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Accelerate your business with these expert tips on the "Differences between coaching and mentoring". Analyse and discover this TIP!
In both coaching and mentoring, we help the entrepreneur to achieve his or her goals. we facilitate the development of the entrepreneur. Coach and mentor both accompany other people in their personal development. Coaching and mentoring are terms that are often used as synonyms. Sometimes they are used in the same way, but they are not two synonymous concepts!!! Although both are related to the development of professional skills, they are similar, but not the same, concepts..
Coaching and mentoring are different techniques that share many things in common
In both coaching and mentoring there is a professional to accompany and guide people who want to achieve a series of emotional or professional objectives. Coaching and mentoring also share a common learning method, in both cases it is the entrepreneur the one who is finding its answers as the process progresses. In both cases, no answers are given, but rather, through this help, the entrepreneur will find the answers for himself.
It differs in the necessary experience and knowledge of the MENTOR. What distinguishes a Mentor and a Coach is not their competences and skills, but rather the framework for action and specific knowledge which has the first figure, the mentor. A MENTOR has specific experience or expertise and the skills to apply them in supporting the entrepreneur in a non-directive coaching style. COACH and MENTOR help entrepreneurs achieve their development goals through the use of learning dialogue in a supportive environment. COACH and MENTOR enable the person to find solutions for him/herself using his/her own resources.
But the mentorIn addition to what the coach does, he or she contributes with his or her extensive experience and expertise, giving recommendations and assisting with challenges. In the case of mentoring in some exceptional cases the mentor will has sufficient authority to provide a solution. Therefore, the mentor can suggest solutions when the entrepreneur has exhausted his or her solutions and the coach never suggests solutions. In mentoring, the mentor shares experiences, ideas and guidelines for the entrepreneur to learn how to find the right solutions.
The mentor has business experience and the coach does not.
Differences in who sets the direction of the session or process:
- As Mentors, and based on our major experience, we serve as a guide for to motivate our entrepreneurs to achieve their goals.
- As Coaches we will let the entrepreneur take the reins of the session, the pace of its development and we will focus on listen to them actively and make them powerful questions that challenge them to check whether the objectives they want to achieve are aligned with their values.
- The mentor may suggest a direction, based on his or her greater experience, but the coach will not. So much so that, if in a coaching session, the coach is going to propose a particular direction or a particular solution, he/she must let the entrepreneur know that he/she is going to give HIS vision, or that he/she is going to make HIS proposal.
DIFFERENCES IN THEIR IMPLEMENTATION:
- Coaching is focused on a single objective as a priority, e.g. improving my ability to sell. Mentoring shifts focus according to priorities of each moment of the entrepreneur.
- In coaching, the only important thing is to develop an improvement plan associated with the objective. determined to comply with it. Mentoring focuses on the professional relationship, but the emotional relationship has a very important part to play.. The trust that a mentor generates is essential for entrepreneurs.
- Coaching tends to be ad hoc, mentoring long term (limited to 1 year or maximum 2 years). Coaching sessions do not have to be excessively long, a certain number of sessions can be approximated at the beginning. The coaching is short and medium termand the mentoring for a long time. Although in both cases dependency does not have to be created, the entrepreneur has to be self-employed.
- In the mentoring, long-lasting relationships are established that even continue after they have finished working together. An emotional bond is created and extended in time.
- Example: When coaching training is carried out in a company and the recommended guidelines are put into practice from the first minute, the results will be seen in a more immediate time than the mentoring works on a more individual basis and over a longer period of time.
Knowing the methodology of mentoring also serves to improve as a manager or as a partner or as parents or as teachers or as advisors or as investors or as consultants...it has many utilities...but they are different things. Training as coaches, as well as our experience as mentors, guarantees entrepreneurs that the sessions we conduct will be professional conversations aimed at improving the performance of the entrepreneurial team, under the guidance and guidance of our mentors. its perspective.
A consultant or a trainer or an expert or an advisor tells you what to do (they are not interested in you learning their trade), but a coach helps you to overcome the obstacles so that you can do what you have to do.
EXAMPLES TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCES:
My goal is to weigh 52 kilos (positive goal, it is not good to formulate "lose weight" as a negative goal) and I go to the endocrinologist (the expert), he measures my fat, and makes me a diet of what I should eat... when I get home I am hungry... I don't find the time to prepare, to buy...
This is when The COACH comes into play!I don't know what I have to do, I lack willpower.... The coach is not an expert, he is not going to tell you how to lose weight, he is going to help you find the strength within yourself to achieve it.
EXAMPLE:
- Objective: The entrepreneur has fears and mental blocks that need to be overcome... The COACH is not an expert in public speaking but he/she can help me to remove blocks .... and if, in addition, my pitch is about companies, the mentor (coach with business experience) can give me advice.
EXAMPLE:
- My goal is to quit smoking... but I still need to take the step, I can't achieve it... the COACH helps me to find the right strategies to achieve it.
EXAMPLE:
- Goal to exercise more... it is clear to me that I need it, the COACH helps me to take the step.
EXAMPLE:
- Person with procrastination problem, always postpones everything you have to do, makes a plan and then doesn't achieve it... the COACH helps you to execute.
The COACH has not started a business but can accompany an entrepreneur and help him/her to remove obstacles.... we are not motivators but we have the tools for the entrepreneur to find his own motivation... we are not animators, we help him to find what can motivate him.
It can be group mentoring, a group of entrepreneurs have the same objective and can help them at the same time, but an individual action plan is also necessary. The differences between a mentor and a coach can be very subtle, but they do exist; both are a form of accompaniment. Here we explain their differences.
THE COACH
Coaching refers to a process in which a subject's abilities are sought to be discovered; these abilities are presumed to be latent. The aim of coaching is to focus on a specific area or task. The achievement of concrete goals is one of the objectives of this relatively short period of time, and it is done with the resources that the subject already has as a basis.
To achieve this, the coach accompanies the process, providing or suggesting instruments and methods through which the client can develop in the chosen area. The aim of coaching is to foster personal and professional development, states the website Psicología y Mente.
THE MENTOR
Mentoring, although it is also a process of accompaniment and aims at the personal and professional improvement of the client, is different from coaching in that the mentor guides the client through his or her experience. The aim is to provide them with knowledge and increase their skills through learning.
The mentor acts as a guide and counsellor, providing a more experienced perspective and helping the mentee to build new knowledge and skills. There is a relationship similar to that of teacher and mentee in order to increase and enhance the mentee's capabilities through the knowledge that is passed on.
These are the 7 differences between a coach and a mentor
AS YOU CAN SEE, THE LINE IS VERY THIN BETWEEN COACH AND MENTOR, WHICH IS WHY THE SITE PSYCHOLOGY AND MIND SETS OUT THE SEVEN MOST VISIBLE DIFFERENCES:
SELF-LEARNING VERSUS TEACHING
While both coaching and mentoring aim to increase the possibilities of the individual and enable him or her to develop, each does so in a different way.
Coaching uses the skills and knowledge that the subject already has, so that the origin of what is learned is within the subject and the results obtained are derived from the client's thought processes.
While mentoring seeks to boost the client's capabilities through someone else's experience, the learning will come from the outside, namely from the mentor.
THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROFESSIONAL
Mentors have a range of technical expertise, but beyond that they have experience in an area that the client wants to position themselves. For example, if he or she wants to start a business, the mentor should have a number of ventures under his or her belt that could qualify him or her as an entrepreneurship mentor.
Coaching, on the other hand, enhances self-learning skills; in that sense, it is not necessary for the coach to have that level of expertise and technical knowledge about the content of what the client needs to learn.
The skills it helps to develop are of a more universal nature and are not dependent on the specific profession or task to be tackled: stress management, leadership skills, conflict resolution and negotiation skills.
THE LEVEL OF SPECIFICATION OF THE OBJECTIVES IS DIFFERENT
A mentor is a guide who usually has a general approach and contributes to both professional and personal development within the area in which he or she is active. Their aim is usually to develop the mentor as a person and not just in one task. In this way, he or she helps the mentee to position him or herself in relation to a wide range of options to be addressed and goals to be pursued.
On the other hand, the coach tends to focus on a specific aspect on which the accompaniment is carried out, being generally more specific and focused on concrete tasks.
For example, the coach may try to help make a decision on how to act to achieve a goal or solve a problem, while the mentor gives an example of how to behave or deal with different situations and, in addition to helping to solve specific problems, often provides values, references and generates diverse learning beyond that.
THE ROLES OF COACH AND MENTOR
The coach accompanies the client to find the answers based on his or her opinions.
The mentor, on the other hand, generates learning for the client through his or her experience, perspective and opinions. The mentor provides answers, the coach tries to help you find them for yourself.
EMOTIONAL BONDING
The way in which the relationship with the two accompaniments is approached is also different. Coaching maintains a line of accompaniment without moving on to an emotional attachment. Whereas with mentoring there is inevitably a bonding.
As a person with weight in a particular field, the mentor comes to be admired by the mentee, hence a bond is created.
WHO LEADS THE RELATIONSHIP?
In the case of coaching, it is always the client who will direct the session towards the aspects to be worked on, and the relationship is oriented towards achieving the proposed goals or objectives; in mentoring, it is the professional or mentor who directs how the session will run or what it should focus on, although it is something more agreed and informal.
Thus, mentoring is a type of service that brings more value to those who have more fundamental doubts about which areas of their life to work on most, whereas in coaching the person seeking professional help usually already has certain references about which direction to move in.
Mentoring is ideal for people who are just starting out in a type of work or who know almost nothing about the sector they are entering.
TEMPORALITY, ANOTHER DIFFERENCE
Another difference between coaching and mentoring has to do with their temporality. As a general rule, the aim of coaching is to deal with a situation or to provide training in some kind of skill that we currently need, in order to obtain results in the short and medium term.
In mentoring, the objective is usually more focused on not only current but also long-term improvement, so that the mentee can develop positively throughout his or her career.
Differences between mentoring and coaching for entrepreneurs
Mentoring and coaching are two different concepts, although both are aimed at helping entrepreneurs to improve and develop.
HERE ARE SOME DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MENTORING AND COACHING FOR ENTREPRENEURS:
OBJECTIVES AND APPROACH
Mentoring focuses on providing guidance, advice and expertise to help the entrepreneur achieve his or her goals. The mentor is someone with expertise in a specific area who guides the entrepreneur in his or her development process. Coaching, on the other hand, focuses on helping the entrepreneur discover his or her own solutions and strategies to achieve his or her goals. The coach helps the entrepreneur to find his or her own answers and to develop his or her skills and potential.
DURATION
Mentoring can be short or long term and can extend over several years. The mentor works with the entrepreneur on a regular basis over an extended period of time. In contrast, coaching is usually short-term and focuses on specific objectives. The coach works with the entrepreneur for a limited period of time, usually several sessions, to achieve a specific goal.
FOCUS ON THE PAST VS. FOCUS ON THE FUTURE
Mentoring focuses on the experience and knowledge that the mentor has acquired throughout his or her career and applies it to help the entrepreneur achieve his or her goals. The mentor shares his or her own experience and knowledge to guide the entrepreneur.
In contrast, coaching focuses on the future and the development of the entrepreneur's skills and potential. The coach works with the entrepreneur to help them discover their own answers and strategies.
RELATIONSHIP
Mentoring is a mentor-protégé relationship. The mentor is someone who is more experienced and knowledgeable than the entrepreneur and acts as a guide and advisor. Coaching, on the other hand, is an equal relationship in which the coach helps the entrepreneur to develop his or her own potential and skills.
In a nutshell, Although mentoring and coaching aim to help entrepreneurs develop and improve, there are differences in approach, duration, relationship and objectives.
The mentoring focuses on providing guidance and advice, while coaching focuses on helping the entrepreneur to discover his or her own solutions and strategies. In addition, mentoring can be long-term, whereas coaching is short-term.
TASK
CASE STUDY OF AN ENTREPRENEUR WHO DOESN'T KNOW WHETHER HE NEEDS A MENTOR OR A COACH
Juan is an entrepreneur who has just started his own business. Although he has experience in his field, he is in a situation where he needs to improve his business skills and develop a clear strategy to grow his business.
John wonders if what he needs is a mentor or a coach to help him in his development process. On the one hand, he feels that he could benefit from the experience of someone who has been through what he is going through and who can guide him along the way. On the other hand, he also feels that he needs help to develop specific skills and focus on specific goals.
To resolve his doubt, Juan decides to do some research and talk to different professionals in the field of mentoring and coaching. He realises that a mentor could help him acquire specific business knowledge and skills, as well as market and industry orientation. However, he also realises that a coach could help him focus on specific goals and develop a clear plan to grow his business.
Finally, John decides to look for a mentor who has experience in his field and can guide him on his journey, but also to hire a coach to help him focus on specific goals and develop a clear plan to grow his business. In this way, he can get the best of both worlds and receive the help he needs to achieve his business goals.
QUIZ
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An excellent strategy for accompanying entrepreneurs that helps to eliminate the barriers that affect the evolution from idea to project and from project to company, as well as to empower entrepreneurs' capacities for execution and orderly action.