The difference between supervising internal coaches compared to external ones
As coaching has become more mainstream as a means of developing managers throughout organisations, rather than being the preserve of the aspiring high achievers, so too have many firms begun to deploy internal coaches rather than relying on external providers. Sooner or later, questions begin to emerge about the nature of supervision for these staff coaches.
While the skills of an internal coach are not necessarily that different from those of external ones, the context in which they are operating means that there are many differences between the two. Power dynamics; performance pressures; the consequences of good and poor performance; the scope for boundaries to change; depth of internal knowledge;… these will all be different, and there will be many more subtle complexities that differ.
How does this translate into the work of the coaching supervisor?
In a comprehensive review of the scant literature on the supervision of internal coaches, Wingrove, Lai, Palmer, and Williams (2020), identify a range of benefits that coaching...
