The essential support network
Every coach should have:
- A coach of their own
- A coach supervisor
- A coach mentor
- Sometimes, a therapist
- Other supportive and challenging squad members.
Read more: Five coaching tips to help avoid career derailment
Maybe they don’t have to have all of these things all at the same time, but each of these roles shapes a coach to be their best for their clients.
Before engaging with a coach, verify that they have this support team. It demonstrates they're serious about doing their own work and deepening self-awareness about their own trials, tribulations and triumphs.
Why this matters
The more coaches understand themselves, the more they can stay out of their clients' way while helping clients understand themselves. Without this self-awareness, coaches may become entangled in their clients' challenges, hindering the very growth they aim to facilitate.
Types of support
Personal coaching: This helps coaches articulate their own values and measures of success, and then overcome barriers to that success, address their working relationships and become the leader they wish to be.
Read more: Managers must learn to be mentors
Coaching supervision: This is where coaches discuss their work: where they feel stuck, lost or unsure how to proceed with a client. Here, they process ethical dilemmas and resource themselves to be better practitioners. Coach training can only take us coaches so far; in doing the work, coaches come across things that trip them up and need further attention.
Mentoring: Often part of professional credentialing, coach mentoring involves being observed by a more experienced coach who provides feedback based on established competencies. This process helps coaches identify their strengths and areas for growth, preventing self-delusion.
Therapy: Even for coaches without obvious trauma, therapy enables a deeper understanding of oneself as multi-faceted.
Broader personal development: Beyond formal support, I invest in practices that nourish my whole self, like yoga, watercolour painting (which teaches me to be comfortable with not knowing), weightlifting, time in nature and shiatsu. Each coach will find their own unique practices that help them become more present, grounded, and resourceful with clients.
The continuous journey
Development isn't a ‘once and done’ intervention but a continuous exploration of becoming. If a coach appears to believe they are ‘cooked’ or finished with their own development, that's a red flag.
Read more: Eight coaching skills every HR leader should master
The best coaches maintain a thirst for learning about themselves as human beings.
When vetting a coach, ask this crucial question: "Is this coach investing in themselves and their growth in the same way they're inviting me to do for myself?" It would be hypocritical for any coach to sell personal and professional development without buying it for themselves.
The most effective coaches practice what they preach, continuously engaging with their own growth while supporting yours.
By Clare Norman, author of Cultivating Coachability (2024) and founder of Clare Norman Coaching Associates
