218 • 100 GREAT BUSINESS IDEAS
A supervisor also contributes to the coach’s development, and
protects against burnout. A signifi cant hazard among professional
coaches is that they will either stray into deep psychological waters
with their client, or fi nd themselves psychologically affected by
the work and its pressures. A supervisor can help prevent the
coach from losing focus or objectivity, and protect them from
the inevitable stresses.
It is recommended that a typical coach meet with their supervisor
for 90 minutes once every four to six weeks, although this depends
on the number of clients and the complexity of the assignment.
A supervisor ensures that the coach’s relationship with their client
is not compromised. Above all, a supervisor makes a qualitative
difference to the coach’s work. This is hard to quantify, but it
undoubtedly improves the coach’s effectiveness and the return on
investment (RoI). Coaching is expensive, so this qualitative method
of improving RoI can be signifi cant.
In practice
- Ask the candidate to coach you for ten minutes. This will give you
a real sense of how they work, and also help with the “chemistry
test”—a vital step to establishing rapport and building trust. - Make sure that the coach works from where you are. In other
words, they should use whatever tools and processes fi t best with
your needs. - Find out the extent of the coach’s knowledge of adult learning
and behavioral understanding. Remember to be cautious: anyone
can claim to be a coach. What models does the coach use? How
deep is their coaching expertise?