Differences between coaching and mentoring

According to the Oxford Languages dictionary, teaching is the knowledge, idea, experience, skill or set of them that a person learns from another person or from something. It is also the transmission of these elements to a person who does not have them.

Likewise, this dictionary defines instruction: an indication, usually within a series of them, given, sometimes as an order, to do a thing correctly.

The main difference between coaching and other teaching and learning processes is the place of the coachee or client, his leading role in the relationship established with the coach. Coaching creates a space for reflection to improve, to find new alternatives and possibilities. The client becomes aware of his/her reality and determines the direction he/she wants to follow and the actions he/she wants to take.

Coaching assumes that the person really has the potential to do something and the will to move forward. It assumes that the client has the capacity to find his or her own answers.

Coaching is often confused with mentoring. In both, the learning process is present, as well as confidentiality and privacy between the parties. Both seek to improve people's lives, but although these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they have characteristics that differentiate them.

Scope of coaching

Coaching does not give you a recipe or an instruction manual. The client has to continually question his or her way of facing life and the way he or she works. It is a process based on permanent communication between coach and coachee.

Methodologies are as non-directive as possible, without instructions or intervention in their decisions. The focus is not on the coach's teaching but on the learning that the client achieves by himself.

Coaching works with previously decided goals. The objectives are specific, realistic and achievable. The action plan is decided by the coachee and the role of the coach is to listen, manage progress constantly, establish connections, provide the method and tools necessary for the client to succeed. The fulfillment of the objectives of the agreement can be tracked and measured.

The time shared between coach and coachee is limited to the duration of the agreement, it has a certain beginning and end. Although it can later evolve into mentoring or consulting.

What differentiates mentoring from coaching?

Mentoring is a teaching and learning process that takes place through the advice and guidance of the mentor. It is a relationship that fosters the personal development of the mentee.

The scope of mentoring is much greater than that of coaching. It helps to experience a comprehensive personal growth and the relationship they share is both work and personal. The process can include aspects such as training, formation, protection, introduction to contacts and sponsorship, challenge, correcting behaviors and solving personal dilemmas, among others.

While coaching focuses on the present and the immediate future, on obtaining results quickly and on the coachee's tasks; mentoring focuses on the future, keeps track of the mentee's career and personal life over time, and is concerned about his or her general well-being.

In mentoring, the mentor's role is to offer advice and share experiences to positively influence the protégé's growth. He shares the challenges he faced and the strategies that worked for him. Shares valuable information of relevance to the mentee. May give instructions and guidelines to follow. Conveys knowledge.

What is a mentor?

Currently there are different types of mentoring, you can hire the services of a mentor to address specific issues in many sectors. There are also mentoring programs available with a wide range of options, but the role of mentor historically goes beyond business relationships and has a, shall we say, spiritual side.

A mentor is someone who has already been where you want to be and has achieved the success you aspire to, either in business or in their lifestyle. Someone you look up to and who is an inspiration to you, usually with more experience and knowledge.

In the beginning, mentor and mentee focus on learning and competency development, but if they team up well, they build strong bonds that go beyond specific issues and the relationship lasts over time.

It may be someone you meet with on certain occasions to discuss a challenge you are facing, or you have doubts about an important decision and need to listen to their opinions and guidance.

You may never meet or even have a personal relationship, but their life, work, business model or way of facing challenges inspires you and is a person who becomes a reference for you. Someone you follow through conferences, seminars or books.

What a mentor will not do is to be aware of the person day by day to check the progress, or to accompany him/her step by step through the learning process. Nor to ensure compliance with a plan designed to your needs. That dynamic corresponds to coaching.