Coaching and mentoring help you get the right support when starting or growing a business. Startup founders, or new business owners with mentors or coaches boost the growth of their businesses faster than other alternative approaches. However, if you are new to your business journey, you might also be thinking of getting external support for your growth, but you may wonder about which option is suitable for you: mentoring or coaching.
Most people use these terms interchangeably, but there are a lot of differences between them, and both of them have their benefits. So let’s clear your doubts today and explore everything you need to know about mentoring and coaching, including their benefits and differences.
What is mentoring?
Mentoring is when someone with rich experience and wisdom assists someone who has less experience in their business. It is like a trusting relationship in which a mentor helps mentees grow personally and professionally. Mentors support your holistic development and provide honest feedback on your startup business growth, startup fundraising, and business plans.
What is coaching?
Coaching is when an experienced coach, not necessarily from a similar background, helps a person who has less experience in their business. It is an excellent way for novice startup or business people to become proficient in their skills. Hiring a coach ensures that you are on the right path of your career. Their guidance, support, and assistance helps you achieve your goals with minimum effort.
Difference between coaching and mentoring
While both learning approaches help to grow your business, they are different from each other. Coaching gives its primary attention to working on specific skills or goals. For example, you can join coaching sessions in order to enhance your leadership qualities. Their custom support will help you resolve your specific tasks or operations. Overall, you can hire a coach for a short period of time to resolve any specific concern in your business. They often employ many techniques, like goal-setting and action plans, and empower you to achieve your objectives.
Mentoring, on the other hand, is about seeking broader support and guidance from an experienced person’s success and failure stories. This learning approach is like getting help from someone who has already been successful and has gone through the same career paths as you are right now. The relationship with a mentor is less formal and can last for a long time. Overall, you can turn to a mentor to focus on your holistic development. For example, if you want someone to guide you while encouraging you to move forward, mentoring is the right option for you.
Types of mentoring?
Three types of mentoring allow you to access the expertise and wisdom of experienced people. Each of them is designed to provide its unique convenience and approach. So here you can explore the primary types of mentoring:
One-on-one mentoring
The most popular mentoring style is one-on-one mentoring, in which an experienced person guides, advises, and provides support to a less experienced employee. This type of mentorship provides you with personalized support, and you can get mentors undivided attention to you. This mentoring helps you to work close to your mentor and track your progress with their constructive feedback.
Group mentoring
Group mentoring is when one or many mentors guide, advise, and provide support to a group of mentees. It is a cost-effective learning approach that allows you to learn and grow with a team. Group mentorship is a beneficial approach because it encourages you to access diverse ideas from your mentors and team members.
Mentoring circles
Some companies have also launched peer-to-peer mentoring where some employees form a circle and learn about a specific issue or topic related to their hobbies, shared backgrounds, and professional experience.
Types of coaching?
Turning to the right coaching format will help you decide a supportive learning culture for you. Here are the main types of coaching formats that will help boost your growth based on expert advice:
Executive Coaching
Executive coaching is a type of coaching format in which you learn from your own tasks to lead a team’s efforts. It helps you become an effective team leader and resolve real-life problems. Executive coaching ensures your business’s success and makes you a better leader for your new role.
Integrated coaching
This is a dedicated coaching format for broader initiatives. For example, if you are going through a management training program, you can also take these coaching sessions to know about what you have to learn in real situations.
Team Coaching
Team coaching is an approach to group learning where many participants encourage each other and enhance their performance with collaboration and effective support from coaches. Team coaching is an excellent way for employees to gain a diverse perspective.
Virtual Coaching
Virtual coaching is one of the most convenient methods, as you can remotely connect with experienced people and get their guidance without worrying about geographical restraint. This type of coaching helps people connect with global people and learn how to improve their businesses.
Mentoring Vs Coaching: Which is right for you?
If you are still wondering which learning approach will be helpful for you, then you need to remember that if you want to receive guidance for growing in your career paths and personal development, mentoring can provide you with more advantages than coaching. On the other hand, you can turn to coaching if you want to focus on developing your specific skills or achieving particular goals. Coaches provide structured guidance and feedback, and their formal sessions enhance your performance. Coaching is a good way to improve short-term skills and achieve goals in areas such as leadership and communication.
