Towards the Lifelong Skills and Business Development of Coaches : An Integrated Model of Supervision and Mentoring

This article offers an original model for the professional development of coaches that integrates models of coach supervision with mentoring – the supervisor-mentor. Many coaches are new to the profession and may lack experience of managing their own business. It is likely that these and many other coaches could benefit from the support and guidance of more experienced practitioners. One answer is a supervisor, but the functions of supervision often focus on helping the development of the coach as a professional, including skills development, emotional support and understanding the ethical principles in coaching. Supervisors are not necessarily responsible for the career development of coaches, nor do they normally provide advice on, say, business strategy or marketing principles for the coach's business. This article argues that there exists a significant gap which can be filled by another kind of helping intervention – a mentor. The article explores three potential models of coach mentoring: constellation, complementary and integrated supervisor-mentoring – the latter combining coach supervision with mentoring. Recommendations are made for future research in this area