What's the difference between a Coach and a Mentor?
Posted on 8th December 2022 at 15:14
Two Routes to Higher Performance
Maybe ploughing the same furrow day after day, month after month, year after year adequately achieves your goals and aspirations personally and for your company. That’s fine for the many who want to remain in their comfort zone and are not prepared to go the extra mile for higher performance.
For the few there are two options for achieving higher performance:
BUSINESS COACHING v BUSINESS MENTORING
COACHING
A service which supports individual and team development.
Unlocking an executive potential to maximise their own performance.
Successful coaching must adopt a more optimistic view of dormant capability. Enables individuals to be aware of their potential and to tackle the interferences which may hold them back. Encouraged to believe they are more capable than they think!
Enables an individual to define clearly what they want to achieve. Goals, reality and options defined agreed and enabled with an action plan.
Builds the will to commit to changes in their behaviour.
Develops awareness and understanding of their role in achieving goals and the need to motivate colleagues in their team. Solo working doesn’t work.
Coaching helps with change management in overcoming resistance and developing the will to deliver change.
Coaching input should be followed by regular reviews to evaluate performance against objectives agreed for the coaching programme. These reviews provide the opportunity to stretch goals and build confidence and motivation.
MENTORING
A service which improves company performance based on the experience of the mentor.
Challenges the chairman’s or CEO’s vision for their company. How can company performance be improved to meet more ambitious targets?
Develops understanding of market positioning and competitiveness as a basis for setting bullish performance targets.
Enables longer term thinking - drafts a top level 3 Year Plan for the business. Sets out a revenue, profit and cash profile. The growth targets in the plan will be informed by industry trends, market data and investment and be underwritten by an excellent sales and marketing function.
Challenges and evaluates the top level team. They (the owners and directors) must be bought into and be 100% committed to the 3 Year Plan.
Promotes changes in the team if it does not have the capability or commitment to deliver the changes required. Does not shy away from repositioning people in jobs to which they’re more suited, promoting internally or, if necessary, to recruiting externally. These are vital steps in building an organisation structure which provides a platform for planned growth.
Establishes disciplined reporting processes to monitor company performance against the 3 Year Plan, annual budgets and evaluation of significant organisational changes. (Monthly board meetings, formal board documentation and supporting minutes are essential).
Mentoring input should be reviewed at regular intervals in order to evaluate impact on company performance against the 3 Year Plan. These reviews provide an opportunity to stretch goals and build confidence and motivation.
Could you be one of “The Few? If yes, which route would you like to take: Individual coaching or company mentoring?
Russ Nathan would like to meet you to discuss whether either route to higher performance would work for you. Visit the Contact page without delay!
OUR MENTORING SERVICES
We major on strategic input and advice delivered to chairmen, CEOs and other directors. For example:
Market Strategy
Business Model
3 Year Plan
We also provide tactical support, for example:
Executive Recruitment
Staff Motivation
Board Membership
Tagged as: Business Mentors, Company Mentoring
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