Difference between Coaching, Mentoring & Counselling

Coaches are usually found on the sports field, if he is a mentor he must be an expert in the subject, counsellors are only for the mentally ill; these are the common misconceptions around coaching mentoring and counselling.

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Most of us use coaching, mentoring & counselling as a replacement for each other and that happens for a simple reason - all three interventions are to assist you, to help you, to enable you for better performance.

People are empathic, so the intent behind using these words is to help.

?Let me tell you a story to simplify

Harry is a young IT professional and is stressed out with his current job; thankfully his manager notices this change in behaviour over a couple of days & dip in Harry’s performance and he checks on Harry occasionally if he is doing okay since Harry has been smoking a lot recently than usual.

The Manager has been guiding Harry in his professional growth & knows about these situations & burnouts so he recommends Harry to use the counselling organised by their HR to get rid of the addiction. Counselling begins and post several sessions it is realised that Harry has a personal goal of writing a white paper for a big magazine on technology for which he is not making any time for research. The counsellor at this point recommends a coach for Harry who shall help harry with self-discovery of how he can prioritize and take ownership of his desired goals.

In this generic example, I called out the coach and the counsellor and the manager is the mentor who is in a better position to understand the situation & guided Harry to take up counselling.

Now let me break down a few important differences, starting with Coaching

The word coach is derived after a village in Hungary called coach, however, it's spelt as Kocs.

So, this Kocs village gave the world the horse carrying carriage or buggy which eventually was called the modern-day coach. This was in the 15th century then coach as a term was used as an instructor and trainer in 1830 in oxford university for a person who carries students through exams. Then in 1861 coach was used for the person who prepares athletes for contests and in 1866 it was used for railway passenger cars.?

The international coaching federation defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. Coaching is a collaborative process and the agenda is decided by both the client and coach together.

Coach may or may not have expertise in the coaching area, rather than advising, coaches gather information and asks thought provoking questions to their clients.

The responses to these questions are verbal & non-verbal, basically, the insights dwell deep with the client and stir the client to take an action; provide clarity to an old dilemma, have a multiplier effect on their goals, have path-breaking ideas and so on.

The coaching field is diverse and covers different areas of development, coaches also call themselves human potentialists; there are many coaching tools available that aid coaches to facilitate a safe space for their clients for insights and change.

Let's move to mentoring,

We have to thank the Greek mythology for the word mentor where the character named ‘Mentor’ helps & advises; then later in 1600s the word was used in a French book for a character, post which it became a verb.

Mentoring typically works with developing co-workers; when you join a new organisation there is a buddy to help you out to settle that is a small example of a mentor.

Mentors are advisers, in most cases, they are experienced senior work professionals. A meeting agenda is set and generated by the mentee and the mentor's advice based on personal and professional expertise. Mentoring enhances work effectiveness, builds and develops an effective organisation. It is advised not to have an immediate manager as a mentor since he/she has higher stakes in the mentee; however, in my example above mentorship came naturally.

Let's go to counselling now,

In 1886, German neurologist Sigmund Freud developed the theory of psychoanalysis which allowed individuals to tell their problems to a psychoanalyst.

A psychoanalyst was an individual who was trained to interpret the subconscious that part of our psyche that we are not aware of but influences what we do. But in the 1950s that is after the 2nd world war then counselling really took off. Dictionary meaning of counselling is the provision of professional assistance and guidance in resolving personal or psychological problems

You may find coaching and mentoring therapeutic but it’s not therapy.

More often than not counselling deals with and focuses on understanding and healing emotional disturbances in relation to the past, present and sometimes future too. Often involves childhood problems connecting them to in what ways it impacts the clients in the present day.

Counsellors are trained professionals and conversations during counselling sessions are protected under the law.

All three approaches are helpful and it's upon an individual to choose the right tool at the opportune time.