Is There a Difference Between a Mentor and a Coach? Yes.
And the end result can be quite different, so choose wisely.
This is the first article in a series about coaching and becoming a great leader, based on my first-hand experiences as a marketing leader and coach. You can follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keikotokuda/
After working 15 years in various marketing and leadership roles, I recently decided to explore a new career path of coaching people. As I’ve started embarking on my coaching journey, it’s become apparent to me that most people don’t know what a professional coach does. It can be confusing because people often use the terms “mentor” and “coach” interchangeably.
Both mentors and coaches play an influential role in a person’s development, but their focus, approach, and the end result can be quite different. That’s why I’ve written this post to help you choose the right person for your needs and know what to expect next time you’re looking for a mentor or coach.
What is a Mentor?
I have many mentors and I’ve been a mentor for a long time, well before I was even a manager. College students sought my advice about getting into the marketing field. Marketers asked for my help in navigating their first product marketing job and issues working with sales teams and product managers. Former team members and managers wanted my opinion on their career decisions and managerial challenges.
As a mentor, I provide the people I am mentoring (mentees) with guidance and direction on topics that I am familiar with based on my own knowledge, experiences, and opinions.
“I’m interested in learning how you got into product marketing and how I can, too.”
Mentees are usually people I know or referred by a friend, colleague, or association, like my college alumni network. Most mentorship sessions are one-hour discussions over the phone or a coffee after an introductory email. These informal conversations often start with me asking “What can I do to help you?” and involve me sharing my experiences, and conclude with an open-ended statement like “I’m happy to help you any time.”
Formal mentorship programs offered through work or a program might have the mentor and mentee meet once a month for a year. Whereas the follow up from an informal mentorship session may happen weeks, months, or even years later, depending on when the mentee reaches out again. There are times when mentees never reach out again leaving you as the mentor wondering what happened to them.
As a mentor, it feels like I’m doing someone a favor, so there’s no expectation of compensation. When I’m asked by a mentee what they can do to thank me, I tell them to pay it forward and give their time to mentor someone else someday. In fact, every time I’m mentoring someone, I’m living up to that promise with my past mentors to pay it forward.
What is a Coach?
When I started learning more about coaching, I realized it was similar to my role as a manager. As a marketing leader, my team members would update me in our weekly 1:1 meeting on their progress towards achieving their business or personal development goals, and anything holding them back. We’d discuss how to overcome those hurdles and decide on actions to take in that week. This cycle of goal setting, tracking, and following through to make progress are some of the key aspects of coaching.
As a coach, I support the people I’m coaching (coachees) to achieve the goal(s) they’ve set out by helping them come up with viable solutions and holding them accountable to follow through on their action plan.
“I want to be more strategic at work, but I don’t know how to carve out the time.”
A coachee’s goal can be anything from wanting to make a career transition, creating more time for themselves, adjusting to be a first-time manager, navigating tricky work situations, to avoiding burnout at work and more. Based on their goal, my role as a coach is to help the coachee build an awareness of themselves, their situation, their options, and leverage their own skills to come up with steps that they can commit to achieve their goal.
Unlike a mentor, a coach doesn’t necessarily need deep expertise in the coachee’s field of work to coach them. If I have relevant experience I could teach the coachee like a mentor or manager would do, but this would limit the coachee’s journey of self-exploration and ownership that can have a more meaningful and lasting effect on their development.
Coaching relationships can last for the duration of the coachee’s goal achievement―a few weeks or months. The coach and coachee meet regularly, once every two weeks or month, to discuss the coachee’s progress, discuss learnings, adjust course, and ensure the coachee continues on their path to achieving their goal. Coaching sessions typically start with me asking “What would you like to get out of our time today?” and end with “What will you do and by when?” Once the coachee has accomplished their goal, the coaching relationship is over and renewed when there is a new goal.
Even with a great manager, you may want a separate coach who brings a different perspective and you can trust to be an independent entity. To find a coach, start by asking people you know if they can recommend a reputable coach or your company’s HR team may have a network of coaches they work with. Coaching services like BetterUp and BetterManager, paid for by employers, can match managers to coaches as well. Professional 1:1 coaching sessions can cost anywhere from as low as $50 up to $1000 per session (for executives), so it’s worth making the case to your company to pay for your coaching sessions as part of your leadership development.
It’s Good to have Both Mentors and Coaches.
They say it takes a village and I have my own village that has helped me over the years as a marketer and a leader. Sometimes I needed a knowledgeable mentor to show me the way, and even with supportive managers, sometimes I needed a coach to help me transform my behavior to unlock a new level in my career. Without all these people in my life, I know I would not be as successful and as satisfied with my professional career as I am today.
Seeking a mentor or a coach may seem intimidating, but do yourself a favor by pushing through those uneasy feelings and ask for help. You’ll appreciate how willing people are to give their time and support you. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at keiko.tokuda@gmail.com. Good luck!
