Mentoring and Coaching do share some characteristics:

Both require a high level of commitment from the mentee/client.
Both are focused on improving the future prospects of the mentee/client (as opposed to counseling, for example, which aims at resolving past situations).
Both require high levels of personal interaction.
Both involve providing feedback and advice.

There are also significant differences:

	Mentoring	Coaching
Duration	Up to the participants	Achievement-based
Scope	Focuses on building a trust relationship and an improvement cycle	Focuses on achieving a specific goal (but trust is also important)
Approach	Dependent on the mentee	Dependent on the goal to achieve
Nature of the Relationship	Mutually beneficial	Strictly professional
Openness	Confidential	Can be open or confidential depending on the format.
Direction	Mentee selects	Both can select
Formality	Generally informal	Uses a formal structure
Subject Matter Expert	Mentor	Client
Process Expert	Mentor	Coach
Expectations	General skill development	Achieving a level of performance
"Speech Distribution"	Mentor speaks more than Mentee	The client speaks much more than the coach.

Last updated - Sep 1, 2024 Viewed 1,590 times.