I teach Clinical Supervision, practice as a supervisor for Nurses and AHPs ,as well as coaching, I also provide coaching supervision for our internal coaches. I have also started the ILM 7 cert in coaching supervision.
Recently I have been thinking about the challenges faced by leaders not just the NHS but across all industries, and how much of a burden this places on the individual managers. Maybe leaders need a space to sort through the stresses they collect.
So why don’t we offer a form of leadership supervision that isn’t coaching but provides the space to explore all aspects of their leadership, including how they see themselves, their staff, their stakeholders, the different relationships, the work they do, the environment they work in, and the context within which they work. Now Exec coaching might cover this but what about the leaders in organisations?
Rather than coaching it feels more like the clinical supervision and coaching supervision I practice. We expect so much from our leaders that if we do not provide some space where they can make sense of their work and not carry their stress from one day to the next, we are just going to see more and more good leaders burning out.
The work leaders undertake is more and more challenging and these challenges come from all angles. I see messages and emails from leaders in my organisation come through late at night and early in the morning as the need to complete tasks becomes overwhelming. I am certain this happens right across the board not just in the NHS. This to me highlights that there is a need for leaders to take part in some sort of restorative, reflective conversations with a supervisor that does not hold a line management responsibility over them (ideally is external to the team). The supervisor will help the leader reflect on every aspect of their role helping them decide what needs to be kept and attended to and what can be let go of. Helping them make sense of their experience and manage their stress more appropriately.
If you are interested in discussing how this leadership supervision might work for you please get in touch.
Connected Coaching 