Coaching & Mentoring - what’s the difference?

The terms coaching and mentoring are often used interchangeably because there are many similarities between the two. Both coaching and mentoring use the skills of listening, questioning and clarifying and usually take place in a one to one interaction. So what is the difference and why is it important?

From my experience of training school leaders and teachers as coaches, there has been a lot of recognition that although we think we are coaching in schools, we are actually often mentoring. As trained and experienced teachers we can find it particularly difficult not to advise.  This is  the key distinction between coaching and mentoring.  The coaching legend, Sir John Whitmore defined coaching as:

“Coaching is unlocking people's potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.” 

Coaching presumes that people hold the key to their own success, and so don’t need others to tell or show them what to do. Therefore, a coach is someone who specialises in helping to unlock the potential of others. This is achieved through listening, observing and expert questioning that can providing motivational and developmental feedback. By feedback, I don’t mean the coach says ‘Let me tell you what I think.’ I mean the coach feeds back on what the coachee is saying, doing or feeling.  Coaching feedback sounds more like ‘So, what I am hearing is…. Or I am noticing….’ It is much more observational and non-judgmental. An effective coach utilises much more of a questioning mode of operation, as opposed to the telling mode of a mentor.

Essentially, a coach is facilitating a learner to improve their own current level of performance. Mentoring, on the other hand is all about guiding, advising, and helping the learner to master skills and knowledge that the mentor has already mastered. Therefore, it is usually a  prerequisite of mentors to have specific experience and expertise themselves. This is especially true in an educational setting, where Newly Qualified Teachers are supported by a more experienced mentor.

Why is it so important to define the difference between coaching and mentoring? Although they are both people development methods knowing which method is best for an individual ensures you are supporting their professional development correctly and successfully -using the wrong method can spell disaster.

Imagine coaching a brand new NQT, where they do not yet have all the knowledge and skills to teach confidently.  Endless questions would leave them  feeling frustrated and unsupported with a lack of guidance.  Equally mentoring an experienced member of staff, where you readily offer advice  may well leave a colleague thinking their ideas are not appreciated, which can leave them feeling undervalued and unheard.

Ultimately, understanding the differences between  coaching and mentoring  is critical for helping us to fulfil the potential of others and choose the right mechanism for the right outcome. Yet equally important is the ability to change our approach and adapt our language, switching from coaching to mentoring depending on who we are developing, when we are developing them, and what the situation is asking of them.

You definitely were trained how to teach, and you probably were taught to mentor and we have often experienced both. However, rarely are we coached or taught how to coach and it is just as important to learn this skill. If you are interested in coaching training you can book on an ilm recognised coaching course  here or alternatively if you would like to experience coaching send me a message  leonie@thethinkingacademy.co.uk. I look forward to hearing from you.