Super-Vision: Reflective Learning Partnership
About Super-Vision
I am convinced about the value of Super-Vision for Professionals who work through relationship with others.
I have also noticed that, for some, the name - Supervision - creates a misleading impression associated with oversight and judgement and being told what to do. For this work, I prefer the term "Super-Vision" in the sense of multiple views or lenses to explore, reflect and learn from our work; a "Reflective Learning Partnership" (whic is a bit of a mouthful, so I'll use Super-Vision!). For me Super-Vision convey better the core of partnering to reflect on your work experiences, thoughts, reaction and actions through a variety of different lenses, each of which offers a different perspective. Super-Vision is a super power that we as professional coaches need to develop, so that we are more aware of what we are doing, what we are drawn into by our clients and their organisations and how we are entangled by the work and relationships in unhelpful, even unhealthy ways. The best way to develop this is in reflective partnership with a trained and experienced supervisior. This Super-Vision superpower is of value to other professionals, not just coaches, who work through relationship with others. Obvious examples are HR professionals, Leaders, Teachers, Entrepreneurs, i.e. professions where the complexity of multiple relationships, holding confidences, and ambiguity and uncertainty are in play.
Super-Vision has an important and yet often under-appreciated role in supporting the development, success, professionalism and wellbeing of all professionals including coaches.
Click the links to read the case for Super-Vision for three different groups of professionals who work through their relationship with others.
for Leaders and
My colleague, Liz Nottingham, and I offer group Coach Super-Vision / Super-Vision Reflective Pause for HR professionals and Leaders and a series of Seasonal Reflections under the banner Science-meets-Creativity.
My own Super-Vision and what I offer you
As a professional Coach, Super-Vision is an essential part of my professional and personal development. It is a space in which I can look through many different lenses to explore, learn and grow and restore energy and get support to be the best coach I can be for my clients. Our reflection together focuses on three areas of the my practice: my coaching practice, my professional and personal development, and care for the wellbeing of me and my clients. These reflections are in service of the my client and of the my own transformational learning and growth. These benefits are why I trained as a Coach Supervisior and why I offer this to you.
As a Supervisor, I offer a co-created learning partnership in which you will be supported, challenged, respected, and encouraged to learn from what emerges from your experiences working with clients. I am incorporating more and more creative approaches into my practice and finding that I and my supervisees are finding these of huge value and fun. Much of what we do in our Super-Vision sessions is modelling behaviours and approaches that can be taken into your coaching work. One of the pillars of my Super-Vision training was; "Who I am is How I supervise". I believe this has a parallel of "Who I am is How I coach" . My offer is to support you to find out who you are and how you coach.
A metaphor for Super-Vision
Supervision is like the Supervisior being invited to take a walk with the Supervisee around their professional garden; noticing and reflecting on what our attention is drawn to. For example; noticing the pace at which we are walking, noticing what we are walking towards, what we are skirting round, which areas in the garden are well tended, which flower beds are being prepared, and what areas are still wild and unattended. Which paths do you routinely, perhaps by default walk along? What are you missing by staying with this path? What is the view beyond the garden? What is happening out there? How are the seasons affecting your garden and its suroundings? What attracts you to particular plants or flowers? Who and what do you welcome ito your garden, and who not so much?
This partnership in noticing, reflecting and encouraging and allowing emergence is the essence of Super-Vision.
