Coaching vs Mentoring

Coach or Mentor?  What is the difference and which one is for me?  (Well, you, the reader, not me the author.  I am going to try to help you out with that question.)

Here at Acclaimed Summit, we offer both because both are important.  There is a difference, but both coaching and mentoring are helpful in learning and in accelerating your leadership trajectory.  We are here to help you get to your goals with quality and speed.

Coaching is about action.  From the coach’s side, we are here to offer plans and workable activities for you to learn and practice.  You may learn new skills or practice and improve the skills you already have.  It is the coach’s job to offer those up, observe, and help to correct poor performance or reinforce good performance.  On your side, the coached side, you are responsible for the understanding and practice of those skills.  Improvement.

Mentoring is relationship based.  This goes in both directions, the mentor and the mentee.  This is where experiences are shared and confidence is built.  The mentor offers their lessons, learnings, and a guiding hand.  The mentee also offers up their lessons and observations from their encounters and situations with a focus on constant learning.  From there, each continues to share and offer their thoughts and opinions on how to improve and what to change in the future.  This is about overall development.

Coaching is more structured, while mentoring is more freeform.  Coaching has a plan, action items, and dates, while mentoring has emotions, reactions, and thoughts.

They go hand in hand.  Coaching is great to learn the skills and practice, but without the reflection during mentoring, those skills will be underutilized.  Mentoring helps you to use the skills learned, in a multitude of situations, by being aware of the minor differences in people and surrounds in order to adjust the skills to work just right.

Think back to the movie, “The Karate Kid”, at the end of the movie (spoiler alert) both fighters had the skills to fight (from coaching), but each fighter used those skills in a completely different manner (from mentorship).  The fighter who used his skills the best for the situation came out the winner.

Here at Acclaimed Summit we offer you both coaching and mentoring to learn the skills and when to use them.  If you are interested in learning about our program, hit the button at the bottom of this page.

It is important to have the right coach and mentor, and maybe we aren’t exactly the right fit.  Hopefully, you still sign up to our newsletter to stay in touch and to gain some insights from us.  We still want you to succeed, so the following are some questions and preparations, for you, to help you make the best choice.

Questions for yourself:

1. Are you prepared with goals, a career path, and a vision of your future?
2. Are you open to learning and willing to be vulnerable?
3. What are you looking to learn?
4. In what areas do you need more motivation or help to be more motivated?

Questions for a future coach or mentor:

1. Do they enjoy helping others?  Do they genuinely want others to succeed?
2. Are they honest?
3. Are they good listeners?  Or, do they spend most of their time offering advice?
4. Do they have a similar experience or journey with your own?

Coaching or Mentoring?  Both!  In order to improve, at anything in life, it is important to have both coaching and mentorship.  They are both critical in your journey.  If you are looking to be a better leader and manager, we greatly appreciate your consideration of Acclaimed Summit.  We know we can help you make it happen.  Either way, good luck, and we would still love to stay in touch.