Leadership Supervision – Irena Antolic

In this engaging and insightful session, Irena Antolic explores the transformative potential of leadership supervision, emphasizing its growing importance in today’s organizational landscape. With over 20 years of experience in coaching, mentoring, and supervision, Irena introduces participants to leadership supervision as a crucial practice for fostering leaders’ personal and professional development. Drawing on her extensive work with coaches, supervisors, and organizational leaders, she highlights how supervision has evolved from its earlier managerial focus into a reflective, developmental tool essential for leadership growth.

Irena begins by discussing the changing nature of leadership supervision, tracing its development from a task-oriented practice into one that encourages emotional intelligence, reflective thinking, and ethical leadership. This shift aligns with the broader evolution of leadership styles, moving from transactional, command-driven approaches to more transformative, visionary leadership models that prioritize empowerment, creativity, and long-term impact.

A core focus of the session is the concept of reflective practice, which Irena views as central to effective leadership supervision. She underscores that supervision provides leaders with a structured yet creative space to critically reflect on their decisions, leadership styles, and interactions within their organizations. By engaging in this process, leaders not only gain greater self-awareness but also enhance their capacity to navigate complex interpersonal dynamics and organizational challenges.

Irena explains that leadership supervision, while sharing common elements with coaching supervision—such as promoting self-awareness, ethical guidance, and systemic thinking—also presents unique challenges. These include managing power dynamics, encouraging reflexivity, and balancing immediate managerial demands with longer-term strategic reflection. She notes that leaders often come to supervision with a focus on outcomes, requiring supervisors to guide them toward a deeper engagement with process-oriented thinking and emotional awareness.

Throughout the session, Irena provides practical insights into how supervisors can support leaders in developing their reflective capacity and integrating supervision into their leadership practice. She emphasizes the importance of establishing a collaborative, non-hierarchical relationship with leaders, creating a safe space where they can explore their challenges, vulnerabilities, and ethical dilemmas without fear of judgment.

Irena also highlights the role of supervision in enhancing team dynamics and fostering a sense of belonging within organizations. She shares a compelling example of a leadership supervision project that led to significant shifts in team cohesion and a deeper sense of belonging among managers. This example illustrates how leadership supervision can drive both individual and collective transformation within organizations, ultimately leading to more effective and connected teams.

A key takeaway from the session is the importance of preparing leaders for supervision by equipping them with essential skills such as reflexivity, active listening, and questioning. Irena advocates for a learning-based approach to supervision, where leaders are not only supported in their reflective practice but also taught how to be effective supervisees, thus maximizing the benefits of the supervision process.

The session concludes with a thought-provoking discussion on the terminology of “leadership supervision.” Irena raises the ethical question of whether the term should be rebranded to better resonate with leaders who may be resistant to the idea of being “supervised.” She invites participants to reflect on the balance between promoting a deeper understanding of supervision and adapting language to make it more accessible within organizational contexts.

This session is ideal for coaches, supervisors, and organizational leaders interested in exploring the dynamic and evolving field of leadership supervision. It offers valuable insights into how supervision can enhance leadership effectiveness, drive sustainable change, and create reflective, emotionally intelligent leaders capable of leading with integrity and vision.