- Scenario 1: The external executive coach: holding information unknown to the coachee
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Your supervisee (the coach) has been contracted as an external executive coach by the HR Director of a medium size tech company (the sponsor) to work with one of the Directors (the client), on ‘the impact of [the client’s] behaviours’.
The contract is clear that the coach will not be expected to report back and that the coach and client will review their progress in 6 months (with a view to renewing for another 6 months.) The coach also has a role in the same company
as an OD consultant and trainer supporting culture change.
Three months after the coaching began, the coach was in the Head Office, and in an 'en passant' conversation in the corridor, was informed by the MD that in two weeks’ time the Director (client) will be dismissed, and the aim will
be a compromise agreement with immediate effect.
Your supervisee has an appointment with the client in two days’ time.
Principles/perspectives
- What boundary issues does this scenario raise for both of you?
- Confidentiality: a coach cannot ‘unknow’ what they have just heard. How could the coach deal with this insider knowledge yet remain authentic?
- Consider issues of power at play here
- What could be the reasons the MD has told the coach?
- What does this new development say about the prevailing company culture and systemic issues?
- Scenario 2: The internal coach – client bullying and stress
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Your supervisee is an internal coach who is part of a small coach bank. There is a loose arrangement for peer supervision within the organisation through quarterly support meetings. The next one is due in 5 weeks’ time. Your supervisee
has had no previous ‘formal' supervision and has been given your name by a colleague. Your supervisee wants to speak to someone outside the organisation, in confidence, about what to do with a particular client.
Your supervisee tells a long story about how the feeling of being abused as a coach, believing that the internal coaches are ‘sticking plasters’. The public perception is that the organisation is progressive, 'nice', caring and with
great values; underneath this there are many 'injuries' caused by 'no-one speaking truth to power' and bullying behaviours by senior people in the organisation.
It materialises that it is not just one client that is causing concern but several. Like your supervisee, they are showing signs of extreme stress and, as is typical in such circumstances, they are making poor decisions for themselves,
their teams and the organisation.
Principles/perspectives
- What is your contract with the supervisee and the organisation, if any?
- What role could the coach adopt in bringing this behaviour to the attention of the organisation?
- What other support for the internal coaches is available?
- How best can you support the supervisee right now?
- Scenario 3: The newly-qualified coach – a contracting question
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Your supervisee is a relatively newly qualified and accredited/credentialed coach who comes to the supervision session feeling very excited.
Having coached a manager in an organisation for three months, your supervisee has been asked by the manager to coach the line reports because their performance is drifting and they could benefit from coaching.
The new coach is very excited, believing that it means the manager is very pleased with their coaching sessions. Your supervisee has written to the four employees (at the manager’s request) and has had a positive response from two
of them and no reply from the other two. Your supervisee is looking for support in how to go forward, and especially how to follow up with the two who have not responded.
Principles/perspectives
- Consider the complexities of coaching a leader and their subordinates at the same time.
- Consider three-way or multi-way contracting and confidentiality agreements
- What are the learning points for this new coach from this situation?
- Scenario 4: Health warning!
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Your supervisee (the coach) runs their own coaching business and is currently working as a coach on a fast-track manager development programme for a corporate client (the sponsor). You are the coach’s external supervisor for all coaching
work and meet six-weekly. The coach brings to supervision concerns about one of the clients on the manager development programme.
The client is described as a slim, highly driven perfectionist in their approach to work. The client’s goals for the coaching are all focused on being better, faster and more effective at work. The coach has encouraged the client to
consider self-care and ways of reducing self-induced pressure. The client’s response was to set a target of going to the gym more frequently and increasing the intensity of the work-out routines.
The coach has spoken to a counsellor who agrees with the coach that the client is exhibiting signs of having a significant eating disability, which may be harmful to their health. The coach is concerned that the fast-track manager
development programme may be exacerbating this condition.
Principles/perspectives
- Doing good and not doing harm – what are the coach’s responsibilities if their work with the client may unintentionally be doing more harm than good?
- Staying within the limits of our competence – what are the coach’s options if the client may have a problem that is outside the coach’s competence to address with the client?
- What responsibility do you and/or your supervisee (the coach) have, for reporting potential self-harm by the client?
- Scenario 5: Get involved in your supervisee’s delivery?
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One of your supervisees has won a huge coaching contract with a prestigious organisation and is extremely grateful to you for the work you have done together which has grown their confidence and helped them secure the wprk.
They ask you to support them in devising and reviewing the programme and also to be one of those delivering it alongside them. What do you say?
Principles/perspectives
- What might be the dual relationship/boundary/contracting issues and considerations?
- How would you deal with any ethical considerations that arose, if you were directly involved?
- Scenario 6: Choice to work with someone or not
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You are with your supervisee and find yourself feeling judgemental, believing that they are not a very nice person and you don’t like them. Is that a problem in your work together?
Principles/perspectives
- Is there transference going on for me as the supervisor? Does the person remind me of someone, or do they have ‘something about them’, or have they said something, that hit my “hot button”?
- How has their response/approach resonated with my values? Is there a clash? How do I stay in a relational space?
- What is the professional and personal learning I will get from dealing with this situation?
- Is supervision of supervision a place to unpack this scenario?
- Scenario 7: Alcohol abuse issue
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What would you do if you believed your supervisee/coachee was over the alcohol limit (smelling of alcohol) and about to leave to collect their child from school by car?
Principles/perspectives
- What is your supervisee telling you by turning up smelling of alcohol?
- What is our own association with alcohol (or other addictions) and how might this influence us? How does this situation resonate with our values?
- How do we stay relational and not jump into either/or solutions and help the supervisory dialogue?
