Discovering Superpowers: How Supervision Helps Coaches Uncover Their Unique Gifts

Every coach brings something uniquely powerful to their work—perhaps it’s an ability to tune in deeply, ask just the right question, hold silence with grace, or bring clarity to complexity. 

These aren’t just skills; they are superpowers—qualities that emerge from a coach’s presence, values, life experience, and way of being.

Yet, many coaches don’t fully recognise or own these gifts. 

They may dismiss what comes naturally as “just what I do,” or they may focus so much on improvement that they overlook their own strengths. This is where coaching supervision plays a vital role.

Supervision is not only a space for working through challenges—it’s also a space for uncovering and celebrating what makes a coach exceptional. It helps coaches become more aware of their natural style, their core strengths, and the unique energy they bring into the coaching space. In short, supervision helps coaches discover their superpowers.

Why Coaches Overlook Their Superpowers

Many coaches are so focused on continuous development that they fall into the trap of always asking, What do I need to fix? rather than What do I already do brilliantly?

Some common reasons coaches overlook their gifts include:

• Normalising their strengths: “Isn’t everyone good at that?”
• Imposter syndrome: “I’m just winging it—I don’t think I’m doing anything special.”
• Comparison to others: “I’m not as structured/creative/experienced as other coaches I know.”
• Training bias: A belief that the “real” way to coach looks like what they were taught, not how they naturally coach.

Supervision offers a counterbalance to this by shining a light on what’s already strong and working well—not just what needs refining.

How Supervision Reveals a Coach’s Superpowers

Through careful reflection, skilled questioning, and relational presence, supervision invites coaches to explore not only how they coach, but who they are as a coach. Here’s how it happens:

1. Noticing Patterns That Point to Strength

In supervision, coaches might begin to notice:

• Clients keep returning because of the coach’s grounding presence.
• There’s a consistent response when the coach asks intuitive questions.
• Certain types of clients seem especially drawn to the coach’s calm, creative, or courageous energy.

Supervision helps draw these patterns together and name them. What the coach may have seen as incidental is reframed as a signature strength.

2. Helping Coaches Own What Comes Naturally

Some superpowers come so effortlessly that they’re dismissed. A coach who holds deep, non-judgmental silence might think, I didn’t do anything—but to the client, that silence was everything.

Supervision helps coaches appreciate these natural strengths, encouraging them to:

• Recognise and name their impact.
• Bring intentionality to what they already do well.
• Use their superpowers with even more confidence and consistency.

3. Distinguishing Between Skill and Superpower

All coaches develop technical skills, but superpowers are personal. They arise from deeper layers—lived experience, worldview, emotional intelligence, embodied presence.

For example:

• One coach may have a powerful grounding presence that calms even the most anxious clients.
• Another may exude joyful curiosity, helping clients feel energised and open to possibility.
• A third may have a laser-sharp ability to hear the “thread” beneath the story.

Supervision helps surface these deeper capacities, not as things to acquire, but as things to embrace and integrate more fully.

4. Creating a Language for Strength

Many coaches struggle to articulate their unique value. Supervision helps coaches find the language for their gifts.

Instead of vague statements like “I’m a good listener,” supervision might support the coach to say:

• “I create spaces where people feel safe enough to tell the truth.”
• “I help clients hear the quiet voice underneath the noise.”
• “My calmness helps people access parts of themselves they normally avoid.”

This clarity can impact how coaches talk about their work, position themselves, and attract the clients they’re best suited to serve.

5. Supporting the Integration of Strength with Ongoing Growth

Supervision doesn’t stop with naming a coach’s superpowers. It also supports the coach in:

• Exploring how these strengths show up across different client contexts.
• Reflecting on how to use their superpowers ethically and responsibly.
• Noticing when a strength becomes a limitation (e.g., overuse of empathy or challenge).
• Developing complementary skills that support the coach’s natural style.

In this way, supervision becomes a space for both celebration and refinement.

A Few Superpowers Coaches Discover in Supervision

Every coach is different, but here are some common superpowers that often emerge:

• The ability to hold presence that creates safety and depth.
• The courage to ask the question no one else would ask.
• An instinct for naming what’s unspoken.
• A gift for creative reframing or storytelling.
• The capacity to mirror or reflect patterns with subtlety and impact.
• Deep empathic attunement that allows clients to feel seen.

And often, a coach’s greatest strength is not what they do, but who they are in the space.

Conclusion: Unlocking the Coach Within

Supervision isn’t just a space to analyse and improve—it’s a space to reveal and reclaim. By helping coaches discover their superpowers, supervision fosters deeper confidence, authenticity, and purpose in the coaching relationship.

Because when a coach knows what they bring—really knows it—they can stop trying to be someone else and start amplifying what they already do best.

So next time you step into supervision, ask not just what needs fixing, but:

What am I doing well, and how might that be my superpower?

You might be surprised by what you already have.