Comparison of Mentorship and Coaching

In this essay, we are going to bring out the contrast that exists between the concepts of coaching and mentoring. To begin with, a coach is an expert of a given field who might be hired by an individual or an institution to in order to help instil professional skills to a person who lacks particular skills or is less skilled and the relationship between the coach and the coached is always professional. On the other hand; we find that a mentor is an advisor to an individual or an institution. In an individual case, a mentor, through mentorship, helps an individual achieve a career goal, skills development, life dreams and other interpersonal skills. The relationship here is mostly social.

To some extent one is better suited than the other, depending on the situation at hand. On skills development or staff training, a company may hire a coach in order for them to have specific skills instilled in its employees. In many cases, a company may require a coach to train its management team to enable the company to achieve a certain level and quality of output. That it is, a mentor is basically needed when professional skills and expertise are needed. Coaching tends to be limited to time and objectives. When the time needed to train is out and the objectives met, a coach’s work ends there. On the other hand, a country individual may seek mentorship services from those they find performing better than them. This happens when the mentee needs professional advice and guidance. In most cases, a mentor tends to have endured the challenges that a mentee is going through at that particular time and made through successfully. Mentor's advice and guidance help the mentee bring out their interpersonal skills, set achievable goals and make practical and achievable plans. Mentorship needs changes with the change in the mentee needs and due to the relationship formed between the two, mentorship is not time or objective based.

All my life, I have had a close relationship with my mentors and my coaches. My guardians have played the central role of mentorship in my life. They encouraged me to be the best I can be and always follow my dream. Whenever I lost focus, they made sure all my plans and dreams are well set and they always found a magical way of guiding me back on track. In order for me to achieve my dreams, they found the need for me to have hands-on skills in life. This had them take me to schools to be coached and achieve specific skills that would help me better my future. Even though they were strict on me and the fact that it took time to master some skills, I give thanks to my coaches. The skills I learnt from them moulded whom I am today.