Coaching vs Mentoring — what is the difference?

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Coaching and mentoring are both effective ways of developing an individual’s skills and knowledge as they are personalised to the individual. There are times when coaching is a better solution than mentoring and mentoring is a better solution than coaching.

The two terms are used interchangeably, often without fully understanding the difference between the two.

So how do you decide which one to use, and when?

Let me begin by sharing the CIPD definition of each:

Coaching aims to produce optimal performance and improvement at work. It focuses on specific skills and goals, although it may also have an impact on an individual’s personal attributes such as social interaction or confidence. The process typically lasts for a defined period of time or forms the basis of an on-going management style.

Mentoring tends to describe a relationship in which a more experienced colleague shares their greater knowledge to support the development of an inexperienced member of staff. It calls on the skills of questioning, listening, clarifying and reframing that are also associated with coaching.

Put simply, I think of coaching as “ask” and mentoring as “tell”. When I was training to become a coach, the phrase “whatever you can tell, you can ask”, stuck…