What is Coaching?

Coaching can be defined as a personal and confidential learning and development process. It is goal orientated - the person being coached (the coachee) will have defined what they want to achieve from the coaching sessions. They may need help in making their goals SMART but they will know the areas they want to focus on and develop in. The coachee will work towards both short term and longer-term goals. Through appropriate use of questions, through challenge and through support, the coach will agree a (short term, session goal) for each coaching meeting and a (longer term, end goal) for the coaching relationship. In this way, the coachee is never in doubt that the discussions are forward looking, action and performance orientated.

Coaching is designed to result in effective action, improved performance, and/or personal growth for the individual and improved business results for the organisation. In contrast to other forms of organised learning, e.g., training, coaching is highly personal in two ways. It is individualised, recognising that no two people are alike and is based upon the theory that each person has a unique knowledge base and learning pace and styles. Therefore, coachees progress at their individual pace though the good coach will maintain momentum, ensure progress and hold the coachee accountable. In addition, coaching is the appropriate forum for personal feedback of both strengths and weaknesses.

The coach needs no experience, knowledge, or expertise in the field of the coachee. They need to create a partnership built on rapport and trust and apply their coaching skills to get the best out of their coachee in line with what they want to focus on.


What is Mentoring?
Mentoring is a process during which one person (the mentor) supports and encourages the longer-term learning, development, and thus performance improvements of another (the mentee). Within the corporate environment it describes a guide, or adviser, - normally a senior manager who helps someone organisationally more "junior" to develop their capability and potential. The mentor's experience and credibility are vital, - it's someone who has been there, seen it and done it - and, if there is something they haven't done, then they know someone who has! The mentor does not tell the other person how to do it, but guides them to a decision through appropriate questioning, encouragement and relevant examples from their own past.

The mentor is someone who will help their mentee navigate their way through the career structure, act as a sounding board and help them get the career experiences they need at the time when they need them.

The origins of mentoring lie in Greek mythology in which Odysseus when embarking on his journey to Troy, placed his house and the education of his son in the care of his best and most trusted friend Mentor. "Tell him all you know," he said, thus establishing the early parameters for mentoring. Mentoring has, of course, evolved and developed over the years and is now about more than just loading a mentee with information and knowledge or technical expertise. In modern mentoring the focus is more on sharing and the overall development of individuals' competencies in and outside their particular technical or specialist area.


Similarities and differences between Coaching and Mentoring
Both Mentoring and Coaching are '"towards" approaches and the mentor employs many of the same skills and requires similar qualities to a coach. Confidentiality, rapport building and trust are paramount to both.

However, the degree of intervention is different. In mentoring the mentor usually has experience within the field or discipline of the mentee and/or at the very least, in the organisation in which they both work. Experience and knowledge is shared and advice given on request of the mentee, although the mentor should never be tempted to tell the mentee what to do or how to do it.

The big difference between mentoring and coaching is that, in coaching, the coach places his or her own experience, ideas, technical expertise on hold in order to avoid influencing the coachee to take a particular action/decision. In Mentoring, the reverse is true - the mentee wants to know about the mentor's experiences to see if they can learn from it.


Which will be most beneficial for me right now?


When to Use Coaching:
What coaching involves specifically depends on the coachee and the situation.

Current business environments often require people to perform critical tasks in key roles, very often without the benefit of experience or training and very often without someone else in the organisation to talk to about it. If you are in this situation and feel you need support, then coaching may be right for you.

If you want to get ready for the next career move, if you are experiencing problems in your current role, if you are facing personal, self management, or professional challenges, then Coaching may be right for you. Similarly, if there is an area in your professional life you want to improve, e.g. influencing, networking, work life balance etc, then coaching may be right for you.

Coaching works particularly well when:

♦ You are highly motivated to make meaningful change
♦ You want individual attention, encouragement, challenge and support
♦ You want to address areas of personal development and/ or performance improvement


When to Use Mentoring:
What Mentoring provides is someone who has had direct experience of your "world" and is willing to share that with you, someone who will challenge your thinking and help you see the bigger picture - someone who has followed a similar profession, or a similar path and is more organisationally senior than you.

If you want support and guidance in navigating your way through the challenges of the IT and Telecom sector, if you want a role model, if you want to develop your technical and /or strategic knowledge, then Mentoring may be for you.

The best mentor programs develop people by sharing knowledge and may provide opportunities for networking, teambuilding, leadership development, succession planning and career mobility.

Mentoring works particularly well when

♦ You want a sounding board for your ideas, thoughts and plans
♦ You want someone to help you with networks, sources of information, advice and further support
♦ You want someone to share their personal experiences with you