Mentoring and Coaching Differences
Home » Coaching and Mentoring » Mentoring and Coaching DifferencesIt is helpful to understand the differences between mentoring and coaching as, although many of the processes are similar, they are generally delivered by individuals with different qualifications and a different type of relationship with their coachee or mentee.
Mentoring | Coaching |
| Ongoing relationship that can last for a long period of time up to 5 years. | Relationship generally has a set duration up to 1-2 years. |
| Can be more informal and meetings can take place as and when the mentee needs some advice, guidance or support. | Generally more structured in nature and meetings are scheduled on a regular basis. |
| More long-term and takes a broader view of the person. | Short-term (sometimes time-bounded) and focused on specific development areas/issues. |
| Mentor is usually more experienced and qualified than the ‘mentee'. Often a senior person in the organisation who can pass on knowledge, experience and open doors to otherwise out-of-reach opportunities. | Coaching is generally not performed on the basis that the coach needs to have direct experience of their client's formal occupational role, unless the coaching is specific and skills-focused. |
| Focus is on career and personal development. | Focus is generally on development/issues at work. |
| Agenda is set by the mentee, with the mentor providing support and guidance to prepare them for future roles. | The agenda is focused on achieving specific, immediate goals. |
| Mentoring resolves more around developing the mentee professional. | Coaching revolves more around specific development areas/issues. |
This is a fantastic time to be entering the business world, because business is going to change more in the next 10 years than it has in the last 50. 
Willingness to change is a strength, even if it means plunging part of the company into total confusion for a while.
Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better, you have to take things into your own hands. 
Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.
If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. 
If you want truly to understand something, try to change it.
‘The greatest discovery of all time is that people can change their future by merely changing their attitude'. 
Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.
Be the change that you want to see in the world. 
There is nothing so stable as change. 
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often. 
No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.
Change is inevitable. Change for the better is a full-time job. 
Nothing endures but change. 
There are two kinds of fools: those who can't change their opinions and those who won't. 
It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory. 
The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. You can do anything you decide to do. 
Any change is resisted because bureaucrats have a vested interest in the chaos in which they exist. 
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. 
Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies. 
I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself. 
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. 
Men make history and not the other way around... Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better. Harry S. Truman
The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it. 
We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. 
Be the change that you want to see in the world. 
There are three constants in life... change, choice and principles. 
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often. 
