have trained with. In addition, the authors suggest that supervision, from an early stage, builds confidence, encourages systemic thinking and enables learning about the management of complex situations including those where ethics need to be considered as well as understanding the benefit of supervision as a healing and restorative space for the practitioner.
Supervision for in-house coaches
The supervision of in-house coaches is another theme of the book, with the conclusion strongly suggesting that such programmes include supervision from the outset so that participants can experience the benefits straight away. For example, as mentioned above, being resourced and having space to think through ethical dilemmas as well as learning from others including regarding practical actions that can be taken with clients.
Finally, the book looks to the future: how supervision may evolve in the Americas and what areas need researching and exploring.
