(And why the best coaches never outgrow it)
Let’s start with the elephant in the room.
For a lot of coaches, “supervision” is one of those terms you’ve heard thrown around…
…but you’re not entirely sure what it means.
Some think it’s like being “checked up on” or “marked” for mistakes.
Others imagine it’s only for counsellors or therapists, not for coaches.
And some believe it’s just a formality, a tick-box exercise to keep an accrediting body happy.
The reality?
If you’re serious about being a great coach, not just a competent one, supervision is non-negotiable.
And I’m not saying that as a theory. I’m saying it as someone who has coached thousands of hours, trained hundreds of coaches, and just completed my own formal training as a supervisor alongside Eleanor, so we can now offer it to the whole of the Paseda Network.
So, let’s break it down.
What is Supervision in Coaching?
In plain terms, supervision is a reflective, developmental space where you work with an experienced practitioner to think about your coaching practice.
It’s not about someone telling you you’re wrong.
It’s not about being judged or scored.
It’s about creating a space to:
Reflect on what’s working in your coaching and what’s not
Explore situations where you felt stuck, unsure, or uncomfortable
Get fresh perspectives that help you see more possibilities for your clients
Check in on ethical practice and professional boundaries
Build confidence in your own voice and approach
Think of it as the coach for the coach.
Why Isn’t Coaching Alone Enough?
Here’s where I’m going to challenge you.
You can know the models.
You can have the tools.
You can be brilliant at building rapport and asking the “right” questions.
But…
When you’re in a session with a client who suddenly hits you with something unexpected.
When the neat model you’d planned to use no longer fits the reality in front of you.
When your client’s behaviour pushes one of your emotional buttons.
That’s where coaching theory ends, and you begin.
This is the part you can’t learn from a textbook.
It comes from:
Experience
Reflection
Learning through doing
And yes… supervision
Without that space to process, challenge, and grow, coaches often get stuck in “toolkit mode”, doing coaching by numbers.
My Own Lightbulb Moment About Supervision
This week, in supervision sessions with our Master Coaches, I had multiple people say to me:
“I don’t know how you always have a different way of thinking about a situation.”
Sometimes it was because I asked the question that unlocked a deeper level for them.
Sometimes it was because I zoomed them out to the helicopter view.
Sometimes it was taking them right back to the real client problem they’d lost sight of.
That kind of thinking isn’t magic.
It’s the result of thousands of hours of sitting with clients in all kinds of situations.
But even with that level of experience, I still need supervision myself.
Why?
Because no matter how long you’ve been coaching, you still have blind spots.
You still have patterns you can’t see without an outside view.
You still need someone to help you stretch your thinking beyond what’s comfortable.
The Three Core Functions of Supervision
Most professional coaching bodies recognise three main functions of supervision:
Developmental – Growing Your Skills and Perspective
Supervision helps you deepen your coaching practice.
You might explore:
Alternative ways you could have handled a client situation
New questions or approaches you haven’t tried before
How your own beliefs, values, and biases are influencing your coaching
This is where you expand beyond “tool-based” coaching and into the territory where real breakthroughs happen.
Normative – Maintaining Ethical and Professional Standards
Coaching has boundaries, and they’re not always as clear as we’d like.
In supervision, you can safely explore questions like:
“My client mentioned trauma, where is the line between coaching and therapy here?”
“Is this client actually coachable right now?”
“What’s my responsibility if I think my client is making a harmful decision?”
It’s not about policing you.
It’s about making sure your coaching is both safe and effective.
Restorative – Looking After the Coach
Coaching can be emotionally demanding.
Sometimes, you take on more of a client’s story than you realise.
Supervision gives you the space to:
Process those moments before they turn into burnout
Recognise when you’re feeling drained or stuck
Reconnect to why you coach in the first place
Why Supervision is Vital for New Coaches
New coaches often believe:
“If I just learn enough techniques, I’ll always know what to do.”
But here’s the truth, clients rarely arrive with a neat problem that fits perfectly into your favourite model.
Supervision accelerates your development by helping you:
See your blind spots sooner
Build the confidence to work in the unknown
Understand your own triggers and patterns
Learn from other coaches’ experiences as well as your own
It’s why we make supervision an integrated part of the Paseda Network.
Why Experienced Coaches Still Need Supervision
If you’ve been coaching for years, it’s easy to think you’ve “got it.”
But here’s the risk, comfort.
When comfort creeps in:
You stop pushing your own development
You rely on familiar approaches
You risk missing what’s really going on with a client
Supervision keeps you sharp.
It stops you coaching on autopilot.
It challenges you to keep growing.
How Supervision Differs from Mentoring or Training
Mentoring is about learning from someone who’s “been there”, often focused on building your business, finding clients, or specific skills.
Training teaches you new tools, models, and techniques.
Supervision helps you think about your thinking and see your coaching in a new light.
It’s less about adding new tools, more about sharpening you.
The Paseda360 Approach to Supervision
At Paseda360, we treat supervision as a high-trust, high-growth space.
We bring our Human-Centric philosophy into it, so it’s not just about “what you did” but:
Who you were being in the moment
What you noticed and what you missed
How your identity, values, and self-awareness showed up in the session
Our sessions are collaborative, not hierarchical.
We’re not there to “mark” you, we’re there to explore with you.
And because Eleanor and I have both just completed our own supervision training, we’re able to offer this to the entire Paseda Network, from new coaches to Master Practitioners.
How Often Should You Have Supervision?
Most professional bodies recommend a ratio, for example:
One hour of supervision for every 15–20 hours of coaching
Or a minimum of 4–6 sessions per year
But the real answer?
It depends on:
How many clients you’re seeing
The complexity of the work you’re doing
How much challenge and reflection you want in your own development
Final Thought: Supervision Isn’t Optional If You Want to Be Exceptional
If you want to be a surface-level coach who just “uses tools”, you can skip it.
If you want to be the kind of coach who can:
Handle any situation with confidence
See perspectives others miss
Stay sharp, ethical, and energised over the long term
…then supervision is your secret weapon.
It’s the space where the real growth happens, in the gap between what you know and what you don’t.
And in my experience?
That gap is where the magic lives.
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