Why Coaching Hasn’t Got Nearly Enough Supervisors And What To Do About It

Despite the explosive growth of the coaching profession, a challenge is emerging beneath the surface: there are simply not enough coaching supervisors to support the growing number of practising coaches.

This imbalance is leading to a systemic gap that risks undermining the standards, ethics, and sustainability that coaching holds dear.

At ICCS, we see this challenge up close. Every year, we strive to recruit 45 experienced coaches to join our Accredited Diploma in Coaching Supervision. And every year, we find ourselves up against a tide of hesitation – not due to lack of interest in supervision itself, but a complex mix of misperception, fear of change, and underestimation of what supervision can offer.

Let’s explore why this gap exists, what’s getting in the way, and what needs to shift – both in the profession at large and within the mindset of experienced coaches – if we’re serious about raising the standard of coaching for the future.

A Profession Out of Balance

Coaching has become a global force for change, transformation, and leadership. New coaches are qualifying in high numbers. Organisations are embedding coaching into leadership development. Coaches are stretching into every niche imaginable.

But this growth has not been matched by the same level of development in coaching supervision.

While professional bodies like the EMCC, AC, and ICF all recognise supervision as a pillar of best practice, many coaches still engage with it sporadically – if at all. In many regions of the world, supervisors are few and far between. In others, the concept is still poorly understood, confused with mentor coaching or managerial oversight.

The result is predictable: tens of thousands of coaches operating without the reflective, ethical, and emotional support that supervision offers – and only a fraction of supervisors available to guide them.

Why Aren’t More Supervisors Being Created?

Let’s be clear: it’s not because there’s a lack of experienced coaches.

It’s because many of those coaches don’t yet see supervision as their next chapter. Here’s why.

1. Supervision is Misunderstood

Many coaches equate supervision with “coaching the coach” or informal mentoring. In reality, supervision is a distinct professional discipline. It blends reflection, challenge, ethics, systems thinking, and emotional holding – and it requires a unique set of skills beyond coaching alone.

Becoming a supervisor isn’t about doing what you already know – it’s about stepping into a new identity.

2. The Fear of Being a Beginner Again

For seasoned coaches, returning to a structured learning environment can be unsettling. The thought of being a novice, of receiving feedback, of expanding into a new frame of practice – all of this can feel like a leap.

But it’s a leap worth taking. The coaches who step into supervision often find it reignites their curiosity, sharpens their ethical lens, and renews their sense of purpose.

3. The Impact is Underestimated

Supervision is not just a one-to-one service. It is a multiplier.

When you supervise a coach, you are influencing every single client they work with. You are shaping standards across teams, organisations, and industries. You are strengthening the entire coaching ecosystem.

That’s impact on a whole different scale.

What Needs to Happen in the Profession?

We need a mindset shift at the professional level.

Supervision must be seen as essential, not optional. Accreditation bodies should lead with clarity and consistency, making supervision a standard element of professional development – not merely a recommendation.

The EMCC and Association for Coaching have been clear on this for many years, yet the world’s largest coaching body, the ICF, still positions coach mentoring for credentials ahead of ongoing supervision.  One is mandatory, the other merely an optional part of CPD.

Training also needs to become more globally accessible. At ICCS, we’ve committed to a fully virtual delivery model, allowing us to train supervisors in over 35 countries and provide bursaries for those in low-income regions. If we believe in ethical, effective coaching everywhere, then we must create supervisors everywhere.

The call to action is clear: supervision must be embedded into the DNA of the coaching profession from the outset – in training, in practice, in ethics, and in leadership.

What Needs to Shift in the Mindset of Coaches?

Coaches often speak about the importance of growth, reflection, and integrity – yet many still view supervision as a luxury, a box to tick, or something to consider later.

This is where the shift needs to happen.

Supervision isn’t just for new coaches or those in difficulty. It’s not a remedial space. It’s a reflective, rigorous, and essential part of coaching at any level – a core pillar of ethical, sustainable, and high-impact practice.

And yet, supervisors aren’t facing queues of coaches clamouring for this support.

Too many coaches still underestimate the emotional weight of their work, the blind spots they may carry, and the ethical complexity of their client relationships. Too many assume that being credentialed or experienced makes them immune to challenge.

To take supervision seriously, coaches must move from viewing it as a “nice-to-have” to recognising it as non-negotiable – for themselves, their clients, and the credibility of the profession.

This isn’t about fixing something broken. It’s about cultivating the kind of reflective practice that sustains growth, prevents burnout, and deepens presence.

Until supervision is seen as essential – not exceptional – we’ll continue to have a profession rich in technique but poor in reflection.

Supervision is not the sign of a coach in trouble.

It is the sign of a coach who takes their development seriously.

What Needs to Shift in the Mindset of Potential Supervisors?

For experienced coaches considering their next chapter, supervision can be a powerful evolution.

It is a move from individual impact to systemic contribution. From supporting clients to supporting the coaches who serve those clients. From deep personal transformation to wide professional influence.

It’s also one of the most rewarding roles a coach can take on. Supervisors often describe the work as intellectually rich, emotionally fulfilling, and professionally expansive. They speak of how it stretched their capacity, deepened their presence, and reconnected them with why they became coaches in the first place.

Supervision is not about stepping away from coaching. It’s about stepping deeper into the profession.

We’ve even written a whitepaper on this called: From Seasoned Coach to Coaching Supervisor: Evolving Your Practice, Deepening Your Legacy

The Invitation

At ICCS, we train supervisors not just for skill – but for impact. For legacy. For the love of this profession.

So if you are an experienced coach wondering what’s next…

If you’re craving deeper conversations, greater challenge, and a wider circle of influence…

If you believe in coaching as a force for good and want to play a role in its future…

Then perhaps it’s time to take the leap.

Become a coaching supervisor – and help us create a world where every coach is seen, supported, and strengthened.