What is the difference between a Business Coach and a Business Mentor?
It’s a very common for people, and business people in particular, to ask the question ‘What is the difference between a Business Coach and a Business Mentor?’ In fact, it is such a popular question that according to Google, there are 285 million pages answering this very question! Indeed, when I was trying to clarify what it was that I offer, I spent many hours pondering what to call myself; Business Coach? Business Mentor? I decided upon ‘Business Sounding Board’ which I believe encompasses a number of aspects of both of these.
To help clarify the ‘Business Coach v Business Mentor’ conundrum, I thought I’d try to look at what is out there, and try and find a simplified answer to the question. I asked a number of Business Coaches their opinion, I researched a range of blog posts and online discussions, and then added my own thoughts.
The aim of this piece, dear reader, is to help you clarify the differences between the two.
Business Mentor v Business Coach – a definition
The simplest comparison of definition that I could find was the following;
‘A mentor inspires and motivates’
‘A coach teaches and guides’
But of course, there are many nuances around such a simple explanation, and very often the two definitions cross and merge. A Business Mentor can of course teach and guide and a great Business Coach will inevitably inspire and motivate.
The term ‘Mentor’ has evolved in common parlance to include role model, confidante, a teacher, buddy, boss or even coach. While any or all of these may possibly be mentors, none of those roles is that of a true mentor. A mentor, at the most basic level, is a trusted advisor. A coach at the most basic level is someone who acts as a trainer and helps you practice, in order to hone skills.
As a football fan I like to use the following analogy; Marcelo Bielsa is a (brilliant) Coach, whereas Gary Lineker might be a great Mentor. Bielsa was a functional football player and never reached the heights of Lineker as a player, but Lineker has never professionally coached. Bielsa sets up the framework and provides the tools, structures and training mechanisms but it’s up to the individual players to learn and apply. Lineker as a mentor can talk all day about his experiences and people will listen, take notes and be inspired and learn things to try themselves, but he wouldn’t provide the tools and techniques.
Kerrie Dorman, founder of the Association of Business Mentors (of which I am a member), in a recent LinkedIn video said “A mentor is someone with first-hand experience, has ‘been there that done it and got the T-shirt’. I use the phrase ‘industry weathered’ which hopefully sums up the vision of someone who’s been out, fought the commercial elements and come out the other side. Mentors use this experience to support, guide and advise a mentee who wants to learn from their successes, and their failures.
In contrast, a Coach is someone who has been taught specific set of skills, uses questioning techniques and honing their listening levels which ultimately empowers the coachee. Anyone can embark on that particular training; they don’t have to have had specific industry experience.”
Henley Business School define mentoring as ‘a developmental process, which may in some forms involve a transfer of skill or knowledge from a more experienced person to a less experienced, through learning, dialogue and role modelling’. They define Coaching as ‘a Socratic-based future-focused dialogue between a facilitator (coach) and a participant (coachee/client), where the facilitator uses open questions, active listening, summaries and reflections.’
Business Mentor v Business Coach – where are each of them coming from?
A Business Mentor is someone who shares their business experiences, earnt knowledge and learnings with a mentee. By dipping into their skills and experiences, a Business Mentor guides their mentee in the right direction. Having faced the same challenges as their mentee, a Mentor can help them avoid mistakes or find opportunities.
A Business Coach is skilled in coaching, and with specific knowledge in the area the client aims to improve. A Business Coach focuses on specific development goals, often in structured learning.
A good Business Coach will ask pointed and probing questions that allow the client to work out the answers. Rather than expressing their own ideas or viewpoints, they guide, challenge and chivvy the client to come up with the next steps or best way forward.
Business Mentor v Business Coach – the travel analogy
A Business Mentor offers solutions and shows the recommended, previously trodden paths. They hold the map and show you how to get to the desired destination. They advise on which turnings and forks in the path to take. The Mentor may have already travelled that journey alone previously.
A Business Coach does not give solutions but shows the range of possible paths and routes, without specifying one. They show the client the map and point them in the right direction. They don’t drive you there, but they accompany you on the journey. The Coach will have accompanied many others previously on the same journey, but may not have travelled it alone.
What can you expect from a Business Mentor and a Business Coach?
With both you can expect, as a minimum, to come away with inspiration and motivation. A good mentor will leave you with clarity of thought and personal development, whereas a coach will develop specific business skills and should deliver on specific pre-set goals. Strategic thinking, working on your business and a general feeling of improved business ownership and nous will come from a Business Mentor. A Business Coach will add to your specific skillsets, give you improved tactical actions and help you working in the business.
What is the learning style with a Business Mentor or a Business Coach?
With both a Business Mentor and Business Coach, the learning style will differ, dependent on both their style and also the needs and requirements of the client. However, in general terms, a Mentee will be the one setting the agenda, deciding on topics to discuss and leading via questions. A Mentor will then share with the mentee their answer based on their personal experiences. With coaching, the agenda is often pre-set, with the Coach prompting with questions. The client is then guided to work out the solution and then practise to hone their skills, with them being ultimately responsible for their own development.
What additional benefits might you get from a Business Mentor or a Business Coach?
A Business Mentor can offer new ideas, strategies & solutions, can be a trusted Sounding Board and can offer unsolicited advice and/or guidance. With a Mentor you don’t know what you don’t know, but they may well offer you that information or knowledge. With a Business Coach you will immediately have the direct benefits of the area of improvement that you have been coached on. Plus, you will also have the ability to waterfall your learnings to your team.
So, is it a Business Coach or a Business Mentor that you need?
At the end of the day it’s about what works for the individual and lets them grow as a person or business leader, in the area and direction they feel that they need to develop. There are many shades to Coaching and Mentoring but provided the Coach/Mentor keeps the client’s needs at the centre of everything, they can dip into either role as and when they are needed.
When it comes down to it, whatever the title, the aim is to assist someone who is running their business, to achieve what they’re trying to achieve next, through inspiration, motivation, development and improvement. Whichever works best for you as the client is the correct answer, depending on your aims, your time commitment, your preferred personal development style and the key thing, the personal chemistry between yourself and the Mentor or Coach. The title of the person that is assisting you, is actually irrelevant.
So, in summary, what is the difference between a business coach and a mentor?
As seen above, many people have many different views when comparing a Business Mentor and Business Coach. Indeed they may well disagree with all of the above and have their own definitions. And you may also have your own opinion too, or even interchange how you use the two phrases.
I also created this download PDF as a simple summary.
I hope you found the above useful. The above comparison is my opinion only.
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