Understanding Coaching and Mentoring
Not sure what to expect from a mentor relationship? Learn how mentors help along the path to success.
What is mentoring?
The terms “mentoring” and “coaching” are often used interchangeably, but in fact are quite different. Consider two dimensions of helping:1
Coaching is “a relatively directive means of helping someone develop competence.” It is “primarily focused on performance within the current job and emphasizes the development of skills.”
Mentoring is “off-line help by one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge, work or thinking.” Mentoring involves drawing on all four “helping styles” as appropriate to the current situation, which will change over time.
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In summary: Mentoring includes aspects of coaching, since mentors will often have specific skills that they can impart to protégés. However, that is not the point of mentoring, which is to develop protégés beyond their current position.
1Adapted from “Everyone needs a mentor”, David Clutterbuck, 2001