This past Friday, I had the privilege of participating in an internal discussion panel organised by my company (thanks, Sonia!), with the theme "coaching & mentoring at all levels". It was a really interesting conversation: two other colleagues shared their vast experience around the topic of mentoring, and I contributed with my point of view from the field of coaching.
The words coaching and mentoring are often used together, especially when talking about work and the enterprise, and sometimes, it´s not too clear what each of them is; that´s why we started by explaining the differences.
- A mentor is someone with experience and a reputation in a particular profession, job role or field of work. They are further along the path the mentee is now beginning to walk, and with the years, they have become a subject matter expert, so they can guide the mentee and give them advice, sharing their knowledge, experience and wisdom.
- Mentorships often extend over time, eventually becoming a long-term relationship. Typically, the mentor has a more senior position than the mentee, so there´s an element of hierarchy in the relationship. The usual topics of discussion are either relevant to their shared profession or related to career growth, navigating the workplace, networking, etc.
- In contrast, a coach isn´t necessarily knowledgeable in the coachee´s professional field; a coach is someone who has received formal coaching training and has experience and a reputation in coaching, having become an expert in accompanying their clients in the process of defining their own objectives and finding their own answers and solutions.
- The relationship between coach and coachee is one of partnership, not hierarchy, and the topics of discussion are chosen by the coachee according to what they consider most important and relevant along the process. Typically, each coaching engagement relates to a specific goal or objective and has a well-defined beginning and end. The duration of the engagement is variable, from a few weeks to several months.
And this brings us to what in my opinion is the fundamental difference between coaching and mentoring: while your mentor guides you and gives you advice, the coach´s job is not to give advice, they´re not going to tell you what to do.
In coaching, it´s all based on firmly believing that the coachee is a creative and resourceful person who already has (or can obtain) all the resources they need to be able to achieve their goals and overcome the challenges in front of them. It´s the coachee who´s an expert in their own life and, deep down, knows what they want, what is best for them and what works best for their particular case. Therefore, the coach´s job is to create an environment of trust and safety to encourage the coachee to be curious, explore, and open up to new possibilities, allowing the answers to bubble up to the surface.
As you can see, there are quite a few differences between these two disciplines, though it makes sense to mention them together when discussing professional development, as they complement each other perfectly in that field. Your mentor inspires you with their example and shares their expertise and practical wisdom with you; a coach serves as your mirror, your sounding board, and helps you to look inward and decide your next steps by following your own compass.. Needless to say, none of them is going to do the work for you; that´s impossible. It´s still your journey, your career, your life, and it´s up to you to do your part to make the most of it.
So what do you think? What do you need at this moment of your life? Mentoring? Coaching? Or maybe both?
(If you found this article interesting, you may also like this other one, where I explain the difference between coaching and psychotherapy)