Executive Coaching or Mentoring

(Note this is a repost of my Blog from May 16, 2012)

The ultimate goal of our topic points is to enhance one’s knowledge, skills, and abilities so that they can increase their performance on the task for which they are being groomed. However, these are also two different areas in the business world today that need to be addressed with upcoming trainees and mid-level managers depending on what you and they want to accomplish for the company and for each other.

Coaching

In today’s fast-paced business world, coaching usually refers to a task at hand that is important. The coach is to help the person learn the required attitude, behavior and skills needed to perform the job successfully within the agreed success guidelines. The task is therefore well defined and the conversation begins and ends with a clear focus on specific timelines. The role of the coach is to create a specific agenda … split the task into manageable sub-tasks that have clear skillsets and look at the different ways a person can learn them. Experience as well as research tells us that actual experiences are the most effective learning tools.

Mentoring

Mentoring focuses on the whole individual and the discussions go beyond the general work life. This means that the interaction becomes more philosophical, more focused on attitudes and behaviors than on specific skills. You can attempt to add the same level of focus and timelines that you use in coaching, but the entire individual is the topic of discussions and exploration. Therefore, you have to be more of a comprehensive tutor than a coach who is teaching a specific skillset for the current timeline.

Training is not the same as coaching. Training can be one component of a larger coaching initiative. At the same time, mentoring is more abstract … happens mostly through the stories or experiences of the mentor.

Important Leadership Decision

While mentoring and coaching have their use in the leadership involvement of a  company, it is important to know that leaders must be clear about what the goal is, what they are doing and why, what each person needs from this experience, and what the company situation needs are and what is to be accomplished.

What would you like to share in the Coaching and Mentoring areas?