Supervision for Managers

A supportive space for managers and leaders to reflect on the dynamics of organisational culture, leadership, and emotions

Managers and leaders routinely perform their roles within pressured environments, with little time and space to think and reflect.

In addition to the explicit elements of their role, managers and leaders also act (knowingly and unknowingly) as emotional containers for staff and the wider organisation, and play a pivotal part in the ‘emotional life’ of their workplace.

The impact of these elements of management and leadership are often unattended to, and may negatively affect wellbeing, job satisfaction and effectiveness.

how can supervision help?

It provides a safe, confidential space within which managers and leaders are supported to consider how their personal and professional experiences interact with the requirements of their current work role. Consideration can then be given to how those themes connect with the staff / teams they manage; the emotional landscape; the wider organisational structure, purpose and culture; and the external environment relevant to their work.

Managers and leaders are supported to discover new insights into their organisations, staff and culture, and to consider how these factors might shape how they inhabit their role and how they take up their authority and leadership. The aim is also for these insights to inform new ways of enabling (and sustaining) high levels of performance, productivity and staff engagement both personally, and across areas of responsibility.

Providing this support through a consultant external to the organisation enables an ‘outside the system’ position to be held throughout the work. This helps to maintain rigorous thinking and challenge, as well as offering managers and leaders a neutral space in which to engage with potentially difficult material and test out possibilities.

workplace roles and settings

While this support is beneficial for managers and leaders in any setting, it is especially helpful for those whose role is particularly susceptible to complex and difficult dynamics. For example, roles based in settings that are undergoing substantial change / re-structure; responding to high demand with constrained resources; function in a highly competitive environment; involve working with people in various degrees of need, distress or crisis.

University sector experience

I held a number of management and leadership roles during my 25 years in the UK Higher Education Sector, specifically relating to student wellbeing services and strategy. Through this, as well as my work as an organisational and role consultant, I have extensive experience of working with academic and professional services managers and leaders, where I have seen the profound impact that a safe, reflective space to process leadership experiences can have.

Other settings

I provide supervision for all levels of management and leadership roles across all sectors - public, private and third (including social enterprise).

While my past professional experience of holding leadership roles informs my current work as an organisational and role consultant, I have found that the absence of sector specific expertise brings a valuable dimension to this work by helping to maintain a position of ‘not knowing’ and enabling collaborative exploration of potential blind spots.

delivery - groups and one-to-one

Supervision for managers and leaders can take place one-to-one or in groups.

Sessions are normally 90 minutes and run on a regular basis, usually monthly. The aim is for these sessions to function as a reflective, thinking space that can become an embedded, ‘business as usual’ element of any management or leadership role.

Groups can be for managers and leaders within a single organisation, or for managers and leaders from different organisations. A maximum of eight members per group works best, and group members should remain the same each month, apart from individuals joining or leaving from time to time.

Sessions take place at your organisation’s premises, or online via Zoom.

Please contact me to discuss supervision for you or for managers in your organisation, and for my fees.