You already know that great leaders aren’t born — they’re cultivated. Luckily, your organization has two powerful instruments for nurturing leaders on their development journey: mentoring and coaching. Both have their strengths and challenges. So, how do you decide which one to invest in?
While both coaching and mentoring can support leaders’ development, there are key differences between the two — and distinct use cases for each. Read on to learn how to make the right choice.
Coaching vs. mentoring: core differences
Leadership coaching matches leaders with licensed coaches external to the organization. Mentorship programs typically match developing leaders with more experienced leaders within the company.
Here are four other key ways coaching and mentoring programs tend to differ:
Focus: Leadership coaching programs are future-oriented and focused on specific outcomes, whether that’s achieving concrete goals, navigating business challenges, or developing new skills. In contrast, mentoring programs offer a broader focus. They might provide organization-specific career guidance, wisdom sharing, and long-term development.
Structure: Coaching offers a formalized structure that delivers development through organized sessions. These programs are often integrated into broader leadership development plans aligned with organizational talent objectives and business goals. Coaching can also complement other leadership development activities, such as certificate programs. Meanwhile, mentoring programs usually involve more informal relationships between participants, with flexible meetings and non-structured agendas.
Approach: Leadership coaching programs take a participant-driven approach, with the coach asking guiding questions to facilitate a leader’s self-discovery. In a mentorship scenario, the mentor typically drives the relationship by sharing their experiences and insights.
Relationship: Coaching programs facilitate professional partnerships focused on achieving specific results and aligning the participant’s development with larger business goals. Mentoring often offers more of a developmental relationship between mentor and mentee focused on both personal and professional growth.
Benefits comparison: coaching vs. mentoring
Leadership coaching provides a safe, confidential space for leaders to work through specific challenges with an objective, experienced collaborator. Through a coach’s feedback, leaders often improve their self-awareness and gain better insights into how their behavior impacts and influences others. This process requires consistent, often challenging practice and accountability — kind of like going to the gym.
Skills and mindset development is another benefit of leadership coaching; leaders can enhance critical competencies such as strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, or effective communication. Leaders who go through coaching often conclude the program with action plans and measurable performance indicators. These action plans are directly aligned with business goals and immediately applicable to leaders’ roles.
Mentoring serves a different function that delivers its own benefits. Participants may get more general career guidance from their mentors, which can help them navigate company culture and map out their future trajectory at the organization. Networking is another upside, since mentorship often provides opportunities for mentees to access senior leaders and influential figures within the company. Learning from mentors’ direct experience can also help mentees anticipate business challenges and maneuver them more effectively.
Which leaders should receive coaching vs. mentoring?
Coaching is a high-impact investment that should be deployed with specific development goals in mind, both for leaders and the organization. While all leaders can benefit from coaching at any point in their career, coaching is particularly impactful when implemented strategically among select leaders.
Leadership coaching best serves leaders facing important career transitions, such as leading a team for the first time or stepping into a role with a high level of executive responsibility. Coaching can also support leaders through specific challenges at their organization — for instance, a business transformation, merger or acquisition, re-org, or workforce reduction.
Mentoring programs, on the other hand, serve two sets of leaders at your organization–mentors and mentees. Each of these groups has something to gain from the relationship, and leaders can play the role of mentor to one colleague and mentee of another colleague simultaneously.
Whatever their level at the organization, leaders who are not actively enrolled in a formal leadership development program should be encouraged to participate in mentoring to keep them focused on their professional development and well-networked within the organization.
Coaching and mentoring: The best of both worlds
Holistic leadership development should include both leadership coaching and mentoring. Each type of initiative serves distinct talent needs at organizations, and can work in concert to amplify the impact of your leadership development investment.
While leaders who are currently enrolled in coaching may not have the additional bandwidth to participate in mentoring, they should be encouraged and incentivized if and when their coaching engagement ends to “pay it forward” to less experienced leaders at the organization via mentoring. As more seasoned leaders interact with newer talent at the organization, they can help identify employees who show high potential for future leadership at the organization and facilitate a culture of growth, opportunity, and continuous learning.
Want to find the best way to support your organization’s leaders? Learn more about ExecOnline’s Coaching programs and other forms of leadership development.