Mentoring Vs. Coaching

Mentoring Vs. Coaching: The Key Differences and Benefits

Ever heard the phrase, “No man is an island”? It’s like one of those riddles that sounds deep and philosophical, but honestly, most of us are left scratching our heads, wondering what it means. Lucky for us, we’ve got some fantastic professions stepping in to shed some light on this every day saying and show us how it applies to real life. 

These cool professions all have one awesome thing in common: they’re all about making us better versions of ourselves. You know, like those personal trainers who push you to reach your fitness goals or those life coaches who help you find your path and purpose. But in this corner, we have two contenders who often get mistaken for each other: mentoring and coaching.

Let’s not get too confused. Mentoring and coaching may seem like twins separated at birth, but they’ve got distinct personalities. Mentoring is like that wise, experienced friend who’s been there, done that, and is eager to share their wisdom. On the other hand, coaching is more like a skilled sports coach, guiding you to tap into your potential and achieve greatness.

You might be wondering, “Okay, but what’s the big deal? They both sound pretty similar.” While both mentoring and coaching have their unique perks, they work in different ways.

Imagine having a mentor by your side, offering valuable insights, sharing their life lessons, and nudging you in the right direction. 

On the other hand, coaching takes a different approach. Instead of handing you the answers on a silver platter, a coach empowers you to discover your inner strength and find solutions on your own. 

Mentoring and coaching go beyond just helping us individually. Through mentoring, we learn the importance of connections and how we’re all part of a greater network of human experiences. And coaching? Well, it’s all about teamwork and fostering a sense of community, making sure we thrive together.

Mentoring Vs. Coaching: Definition

Mentoring:

This is a process where a professional shares experiences, knowledge, skills, and expertise with another to help the other improve, develop, and grow. The mentor is the person sharing the experience, knowledge, skill, and expertise. In contrast, the mentee receives the knowledge, skill, experience, and expertise for improvement, growth, and development.

Coaching:

This is a process where a professional guides another (the client) based on the client’s specified goals so that the client can reach their full potential. The professional offering this guidance is the coach, and the guidance offered depends on the client and the client’s goals.

From the above definitions of mentoring and Coaching, both share knowledge to promote improvement, growth, and development. There is also a learning process for whoever is on the receiving end of the knowledge being shared. However, what are the key differences between both sides from their names?

Critical Differences Between Mentoring and Coaching

Brisbane business mentoring and Coaching might appear similar, but they are not similar because they have qualities and traits that distinguish them, and they include the following:

  1. The duration refers to how long the mentoring or coaching process takes before their goals become realities. Mentoring is the process that takes the most time, as the least period for a mentoring relationship is 6 months. The mentor teaches an individual in every phase or stage so that the relationship can span years, and there have been cases of lifelong mentoring relationships where mentees hold on to their mentors throughout their lives.

In contrast, the coaching relationship is shorter, with most periods for coaching relationships being well under 6 months. The professional needs more teaching or sharing experiences and more prompting or probing. However, Coaching can be a long-term relationship too, but it depends on the client and the client’s goals.

  1. The required qualification:  Mentoring involves more of the professional sharing knowledge from experience, so it does not require any specific qualification. This is one of the reasons organizations and companies find it easier to organize mentorship programs for their staff.

In contrast, Coaching requires qualification, as its professionals undergo intense training to develop their coaching skills. Qualifications are an essential quality for coaches because it is used to measure their level of expertise. The training also helps the coaches gain certifications that prove they are trained or have received training.

  1. The approach: This is a noticeable quality many must be more attentive to. The mentoring relationship exists between the mentor (the professional offering mentorship advice) and the mentee (The professional receiving the mentorship advice). Please take note of the word “advice’ as it is crucial to understand the approach. The mentor shares knowledge from a position of being admired, while the mentee is the admirer. 

Furthermore, the approach used in the relationship is directive, where the mentor dishes out directions from an experienced point of view. Hence, knowledge is shared by one party speaking more and the other listening more in mentorship.

The approach in a coaching relationship is the exact opposite of the relationship in a mentoring relationship. The non-directive approach is used, where the coach probes or prompts the clients to act right or take steps that prompt growth and development. The coach does this by asking the right questions, providing the ideal space for growth and trust and confidence in the coached individual. This then sets up the coached individual to consider how well they can achieve more, reach their goals and objectives, and discover capabilities in the selves they never knew existed.

 It is essential to highlight that the coach does not approach the client from a stance of being admired because of their experience but as someone willing to walk with the client through the growth journey.

  1. The structure: In the typical sense, mentoring has no definitive structure, and this is seen through how goals and agendas are birthed in a mentoring relationship. The mentee is tasked with setting up goals and agendas for mentorship because the mentor will only offer knowledge from experience and expertise. The mentee, on the other hand, has to decipher what relevance the advice and knowledge offered by the mentor has to them. Hence, most mentees are advised to define their goals and agendas before undertaking a mentorship.

In a coaching relationship, there is an existing structure for the coach and client. Line managers or sponsors set up this structure because organizations or companies often sponsor their staff to be coached regarding a specific goal or agenda. The staff (Client0) gets better at understanding the agenda or goal during the coaching relationship because a rigorous structure is followed to achieve the goal or agenda.

  1. The purpose: In a nutshell, mentoring and Coaching are meant for self-development, but how do they offer self-development? In mentoring, the purpose of the relationship is development-driven, where the mentee is the one who decides the goals to achieve.

In contrast, the purpose of coaching relationships is performance-driven, where the coach grows and develops from their experiences. However, the coach’s guidance ensures the experiences are tailored towards positive goals and objectives of improvement.

Benefits of Mentoring and Coaching

Both relationships are developmental, but development is a comprehensive benefit; what are the detailed benefits these relationships offer? They include:

  1. Both are effective learning techniques for the professional and the client.
  2. Both relationships can take any form between formal and informal. However, most mentoring relationships appear more informal than formal.
  3. They both have the potential to increase employee engagement and retention.
  4. They can easily be introduced into any establishment, organization, or business.
  5. They both have the upside of increasing the client’s confidence and interpersonal skills of the professionals in the relationship.

Mentoring Vs. Coaching; Similarities

Aside from the benefits being similarities between both relationships, another similarity is the skills needed. Some of the skills include:

  • A keen interest in helping others grow
  • The ability to inspire and maximize resources.
  • Problem-solving skills

Conclusion

Mentoring and Coaching have their key differences, and they have been discussed in this article. Both help better understand that no man is an island, as they show how essential a relationship can be towards growth, improvement, and development.

tony meredith business coach

Bio of Tony Meredith

Tony Meredith Coaching focuses on helping business owners Grow Sales, Increase Profits, and Regain Time. 

Tony Meredith Coaching started in 2018 and works with hundreds of small-medium businesses across Australia, in the areas of Services, Franchising, Retail, Manufacturing, and Trades.

Tony has over 25 years of experience working for some of the world’s largest corporations in a variety of senior sales and leadership roles.

Tony and his team provide a range of specialist business coaching sessions, including individual business coachinggroup business coaching, and online business coaching.

Contact Tony and his team if you want to grow an outstanding business.

Contact Details

Email:              [email protected]

Phone:            07 3394 8221