In a recent conversation with a professional acquaintance, I was asked about the difference between coaching and mentoring. At the time, my response was muddled by a flood of memories from my own experiences that has since given me pause to reflect on the vast number of coaches and mentors who have made a significant difference in my life (personally and professionally).
Coaching is a capacity development process and can be described as support given by an experienced person to an individual learner (or group) in achieving a specific personal or professional goal. Mentoring refers to a counseling endeavor where a person guides a less experienced individual to help maximize their potential. Coaching is task oriented, structured, time bound, and well planned, whereas mentoring is relationship driven, long-term and typically provided through an informal role.
Having access to a support system of trusted confidants, critical friends, and thought partners you can go to and lean on for help can be the difference in success or failure. My reflections centered on those individuals who entered my life at various stages of my journey and includes teachers, former supervisors, role models, executive coaches, men and women from various geographical locations, diverse backgrounds, and ethnicities.
These are not casual acquaintances. The common dominator is each individual cared enough about me to invest their time, effort, care, and concern. In some cases, it involved opening doors, a peek behind the veil involving their decisions, providing personal advice, or explicit and intuitive feedback to help navigate tough tasks, challenging assignments, or career decisions but nonetheless, all were rooted in a relationship. Many of which continue to this day.
The days of the rugged individual going it alone are long gone. Coaching and mentoring are both important roles in developing human capital of any organization. All of us need support at various stages in our life’s journey, whether it is about individual (or team) performance and efficiency or career progression and effectiveness. In the right situation (e.g., learning and development strategy), coaching and mentoring can be effective approaches to developing leaders at all levels.
“We are reminded that, in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame, but rather how well we have loved and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better”—Barack Obama.