2 ways to accelerate your career growth →

2 ways to accelerate your career growth →

And how you should choose the right support:

As both a mentor and an executive coach, I often have people reaching out from my curren industry - consulting - or the former one - energy - seeking support. 

What's interesting is that not everyone realizes which approach best fits their needs – which is totally okay! That's why we always discuss goals and expectations.

They may expect mentorship perks, when they actually want executive coaching to drive deeper behavioral change.

Other times, they want to learn a specific skill, which neither coaching nor mentoring truly addresses - even though these days you often people introducing themselves as "coach" instead of "trainer".

I learnt my lesson - we must be on the same page from the beginning, to avoid later disappointments.

When I do executive coaching at EY or at The Change Republic, it’s:
→ for a limited time
→ with a structured approach.
→ my client is accountable for their progress
→ they creating actions while
→ we partner on their development.

When I mentor, it’s:
→ a longer-term relationship
→ with a more informal structure
→ I act as a role model
→ I provide broader guidance and,
→ as someone once told me, "I transfer wisdom" 

What I don't do is:
→ offer quick fixes
→ train on one specific skill
→ force decisions
→ or mentor / coach my direct reports.

Mentoring and coaching are not interchangeable.
Each offers unique value that must match the individual's needs. 

It's like choosing the right tool for the job – a hammer is great for nails, but not so much for tightening screws! 😉

What's most important is that we are both clear on what we are setting out to achieve from the very beginning.

What else would you add to do during mentoring, coaching or none of them?

#change #mentoring #coaching #thechangerepublic