What is the difference between a business mentor and a business coach?
What is the difference between a business mentor and a business coach?
Do you know the difference between a business mentor and a business coach? Wait up, aren’t they the same thing? After all you often hear the terms used interchangeably.
But ask the people in the industry and you quickly realise they are not the same thing. Both have a very specific goal and the way business mentors and business coaches help their clients differ. This article digs into the differences (and similarities) of business coaching and business mentoring and why it matters.
Whether you are after a coaching or mentoring agreement, we have you covered:
While both are of service to their clients and help them, the differences between the two approaches are seen in:
· the way client support is given;
· the timeframe used to work with a client; and
· accountability.
Client support – how coaches and mentors differ
Put simply, both business mentors and business coaches help their clients by guiding and supporting them to achieve success in their business – whatever that version of success looks like.
Both business coaching and business mentoring can be done either 1:1 or in a group setting also, so the way the service is delivered is also quite similar too.
However, that is where the similarity ends.
A business coach:
· assists their clients to identify specific goals and ways to achieve those goals;
· provides structured sessions with clear outcomes;
· may teach their clients new skills; and
· provides accountability to achieve them.
While methods differ from coach to coach, a business coach will usually help their client by asking a series of questions to make sure their client comes to a self realisation in setting these goals and that these goals are achievable.
Common goals could include their client growing their business or achieving certain revenue or other targets.
Whereas a mentor approaches things differently to a business coach.
A mentor:
· is experienced in their industry;
· shares their knowledge, skills and experience gained in the industry;
· offers advice and guidance based on their own personal and professional experience; and
· may also help their client work towards goals or business success.
Over the years, the term business mentor has been used to describe an unpaid role a senior person in a profession, but it has evolved to business mentoring where people seek out experienced people in their profession to offer that support in a paid mentor and mentee relationship.
Another term for business mentor that you might hear is professional supervisor which is used in context of the legal industry and in psychology. This is a person who helps you debrief using their own experience.
What does the time frame a business coach or business mentor works with a client look like?
Because of the goal focused way a coach works with a client, the time they work together may be fixed. Anywhere between a one off coaching session to packages ranging from 3 to 6 or 12 months.
A business mentor, on the other hand may be more long term with ongoing support and guidance as needed.
Do mentors also provide accountability to their clients?
As we have mentioned above, a business coach will hold their client accountable (though it is always up to the client to do the work). Similarly, a mentor may use a more gentle and less structured approach but accountability is also a key feature in the client/ mentor relationship.
This is something we talk about a lot with our clients at Ready to Boss Legal – what happens if your client doesn’t do the work. You have given them the tools but you can’t make them do all the things and implement that work. And let me tell you, sometimes a client won’t do the work – just ask my book writing coach Andrew Griffiths about the half written manuscript sitting on my desk top with a blinking cursor on my screen!
I always say to my coaching and mentoring clients working with clients is a bit like someone who buys a new recipe book and bicycle, ready to commit to getting fit and healthy. Unless that person actually uses the cook book and rides the bicycle regularly it is unlikely anything will change where their health and fitness occurs.
And that’s fine – it really is up to the client to be committed. In my case I have accepted this year is not the time to finish the book but know it will be there when I am ready and the timing is right. But where you can run into an issue as a business coach or business mentor is if the client refuses to accept blame for not doing anything and they try to blame the business mentor or the business coach for their failure to achieve goals or implement the tools provided to them as part of the coaching or mentoring journey. This is why we make sure our business coaching contract template and business mentoring contract template contain disclaimers suitable to these circumstances.
Are you a coach or a mentor?
If you are reading this blog and trying to figure out whether to call yourself a coach or a mentor, or something else entirely different like business consultant or professional supervisor, it’s useful to ask yourself what you focus on with your clients during a session. For example, do you set out specific goals and objectives and draw up strategy plans to help them in improving their skills to achieve these goals? This is more of a coaching approach. On the other hand, if you usually give our broader career and business advice drawn from your own experiences, this is more of a mentoring approach. You could also be both – some coaches will also take on a mentoring role and vice versa, however there will usually be a stronger focus on one aspect than the other.
The reason it is important to know is because the way we draft our agreements and the types of protections you need to limit your liability differ depending on whether you are a mentor or a coach.
Using a Coaching or Mentoring Agreement
Regardless of whether you’re a coach or a mentor, it’s important that you have an agreement in place between you and your client to ensure that you’re legally protected and to clearly set out what obligations are for each party and to be able to end the relationship where things aren’t gelling.
You can find templates for both our Business Coaching Agreement here and our Business Mentoring Agreement here. If you have any questions or want to work out the best contract template for you or have us prepare a customised version with all the bells and whistles for you, please get in touch with us here, we would love to help!
