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Supervision on a 1-1 or group basis is the formal opportunity for coaches working with clients to share, in confidence, their case load activity to gain insight, support and direction for themselves and thereby enabling them to better work in the service of their clients.

As a coach you have the professional capacity to help bring about important changes for individuals, groups and organizations, however your work can also deeply influence people who are in a life-changing situation or transition and who may be rendered vulnerable and possibly dependent.

Coaches need Coaching Supervision and increasingly corporate clients and procurement specialists are making evidence of regular supervision part of their quality assurance process. A supervisor is a more experienced coach who:

• Helps  you benchmark your practice against best practice
• Works  through ethical dilemmas with you
• Brings  a perspective about the quality of the coaching practice

Coaching supervision draws on the best practice of psychotherapy and counseling supervision and places it within a coaching orientation. As such, it upholds the principles of coaching and mentoring and the coaching relationship. The ICF Board have adopted the position of "strongly encouraging" supervision

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This is not a checklist or mandatory set of areas to cover, but may well include:

• Clear Contracting and creating a working alliance, including help with  multi-party contracting where appropriate
• Establishing  good boundaries
• Enhancing reflection when working with content and process
• Attending to the coach’s personal development; opening up new areas of competence for the coach
• Deepening coaching presence
• Building the coach's internal supervisor
• Offering new perspectives to the coach
• Increasing the coach’s range of interventions and tools
• Being  sensitive to the coach’s learning style
• Knowing about coaching psychology
• Working with Parallel Process
• Giving constructive feedback
• Offering experiments and applications through which the coach can learn
• Working systemically – with the coach, the client and the wider field
• Ensuring that standards and ethics are maintained