How do you balance coaching and mentoring staff with your own workload and priorities?

There is also the concept of reverse mentoring, where a junior employee is paired with a senior employee to provide mentoring and guidance to the senior employee, rather than the other way around. This approach is often used in organizations to help senior employees stay up-to-date with the latest ways of working, technology, trends etc across the business. Reverse mentoring also helps to motivate, develop leadership skills and gain exposure for junior team members, which can be beneficial for their career growth and development.

It's also interesting to point out that sponsors! Coaches help us develop skills and strategies to reach our goals, mentors offer guidance and support based on their own experiences, and sponsors advocate for us and open doors that would otherwise be closed. The most important thing is to keep the dialogue going, and seek help when needed. I remember urgently needing my mentor and coach’s advice, Steve Kaufman, as I started a big job, particularly around aggressive lawyering, regulatory requirements, when and what to communicate (and not), plus, always putting yourself in the shoes of the company losing you! “Take-offs and landings are the most perilous times in your career flight path and journey”, he said so wisely!

The best coaches are also great mentors. The lines between coaching and mentoring are blurred when you have an exemplary coach/mentor.

It can be too easy to blur Coaching and Mentoring, yet in most cases, teh ability to interweave both approaches is the best solution. However, we must be clear on what we have 'contracted' to do, as unintentionally falling from one into the other can be risky. It helps to remind oneself and your client of our role that day. In simple terms, mentoring can focus on the 'why' and less so the 'what', and coaching on the 'what' and the 'how'. So in my 'mentoring' capacity, I may focus more on helping clients understand their motivation and fears while 'coaching' them on how they deliver a change, etc.

Michael Bungay Stanier's books "The Coaching Habit" and "The Advice Trap" give practical tips to help leaders have a coaching approach to every conversation. Coaching does not have to be a formal process but can be an approach we take to stay curious longer, ask more questions, listen deeply. and resist our urge to give advice or provide a solution immediately.

I've noticed the core difficulty for many leaders is shifting from doing the work to caring for people. It's a huge shift for a hands-on leader. To redistribute your time and energy, first: Define your purpose for coaching or mentoring. Why is it important to you, to them, to the company, to your clients? Then ask, What does coaching or mentorship look like within our company/culture? What will my role be and that of others? Only then can you start to identify the time and learning needed to create meaningful mentorship for your team.

A mentor-mentee relationship can't exist if the two parties do not genuinely want to spend time with each other. Like all successful personal relationships (and most successful professional relationships), mentor-mentee relationships are grounded in people developing authentic, meaningful connections.

Effective mentors do not tell their mentees what to do. Instead, they provide their mentees with the tools to enable them to make effective decisions.

I list my workload and add in the mentoring/coaching time so all is covered as both are important to the company and to all employees for success.

I find that balancing coaching and mentoring with my personal life can be really challenging, and it is important to prioritize self-care to avoid burnout. One tip is to establish clear boundaries between work and personal time, such as setting specific hours for coaching and mentoring sessions and sticking to them. It's also really important to communicate your availability and limitations to your coachee/mentees upfront. Additionally, make time for your own hobbies and interests to recharge and stay motivated. I always find time to do my physical exercise, whether it's walking, yoga, cycling, etc. And finally, it's important to establish a maximum number of coachees or mentees you can take on. You can't take on every single person!