Some people have wondered and asked “how do coaching and mentoring differ“, so we will attempt to describe some of the similarities and some of the differences.

Many times the words are used interchangeably, but here we want to focus on the subtle things of how coaching and mentoring differ.

First of all we will describe the words coaching and mentoring individually and then consider how coaching and mentoring differ from each other.

Coaching:

• observation with advice and/or suggestions
• knowledge passed on by “do this”
• advice is based more on consensus thinking
• action is more by telling, less by showing

Mentoring:

• involvement with consultation
• knowledge passed on by “watch this”
• advice based more on experience
• action is more by showing, not telling

These are just very short lists of very complex occupations and fields of study. But one can see how coaching and mentoring differ in some fairly obvious ways.

For a visualization one can think of coaching as in the role of a tutor, teacher or sports coach. He dictates actions, training, moves, demands and is quick to criticize. The coach is always in charge and is the leader.

One can imagine a mentor in the role of a guru, wise man, or elder. He waits for questions, answers with metaphor, explains with stories, and listens with empathy. This can also describe the mentee, or recipient. Their roles can reverse.

These descriptions may be the essence of how do coaching and mentoring differ.

On a broader level there may be many similarities. Coaches and mentors may be equally involved for their own self interest and improvement, but the teacher and coach may have more interest in being compensated by money, while the mentor may be more interested in being compensated by knowledge and emotional satisfaction.

In both roles there may be similarity in age or a wide discrepancy. Coaches tend to cajole younger, inexperienced people. Mentors tend to reciprocate at higher levels of experience between old and young, or equal age.

Hopefully this has helped explain and answer the question of “How do Coaching and Mentoring differ”.

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