People often ask what the difference between a mentor and a coach is. Frankly, both terms are commonly misunderstood. Even trained mentors and coaches have different views of the roles of mentors and coaches.
Mentoring
In my own formal training as a mentor, through Mentors and Business Coaches International, it was stressed that a mentor should never advise a mentee (client), but rather the mentor should skilfully listen to the mentee, asking open questions and facilitate the mentee to make their own decisions.
Others have a different view. Clutterbuck for example who has written extensively about mentoring, points to its origins in the concept of apprenticeship, “when a more experienced individual passed down his knowledge of how the task was done and how to operate in the commercial world” (Clutterbuck, 2004).
Some believe that a mentor may share with a mentee, information about his or her own career path, as well as provide guidance, motivation, emotional support, and role modelling.
With due respect, my hesitation with this, is that the mentee may perceive that the mentor has been successful, so they should do the same as the mentor did. However, we all have different personalities and characters, different people who we are on team with and different circumstances. So, what works for one may not work for another.
Regardless of the definition, here is a great description of the purpose of mentoring:
Starr (2014) sums up mentoring as follows: “Mentoring isn’t about changing someone, or getting someone to do something differently, it’s about waking someone up to who they really are. The mentor’s challenge is to distil their own experience into bite-sized chunks of wisdom, help or guidance that ultimately helps them to discover that.”
Here Are Some Characteristics of Good Mentors
- Good listener/sounding board.
- Good communicator.
- Flexible.
- Values diversity of perspectives.
- Non-judgmental.
- Honest and candid.
- Able to network and find resources.
- Builds trust.
- Is dependable, engaged, authentic, and tuned into the needs of the mentee.
- Is willing to offer constructive criticism and feedback. This is essential to helping mentees progress toward their goals.
- Builds in accountability towards their goals.
- Has empathy.
- Puts the responsibility in the mentee’s hands.
- Respects confidentiality and the mentee’s time.
- Encourages and recognises the mentee’s potential.
You may be interested to click on the following link to read more about the Johari Window and its relevance to mentoring: https://www.newpanoramascoaching.com.au/coaching-mentoring-blog/the-johari-window-self-awareness/
“A mentor will help the client to shift the borders so that the client knows more about themselves, so the blind and unknown areas reduce. Only as trust grows will the client allow those hidden areas others to be revealed.”
Coaching
There are of course different types of coaching, e.g., sport, health, business to name just a few.
A coach is able to work with people in a variety of domains and industries, even without having personal experience themselves. In my view of mentoring, the same may be true for a mentor (but if a mentor is seen as a person advising from their own experience, that would not be the case).
Coaching is designed to improve the coachee’s (client) performance or results in the specific area being coached. The focus is on development, learning, unlocking potential, dealing with barriers (or “roadblocks”) and enhancing performance. It may be aimed at specific work- related issues, career transitions etc. It has been described as “the art of facilitating the performance, learning and development of another”.
A coach helps a coachee to clarify their goals, the actions needed to achieve them and the hindrances that may be holding them back. In doing this the coach helps the coachee to reach their potential. A collaborative, solution-focused, results-oriented and systematic process should be used.
Different tools and techniques may be used in this process but again the importance of listening cannot be over emphasised.
Coaching is about performance improvement so it is goal-focused, results oriented and practical. It may have a short term and practical focus.
Here Are Some Characteristics of Good Coaches
- Good listener/sounding board.
- Good communicator.
- Flexible.
- Values diversity of perspectives.
- Non-judgmental.
- Honest and candid.
- Able to network and find resources.
- Builds trust.
- Is dependable, engaged, authentic, and tuned into the needs of the coachee.
- Is willing to offer constructive criticism and feedback. This is essential to helping coachees progress toward their goals.
- Builds in accountability towards their goals.
- Has empathy.
- Puts the responsibility in the coachee’s hands.
- Respects confidentiality and the coachee’s time.
- Encourages and recognises the coachee’s potential.
- Knowledge of appropriate tools/ techniques to use where appropriate.
- Mutual understanding and respect.
- Respects where there should be a referral to a more suitable qualified professional for certain needs.
- Has the skill to make it real so that discussions get converted into actions.
Closing Comments
The distinction between coaching and mentoring can easily be misunderstood. Properly trained people might both mentor and coach depending on the client and their needs.
If I had to bring it down to one thing, I would venture to suggest that coaching is directed toward a particular activity, resource or event such as business or health, whereas mentoring is more directed towards the whole person.
Does the terminology really matter? The important thing is for there to be a relationship of mutual trust, respect and listening. Ultimately the goal is to facilitate the client to understand themselves better, to clarify their goals and decide on the appropriate steps needed towards fulfilling their potential.