Coach or Mentor?

Over the last few years we have heard increasingly about the need for coaches and mentors, yet rarely is the difference between them clarified.

Coaching focuses on professional or personal matters, and is concerned with improved performance and the achievement of goals. Mentoring generally deals with professional development in a particular field, rather than more specific personal behaviour.
Coaching involves a recognised process; clarifying vision and values, setting goals, implementing strategies for success, resolving challenges as they arise, maintaining focus on the tasks, refining personal and professional skills, maintaining motivation, and evaluating outcomes. The mentoring process may or may not be this formal, organised, and the mentor may be trained or not.

While the quality of training for coaches also varies, there is universal recognition of the importance of training in communications and human behaviour, as a cornerstone to the profession.

A mentor's main value lies in their having been where the client wants to go, so they can share their knowledge. This can be of enormous use to someone in the same field. Contacts and opportunities can be provided to the client that might not be available anywhere else.

With a coach, the principle is that you don't have to be an Olympic gold medallist to be able to coach one, but you must know about skills, structure, support, and how to motivate someone towards their goals. The same skills are necessary in a good mentor, although the focus is on the job itself, and the value provided by someone who "knows the ropes". This is especially important when an empathic understanding of the difficulties of the role is required.

One of the essential requirements for a coach is a grasp of the technology of success, this information being transferable across a range of settings. For a mentor, it is a successful history in the client's field of interest, and the ability to communicate that winning edge to them.

In choosing a coach or mentor the question that the client must first ask is "How important is a specific knowledge of the field?" secondly, "How important is it that I be able to apply these principles elsewhere?" In addition, as with choosing any professional, enquiries should be made concerning qualifications and experience. Lastly, the importance of being comfortable with the mentor or coach shouldn't be underestimated, as this comfort is a prerequisite to any valuable helping relationship.