Coaching and Mentoring Differences
In my last article posted on Linked-In I wrote about Coaching and Mentoring and that every leader and manager should be a coach and mentor to those people he leads and manages. And every leader and manager needs a mentor.
So what are the differences? Here’s my take.
It’s easier to describe this in the professional sporting context. I am a cricket enthusiast so I will use cricket as the model. In cricket you have bowlers, batters and fielders. These can be broken down into fast/medium bowlers and spin bowlers, opening batters and mid-order batters. There’s also a wicket-keeper to be set aside as a specialist.
If you have ever watched the Indian Premier League you will have seen coaching at the highest strategic level. Each team has a coach under whom there is a bowling coach, a batting coach, a fielding coach. Sometimes a team coach brings in another specialist.
Coaching requires that the coach is a specialist in the field of those whom he/she coaches. Someone who has been there, done that, preferably at a very high level if not the highest level.
In 2012 Gary Kirsten was contracted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to coach the Indian cricket team to world cup success. Gary Kirsten[1] was a former international batter for South Africa with years of successful batting experience. He had no coaching experience and he persuaded the BCCI to employ Paddy Upton to help him. Paddy Upton[2] had limited cricket experience. Although Paddy Upton describes himself as a Coach in his book, the Barefoot Coach he was much more Gary Kirsten’s Mentor and he was a mentor to many members of the Indian cricket team. The pairing worked and India won the World Cup in 2012.
In the business field the same rule should apply. If you are to be a coach you need to have been there, done that, preferably at the highest level. Someone who has never been a software developer cannot coach a software developer. But a software developer can be mentored by a mentor. I am doing just that at the moment with a young software developer here in Zimbabwe.
Why is that?
It’s because she is today running her own business. She is a software developer of the highest order but she is in unfamiliar territory in the dozens of new tasks she has to undertake as a small business owner. I am doing what I can to help her do things she has never done before. From time to time we are both in unfamiliar territory where we need to discuss the pro’s and con’s of taking some specific action, making some decisions. She draws on my past experience. And at times I learn from her.
With another of my mentee’s who runs his own business, learned how to ask AI some strategic questions to help him make decisions. But then he ran the AI response through me to ‘get a second opinion’. It is turning out to be a very interesting approach in many respects.
So a coach needs to be well-versed in the people he or she coaches to do what they can do better.
A mentor is a guide, a helper, a listener, sometimes helping his or her people do what they have never done before, sometimes helping people be the best at what they can be. Frequently I find myself being a sounding board for ideas and a lifter of stress when my mentees are under stress. And in the macro economic environment of Zimbabwe it is frequently highly stressful.
There are some caveats: -
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What I learned when I attended Richard Boyatzis’[3] on-line course on “Coaching, Learning, Leadership and Change” at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. Richard Boyatzis introduced us all to his Intentional Change Theory and the Positive Emotional Attractor (PEA) and the Negative Emotional Attractor (NEA).
When we are in the PEA we feel good about ourselves. When we are in the NEA we feel bad. Both the PEA and the NEA can be powerful motivators to learn. However when we are in the NEA we are less likely to try to do things we have never done before. We need first to conquer the demands of our perceived weakness, limitations or failures. This is the time that a coach is required. Only when we are in the PEA, feeling positive about our future selves, can we take on new challenges and experiences. It is here that a mentor can help beyond measure.
The second caveat is aligned to the NEA. Sometimes a mentor needs to be a sparring partner, challenging and demanding. It goes back to the story that changing the way we do things is uncomfortable and because of that too many of us revert to type unless challenged.
You will find my books on Amazon:
It's Dead Simple Really - Or is It?: How to learn how to learn: Young, David: 9798585161568: Amazon.com: Books
Amazon.com: Young and Bulletproof: 21 Years of Service in the British South Africa Police (1962-1983) eBook : Young, David: Kindle Store
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Managing Director at Steel Warehouse
6 个月Dave you have been my Mentor and always looked up to you Thank you Brian
Really well put Dave. I really like the way you describe how you help work through challenges. Clearly some people are more naturally positive (PEA) than others. For those who do not see the world naturally through a positive lens, I think a mentor makes such a difference as they can show and discuss a different picture. One of the great and unexpected pleasures of my life has been mentoring my sons through their various careers. Interestingly with the youngest, we are both invested in a business that I am also working in, so now he becomes the reflector, advisor, mentor. It was initially strange for me, but is has been very effective.
Independent Consulting Tobacco Agronomist
6 个月That’s excellent Dave, it perfectly describes my relationship with my clients where I often find myself in both roles. Thank you