What are some of the key differences and similarities between coaching and mentoring?

Regardless of the context (career, leadership, personal wellness), coaching is focused on the present and the future. Where are right now and where do you want to be? Unlike mentoring, a career coach does not have to have expertise in your particular field. They draw from best practices in career growth to help you reach your goals. When entering a coaching relationship, your coach should offer a coaching agreement that explains the difference between coaching, mentoring, consulting, and counseling. Be sure you have the right professional for the right goals. Sometimes, you may need more than one. Your coach can help you identify if your need is a coaching need vice something else.

Where coaches serve as a catalyst to help clients discover the right next steps for themselves , mentors use their unique paths and experience to guide the mentee. Unlike coaching, mentors may provide specific instruction on how to get from point A to point B, drawing from their experience, expertise, or knowledge of the organization.

My recommendation is that each person have a coach and a mentor. It’s important to have guidance from someone who’s been where you are, know your organization and culture, and have excelled in your field (mentor). It also is important to have someone who’s focused on listening to you, understanding your goals, helping you identify and tap into the values and insights that already are within you, and helping you maximize your growth (coach).

In my opinion the key difference between these two stems from the directive vs non directive dichotomy. In terms of classical approach to coaching, it is focused around three elements: ask rather than tell, support self-awareness development and approach the relationship with "I know nothing" attitude. For mentoring it can be summarized as: come with specific pre-existing knowledge, focus on guiding and advising, be ready to share own experience. Another words, coaching is all about "ASK" (non-directive), while mentoring is about "TELL" (directive.

One other key difference I see - a coach is responsible for providing not just positive feedback but also constructive feedback whereas a mentor focuses only on the positive. I use the example of a manager - they are responsible for coaching you but seldom are they your mentor (not impossible, just less likely). Picking a mentor who isn't your manager sets you up in a non-judgemental relationship. Your manager is required to manage you and with that comes an assessment against expectations. If you're off course on meeting expectations you will hear about it from your manager but not from a mentor.

The driving factor is what the client wants. Are they looking for a specific outcome? Coaching tends to be short-term, can focus on skill development, and is performance-centric. It is driven by the coach and can be standardized. Mentoring is about taking a 30,000-foot view of a person’s development (whether personal or professional), is entirely personalized, and is driven by the client/mentee’s needs. It takes a longer-term view, is development-centric, and requires the mentor to have direct relevant experience. However, since coaching is a modality, as a mentor I use its tools with my clients/mentees when helpful.

Mentoring is about sharing your knowledge with others. Coaching is helping others to find their own solutions through questioning and active listening.

Coaching is like a GPS, giving you real-time directions and nudging you towards your goals, while mentoring is more like a seasoned travel guide, sharing wisdom from their own journeys. Both are about growth, but coaching is performance-focused with specific outcomes, whereas mentoring is relationship-focused, offering long-term guidance. Think of coaching as a sprint with a stopwatch and mentoring as a marathon with a compass. Both invaluable, just different paces and perspectives on the path to success. Rgrds

As someone who has been in both spheres as a coach and mentor. As a coach it is a more hands on approach providing step by step guidance to accomplishing your goals. This includes having a structured path to follow to bring you to success. As a mentor my role is to support you in carving out your own path, provide accountability and be the safety net when things don’t go as expected.

To find a coach or mentor, consider utilizing resources within your organization, as many companies have a panel of expert coaches and mentors who are thoroughly vetted, trained, and certified. If this option is available to you, it can be a great place to start. Alternatively, platforms like LinkedIn offer access to a vast network of professionals willing to provide guidance. LinkedIn's Top Voice program gives recognition to such experts. Depending on your needs, these professionals may charge a fee or offer their services pro bono.

It’s a misnomer to segregate the two disciplines — other than for a simplistic comparison valuable most especially for newbies entering or just exploring options. My perspective after almost 6 decades in these & aligned fields of endeavor, is that in these VUCA Times it is the combination of both coaching & mentoring that allows we professional, personal & organizational development practitioners-scholars to empower those we serve to rise from the emergent past into our emergent futures.