The titles of a mentor or a coach are often confused. Believe it or not a mentor and a coach are different. I offer mentoring as part of my services to bookkeepers and aspiring bookkeepers. Here’s why I class myself as a mentor and not a coach.

Relationship

A mentoring relationship is more long term and we give a personal approach. My mentoring ability comes from the experiences I’ve been through myself. I will share my learnings with you so that you don’t make the same mistakes I’ve made whilst building my practice. I’ll support you to put actions into place that I know will work and will give you advice along the way.

A coaching relationship is much more structured and they will have a process that they follow through their coaching programme. Quite often you will pay for a set programme with a coach and they will take you through their process.

I like to give my clients a personal touch, which means what I advise very much depends on the individual.

Experience

A mentor usually decides to become a mentor following the experiences they have been through and the knowledge they have built along their journey, just like I have. I decided to share my knowledge and expertise with other bookkeepers so I joined the help to grow scheme. I don’t expect you to take the exact same journey I have, everyone is different but I can offer guidance and support along your journey.

A coach doesn’t have the same experience a mentor has. They are trained to ask the right questions, provide motivation and feedback and help a client's self discovery.

Interaction

A coach will typically concentrate on the objective of their coaching method, helping you to achieve goals and new skills. A mentor goes way beyond just achieving an end goal. It’s about personal development which means they will get to know you on a personal level as well as learning about your business. There are many contributing factors to your journey and life choices can affect your career development and work life balance so it’s important I get to know my clients properly.

Structure

Mentoring is less formal than coaching. There may not necessarily be a predefined structure. The relationship will evolve naturally and will be based on mutual trust and respect. 

A business coach will set specific objectives with you and create action plans to get you where you need to be following a set process.

Method

As I mentioned earlier a mentor will share their own experiences and insights in order to give you good advice about your situation. A coach will be more objective and offer neutral feedback focusing on your behavior and performance in order to help you improve.

If you’ve been considering investing in a mentor or coach I hope this blog has helped to define which you need.

If you’d love a personal approach and a mentor who is going to give you great advice and support from her own experiences then I’d love to hear from you.