Coaching and Mentoring - byldgroup/BYLD-Group GitHub Wiki

Over the years, organizations have now started to realize the potential there is in coaching and the necessity of providing such services, many have still confused these terminologies. Do you know the difference between coaching and mentoring? Even though you may understand its importance and benefits, you may not know the fine line that differentiates executive coaching from mentoring. It is important to understand these terms as – 99% of individuals and companies who hire a coach are “satisfied or very satisfied” and 96% say they would repeat the process. (ICF Global Coaching Client Study). There can be no room for misinterpretations about coaching.

To eliminate these misconceptions, here is how executive coaching is different than mentoring:

Executive Coaching:

Executive coaches work on sharpening your skills and expanding them as they continue to empower you and equip you to do your work more confidently. They help you to deal with the technicalities of your work and other critical near-term issues. They prod you to keep a track of your work’s progress by setting your priorities and objectives.

Executive coaching helps in encouraging and inspiring you to attain outcomes that you could achieve in a shorter duration. As and when you have attained the set outcomes, you can choose to extend their coaching training by deciding other weaker areas that could be worked on. By focusing on the short-term goals, the strategies plan and structure them to be discrete to achieve optimal results in a minimum amount of time. Coaching sessions can be decided as per the client’s schedule either conducted virtually or in person.

Mentoring:

Executive mentoring often trains you with the broader backdrop of your professional career. They help you work towards your goals and execute them through your skill sets by focusing on both the immediate and long-term goals that can go on for a lifetime. Executive mentoring is more about imparting knowledge and wisdom to help you deploy and utilize your skills to the fullest extent. Whereas, executive coaching helps you by sharpening your skills and expanding them!

Executive mentoring is to help you achieve long-term goals and pursues a more open-ended agenda that is broader in scope and less structured. Executive mentors deal with such internal issues as career satisfaction, personal growth, and development, keeping balance in your life, incorporating leadership and management skills that help you create an executive presence. Their services help you as supportive listeners and tutors through their guidance. As compared to executive coaching, mentorship requires lesser meetings but their sessions are much longer and far-ranging than coaching sessions.

However, mentoring is a limited venture since it intends on working on your personal development and is usually on a lesser payment but executive coaching is a paid relationship that is often trying to go deeper into your deep-rooted challenges. In today’s world, executive coaching circles around assisting high profile executives, leaders, managers, and demanding positions to help them perform better, enhance productivity through skillful learning that effectively guides them to lead their teams! They help you reach desired goals by exceeding your company’s expectations by achieving milestones! This empowers and enables leaders to tap into their unidentified potential and use their skills to their fullest extent to help achieve the bigger picture by doing the great good through their devoted service! Every organization requires its perfect pair of coaches and mentors! Although, many use these terms interchangeably they are essentially different from one another. It is not your fault that you presumed both of these terminologies to be the same, it does ‘teach you in a way. You will be tutored by both your mentors and your coach as well. Learning should never be limited to only a formal construct of institutions but they should come up with experiential learning and life lessons! There are a few subtle differences between coaching and mentoring. It is important to know about these differences as the following facts highlight the importance and value of coaching and mentoring. Not eliminating these misconceptions will only lead to misinterpretations.

If a person chooses to coach, there are many benefits. Coaching conversations help a person focus attention on their desired goals (Moore, Jackson, & Tschannen-Moren, 2016). Let’s understand the differences between Coaching and Mentoring:

Coaching:

Coaching works on sharpening your skills and expanding them as they equip you to do your work more confidently. Helping in making you understand the technicalities of your work and other critical near-term issues. Helps in goal setting and managing the priority of your objectives. Coaching helps in encouraging and inspiring you to attain outcomes that you can achieve in a shorter duration. As and when you have attained the set outcomes, you can choose to extend their coaching training by deciding critical areas that need to be worked on. By focusing on the short-term goals, the strategies plan and structure them to be discrete to achieve optimal results in a minimum amount of time. Coaching sessions can be decided as per the client’s schedule either conducted virtually or in person.

Mentoring:

Mentors help you work towards your goals and execute them through your skill sets by focusing on both the immediate and long-term goals that can go on for a lifetime. Whereas, coaching helps by sharpening your skills and expanding them! Helps in achieving long-term goals and pursues a more open-ended agenda that is broader in scope and less structured. Deal with internal issues as career satisfaction, personal growth, and development, keeping balance in your life, incorporating leadership and management skills that help you create an executive presence. Mentoring is a limited venture since it intends on working on your personal development and is usually on a lesser payment but coaching is a paid relationship that is often trying to help you solve your deep-rooted challenges. However, there is a more effective way to understand these differences, with some of our quick facts:

A few pointers to understand coaching and mentoring through a concise perspective:

• Coaching is a short-term development venture. Whereas, Mentoring is long-term.
• Coaching is performance-driven, whereas, Mentoring is development-driven.
• Coaches are tied to the performance of their mentees, whereas, mentors are objective and unbiased observers.

These are a few of the differences between coaching and mentoring that not a lot of people know which is why it is important to understand them and understand whose services you actually need. There is a fine line of difference when one speaks about coaching and mentoring. Both these terminologies are confused and thought of as the same service or profession. In today’s world, you should know what you want and why you want it. Here are some of the key differences.