Recently I talked to a group of business owners about coaching, and several of them said they don’t need a business coach because they have a mentor. I congratulated them for this and asked them to share with the group how they were using their mentors to grow their businesses.
Not surprisingly their feedback was all over the place. Within that group, “mentoring” meant different things to different people. For the rest of that meeting, we talked about the differences between mentors and coaches.
Mentoring
Mentoring is primarily focused on professional growth via Knowledge Transfer. In a mentoring relationship, the mentor is the teacher and the mentee the student.
Here are the most common Top 5 Goals of Mentoring:
- Knowledge Transfer
- Skill Enhancement
- Networking
- Confidence Building
- Succession Planning
Business Coaching
Coaching is designed to Enhance Performance. In a coaching relationship, the focus is on the application of knowledge for tangibly improved results.
Here are the most common Top 5 Goals of Coaching:
- Accountability
- Goal Setting and Planning
- Self (Time) Management/Prioritization
- Skill Enhancement AND Application
- Growth – Personal and Business
What’s the biggest difference?
The biggest difference I have seen between mentors and coaches over my 20 years in the small business world is the level of Accountability.
If your mentors are not holding you accountable to take action with the wisdom they share, then you need to add a coach who will help you choose which knowledge and skills you are going to actually apply in your business and help you be accountable to yourself and your business to follow through with meaningful actions.
If you’d like to learn more about turning your knowledge into actionable, results-oriented plans, let’s grab a cup of coffee and talk about how that might work in your business.
Author: Mark McNulty, Business Coach in Louisville, KY