If you are thinking of starting a coaching or mentoring business, or you are running a business and looking for some help with it, you might want to know the answer to the question “What is the difference between coaching and mentoring”?
Let us take a look at what a coach and a mentor do, then look at the key difference.
What Does A Coach Do?
A coaches main purpose is to help someone that they are working with, whether as a life coach or a business coach, to come up with their own solutions or suggestions for solving problems.
A coach will ask lots of open questions of their client to lead them to a solution, or a range of solutions, to their current challenge.
For example, if someone was working with someone as a life coach, and their client realised that they were spending too much time on social media, the life coach might ask the question:
“So, what could you do about that?”
This open question should lead to some suggestions from the life coaching client of how to solve their problem of spending too much time on social media.
They might start by saying that they could simply spend less time on social media, but the life coach would realise that without some additional thoughts or planning, they would very simply and quickly fall back into their old habits and pick up the phone and start browsing social media.
So the life coach might say:
“What will you do to ensure you don’t just pick up your phone again after a few minutes?”
This might lead the life coaching client to suggest that they could lock their phone away, or leave their home and leave the phone behind to go for a walk, completely avoiding the opportunity to pick up their phone and browse social media.
The coach will continue to ask questions until the client has a firm plan on how they are going to spend less time on social media.
This is coaching!
What Does A Mentor Do?
Whilst a mentor may well ask lots of questions still, ultimately they are being paid to provide the solution, as opposed to the coach who encourages the client to find their own answer to their challenges.
For example, as a business mentor, which I do for a large number of business owners, my clients might ask me how they can grow their business quickly.
I will ask questions, but not to elicit the answer from my mentoring client, more to discover what type of marketing they are currently undertaking, who their ideal clients are, how many new clients they would like to take on each month to grow quickly, and what their budget is to grow their business.
This then allows me, knowing all that I know about marketing, to know which will be the fastest and easiest way for my mentoring client to achieve their objectives.
I will prepare a Marketing Action Plan for them which will outline precisely what they need to do, in what order, to grow their business quickly.
I will then work with them to implement this plan, helping them myself if the service they require to grow is one of my areas of expertise, such as Google Ads management, Website Design or Content Marketing, or introducing them to carefully vetted service providers if they do not have the skills in house to do what needs to be done.
What Is The Difference Between A Coach And A Mentor?
The main difference is that the mentor has the answers required waiting for the client, whereas a coach encourages their clients to draw from their own knowledge to answer their questions.
I have used both coaches and mentors in my business over the years.
In my view, a coach is a good ‘go to’ if the challenges you face in your business are mental blocks, such as ‘imposter syndrome’, a general lack of confidence or anxiety.
A mentor can fast track the solution to any specific challenge in your business, whether that be pricing challenges, business growth or sales.
They are someone who has ‘been there and done that’, so they know how you can achieve your results and circumnavigate any issues along the way.
Click here to discover more about my mentoring services.
Or, if you are a coach, or considering becoming one, click here to download my Get Coaching Clients Fast Guide