Arete Coach: The Art & Science of Executive Coaching

Arete Coach 1212 Clare Norman "Mastering the Art of Coaching: On Readiness, Supervision, and Growth"

S1E1212
1:02:41
March 17th 2025

"Mastering the Art of Coaching: On Readiness, Supervision, and Growth."

In this episode of the Arete Coach Podcast, host Severin Sorensen welcomes Clare Norman, a Master Certified Coach (MCC), author, and master mentor coach based in Brockenhurst, England. With over 25 years of experience in leadership and coaching, Clare specializes in executive coaching, leadership transitions, team coaching, and fostering coaching cultures within organizations. She is also the founder of Clare Norman Coaching Associates and the author of several books, including The Transformational Coach, Mentor Coaching: A Practical Guide, and her latest release, Cultivating Coachability. In this conversation, Clare shares her insights on coaching readiness, supervision, and the journey toward masterful coaching.

Clare’s path into coaching began during her tenure at Accenture, where she recognized the gap between leadership training and the practical application of learned concepts in the workplace. Witnessing the struggle leaders faced in implementing training-driven changes, she discovered coaching as a powerful tool for sustained behavioral transformation. Her research-based approach led her to champion coaching as an organizational development tool, earning her the self-appointed title of “advocate for coaching” within Accenture.

Clare’s journey toward mastery was gradual, transitioning from an ACC to PCC and ultimately to an MCC credential with the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She emphasizes the importance of supervision in this journey, highlighting how mentor coaching and supervision allowed her to unlearn ineffective habits, refine her skills, and deepen her presence as a coach.

Key Insights & Takeaways

1. The Role of Supervision in Coaching Mastery

Coaching supervision is essential for ethical, professional, and personal growth.
It provides a reflective space to analyze coaching effectiveness, ethical dilemmas, and personal biases.
Supervision helps coaches avoid common pitfalls and ensures they remain client-centered.

2. Coaching Readiness vs. Coachability

Clare differentiates between “coaching readiness” and “coachability.”
Not everyone is immediately ready for coaching; readiness depends on motivation, timing, and willingness to engage in deep thinking.
Organizations should assess coaching readiness before assigning a coach to an executive.

3. The Journey from PCC to MCC

Mastery requires significant unlearning, particularly around directive coaching tendencies.
Key shifts include summarizing less, using the client’s own words to formulate powerful questions, and focusing on depth over breadth.
Effective coaching is about presence, patience, and helping clients slow down to gain clarity.

4. The Importance of Full-Body Wisdom in Coaching

Coaching is not just about cognitive processing but also involves emotional and somatic awareness.
Encouraging clients to stand, move, or explore metaphors can unlock deeper insights.
Full-body wisdom integrates intuition, gut feelings, and physical awareness into coaching conversations.

5. The Intersection of AI and Coaching

Clare acknowledges the rise of AI-driven coaching but emphasizes that human connection remains irreplaceable.
AI can serve as a useful in-between tool for coaching clients but should not replace human coaches.
Ethical concerns and ensuring AI remains non-directive are critical.

Memorable Quotes

“Hours of coaching do not a master make.”

“Our job as coaches is to build the client’s thinking muscles, not do the thinking for them.”

“Supervision isn’t about fixing; it’s about refining and deepening our coaching presence.”

The Arete Coach Podcast explores the art and science of executive coaching. You can find more about this podcast at aretecoach.io.

This episode was recorded on February 7, 2025.

Arete Coach: Exploring the Art and Science of Executive Coaching

“Arete Coach Podcast" Explores the "Art and Science" of Executive Coaching hosted by Severin Sorensen. The “Arete Coach Podcast" is for executive coaches and anyone considering becoming an executive coach. The podcast is especially valuable to executive coaches who are lifetime learners with deep curiosity about the "art and science" of coaching. In this podcast, the ‘art of coaching’ is explored through engaging interviews with leading executive coaches from diverse backgrounds sharing their individual coaching journeys, learnings, methods, best questions, and situational approaches to executive coaching. Beyond best practices, the podcast will regularly mine research on the ‘science of coaching’ and explores ongoing scientific discoveries and studies looking for what works and why, with an aim to improve the core body of knowledge for executive coaches and the industry. Severin Sorensen has provided over 7,500 hours of paid executive coaching sessions and he holds the following coaching certifications: ICF/ACSTH Certified Executive Coach (CEC), Certified Organizational Development Coach (CODC), Certified Life Coach (CLC); and the IAC: Coach Masteries Practioner. Severin Sorensen has an M.Phil in Economics at King's College, Cambridge University, and undergraduate degrees in Economics and Political Science from the University of Utah.

The Arete Coach Podcast is the copyright of Arete Coach LLC.

Severin Sorensen

Host, Arete Coach Podcast

Severin Sorensen is host of the Arete Coach Podcast, where he interviews executive coaches and researchers with the aims to celebrate and explore the art and science of executive coaching today.

Severin is a senior executive coach, serial entrepreneur and lifetime learner with a passionate curiosity about people and businesses. Severin is the CEO of ePraxis LLC, a premier level retained search firm that provides executive headhunting, talent selection, and executive coaching. (www.epraxis.com)

Severin is a certified coach with an IAC Masteries Practitioner designation and 800+ hours of ICF/ACSTH and other advanced training in Executive Coaching, Organizational Development, EOS, Life Coaching, Emotional Intelligence (EQ), and Positive Intelligence (PQ). Severin has over 7,500+ hours of paid executive coaching working with high performing executives, owners, and operators of public and private companies throughout North America.Severin's coaching clients include boards of directors, CEOs, Presidents, GMs, COO, CFO, CTO, VP Engineering, VP Talent, and many other positions.

Severin lives in Park City , Utah and his virtual coach practice includes clients throughout the Americas.

From 2010-2018 Severin was a Vistage Chair where he coached three CEO and Key executive groups. In 2011, Severin received the "Rookie of the Year Chair Award" from Vistage. Since 2013, Severin has added international speaking for Vistage, CEO conferences, executive peer groups, and corporations on the topic of identifying and hiring difference making top talent.

In terms of the types of clients coached, Severin has coached new CEOs (with less than 2 years experience), large company executives (e.g., Managing Director of Rio Tinto), numerous high-growth entrepreneurs operating INC 5000 businesses, multi-generational family owned businesses, and primary-equity business owners who are still actively managing their companies. Severin has experience coaching both private and public company executives and their executive teams.

Severin's own coaching practice is tool based, using diagnostics, surveys, and Socratic questioning to get to root issues. You can learn more about Severin at epraxis.com (insights), LinkedIn, Quora, and Twitter. If you think you might be a good fit for executive coaching with Severin, he is happy to give you a free test drive coaching session to see if this would be good for you and your team. You can book a free test-drive 30 min coaching huddle at: calendly.com/epraxis.