quite directive but coaching for personal
aspirations and goals is far less so. On-
the-job Instruction is about immediate
performance and quite directive eg learning
a new piece of software, procedures or
protocols delivered by a supervisor, an on-
the-job instructor, preceptor, mentor or
coach. The person has expert knowledge
of the topic and teaching or training skills.
Self-development, immediately applicable
to work performance, for example,
teamwork or interpersonal skills, might be
less directive because you want to empower
people to choose constructive behaviors. It
could be led by a trainer, manager, mentor
or coach. Knowledge of the topic and
expertise in process is important.
Career planning is different. It has to
be mainly non-directive - you can’t tell
another person what to do with their
unique strengths, values and preferences.
A mentor or coach guides exploration,
goal setting and action planning. They
have skill in a less-directive process and
knowledge of career development, often
aided by instruments, tools or resources.
The mentor or coach does not need
expertise in the person’s current or future
role for example, someone who is not a
nurse could coach or mentor a nurse for
the purpose of career development using
knowledge of career planning and a non-
directive process.
Succession planning where specific skills
are required might be more directive,
for example, an engineer moving into a
General Manager role, or an Operations
Manager becoming Chief Executive
Officer. Such development might be
facilitated by an internal mentor or an
external executive coach.
Personal development is about performance
and career. They are not mutually exclusive.
The process moves between more and less
directive approaches and rarely fits into a
neat box however much we might crave
clear-cut boundaries.
If you have a mentoring or coaching
program, you need a definition that works
for you, but its purpose is more important
than what you call it. And, when people
enter a mentoring or coaching relationship
they need a clear understanding of what
that purpose is, what their roles are, and
some skills and techniques to make it
work.
64 MAL34/20 ISSUE
If you have a mentoring or coaching pro-
gram, you need a definition that works for
you, but its purpose is more important than
what you call it. And, when people enter
a mentoring or coaching relationship they
need a clear understanding of what that
purpose is, what their roles are, and some
skills and techniques to make it work.
It is more useful to look at similarities
between mentoring and coaching rather
than argue about differences: provide one-
to-one interaction to achieve personalized
learning and growth, cater to individual
needs, personal styles and time constraints,
can be conducted face to face or from
remote locations, complement formal
training and educational experiences,
process real-life issues, problems and
decisions.
Maslow focused on the top of the triangle:
how to reach the pinnacle of achievement
and satisfaction. He believed that the
process of reaching upwards would
solve problems lower down on the way.
It was not until the 1970s that a tennis
coach applied the principle to coaching.
Timothy Gallwey was a Harvard graduate
in the nineteen seventies who, while on
sabbatical, became captain of the Harvard
tennis team.
Gallwey noticed that when he left the
court, his students tended to improve
faster than when he was there to instruct
them. Already a disciple of spirituality and
psychology, Gallwey explored this paradox
and developed a series of techniques to
encourage the benefits.
At one point, Whitmore’s team was asked
to provide a day of ‘self-directed’ tennis
coaching by a large organization which
wanted its managers to incorporate the
Inner Game approach into their leadership
styles.
This was termed performance coaching to
differentiate it from conventional sports
coaching. This is achieved not by advising
or telling, but largely by questioning to
facilitate awareness and self-directed
learning. The coach does not require any
knowledge, skills or experience of the
coach’s field of work. In fact, ignorance
here can be an advantage, and may
encourage the coach to ask more neutral
and less leading questions:
Coaching is positive, non-judgmental,
solution focused and challenging: the
key principles of coaching are self-belief,
self-directed learning, solution focus,
challenge, action, trust, awareness, and
responsibility.
Mentoring is a relationship between
an experienced professional (mentor)
who shares their knowledge, skills, and
experience with another professional
(mentee) to assist in their career
progression. "Mentoring is to support
and encourage people to manage their
own learning in order that they may
maximize their potential, develop their
skills, improve their performance and
become the person they want to be." - Eric
Parsloe, The Oxford School of Coaching
& Mentoring.
A great deal of confusion is caused by
different uses of the term ‘Mentor’. In
some organizations the word is used
to describe coaching. I would define
Mentors as people who impart their own
experience, learning and advice to those
who have less experience in the particular
field. In modern business, the practice of
delivering mentoring in a coaching style is
on the increase.
Mentoring is a powerful professional
development tool, an effective way to help
individuals progress in their careers, about
long range career planning and improving
certain skills and abilities. A mentor
is a guide to help the mentee navigate
their professional journey, a trusted and
respected advisor, someone that explores
with the mentee their current career
situation, what they wish to achieve and
how they can go about reaching their goals
without prescribing solutions or career
routes and someone that provides support
and advice that empowers the mentee to
explore, establish and pursue goals.
Good mentors are trustworthy, honest,
supportive, good listeners, approachable