If you have recently paged through training or human resource magazines, you probably think mentoring and coaching were discovered in the last ten years. You would be a little bit right and a little bit wrong.

In reality, the concept of mentoring dates back to Greek mythology. Mentoring gets its name from Mentor in The Odyssey. In this story Odysseus entrusted his son, Telemachus, to an old man named “Mentor.” Mentor became Telemachus’ guide, giving him prudent counsel and helping him develop into a wise ruler. Since then, wise and trusted advisors have been called “mentors.” Aside from making you recall your high school classics, this side track will help delineate the difference between a mentor and a coach.

Mentoring is typically a relationship between an experienced and a less experienced person in which the mentor provides advice, guidance, support, and feedback. Mentoring programs can either be formal programs sponsored by the company or informal relationships sought out by individuals. If the company sponsors a mentoring program the goals are often to help employees learn about organizational culture, to facilitate personal and professional growth, and to foster career development. Informal relationships are frequently developed by chance or serendipity, often with the mentor choosing the mentoree.

Amore recent phenomenon is the growth of coaching. You may have seen stories about executive coaching, career coaching, life coaching, team coaching, and just about any other adverb you care to put in front of “coaching.” The field of coaching is experiencing rapid growth. The Washington Post (Capuzzi-Simon, 2003) reports that, “Some 20,000 full-time coaches practice worldwide, about three-quarters of them in the United States, according to the International Coach Federation (ICF), coaching’s credentialing organization. More than 6,000 are members of ICF, up from 1,500 three years ago.”

The idea of coaching is based on a sports analogy. Although the role of executive coach has been described as “part boss, part consultant, part therapist” (Morris, 2000), it is a good idea to stay away from strategies that verge on psychotherapy. Fast Company has characterized executive coaches as “not for the meek. They’re for people who value unambiguous feedback. If coaches have one thing in common, it’s that they are ruthlessly results-oriented. Executive coaching isn’t therapy. It’s product development, with you as the product” (Tristram, 1996). Like an athlete who has a great deal of talent, an executive or any worker can benefit from someone who can help motivate him or her, help build on his or her talents related to work.

Given the number of overlapping definitions that exist, a study done by Starcevich (1998) provides a concise way of delineating between the two forms of intervention. In the Starcevich model there are six distinguishing characteristics. It is possible to find examples of coaching or mentoring that contradict this model, but for educational purposes the following discussion of the model

Focus

The first characteristic, focus, is the purpose for engaging in the relationship. Mentoring focuses on developing the person. Coaching is focused on developed or improving performance, that is, cultivating work-related skills and knowledge.

Role and Relationship

In mentoring, the role is that of a facilitator—someone who guides but does not dictate the direction. The mentor and the protégé determine the goals as a collaborative activity. Mentoring is a power-free, two-way, mutually beneficial relationship. Mentors are teachers who allow the protégé to discover their own directions. The mentoring relationship offers the protégé and the mentor choice. The relationship works within an agreed-on framework of frequency of meetings, timeframes, communication methods, structure and when to bring the relationship to a close.

Coaching relationships can either be the result of a company that hires and assigns a coach to an employee or an employee can hire his or her own coach. If the coach is hired by the company, the role of the coach and the goals are defined by the company. The coach’s role is to focus on reinforcing or changing skills and behaviors. The relationship between the employee and the coach is centered around the job. Unlike the mentoring relationship, with its mutually agreed-on framework, the coaching relationship is contractual or a job competency with clear terms and expectations.

Source of Influence

Interpersonal skills often determine the effectiveness of both coach and mentor. Coaches have an implied or actual level of authority by nature of their position; ultimately they can insist on compliance. Mentors generally do not have formal power over their protégés. The mentoring relationship is based on mentor/protégé rapport.

Personal Returns

In a mentoring relationship, both the mentor and the protégé benefit from the association. The experience provides a feeling of satisfaction and affirmation in being able to help another person learn and grow in his or her career. Mentors may also see mentoring as a way of giving back if they have been helped at some point in their careers. Mentors are not paid for their service. Coaches from outside the company receive compensation. If the coach is internal, the returns are in the form of more team harmony or better job performance.

Arena

Mentoring relationships are sought out by protégés. The relationship focuses on life and career issues. Because there is no defined goal the mentor/protégé dialog can result in a mentor sharing his or her network, providing advice on work/life issues, and acting as guide and confidante. The coach is focused on developing a product and getting results. The relationship is best described as directive or prescriptive. Understanding the difference between mentoring and coaching will help you sort out the strategy that is best for your organization.

So What Are e-Coaching and e-Mentoring?

e-Coaching is coaching delivered using the Internet. Like traditional workplace coaching, e-coaching helps employees improve performance and builds work-related skills. The e-coaching environment is available 24/7; and it allows people to work asynchronously with their coaches at times that are convenient for them. e-Coaches take advantage of synchronous and asynchronous communication tools such as e-mail, instant massaging, and voice over Internet protocol (VOIP), that is, live telephone-like conversations. Coaches can also take advantage of the environment to use online diagnostics and assessment tools to help learners set goals and track their progress.

e-Mentoring is mentoring that uses the Internet to conduct, enhance, or extend the mentor-protégé relationship.

A survey of the literature suggests that the benefits of e-coaching and e-mentoring are the technologies’ ability to

• Overcome geographic distance

• Reduce costs relative to travel and logistics

• Provide asynchronous interactions enabling coaching/mentoring to fit into busy schedules

The challenge for instructional designers it to create e-coaching and e-mentoring programs that are well-thought-through and meet the needs of their organization. This is to say the programs are designed with a clear goal, an understanding the organizational culture, an adequate amount of funding to launch and maintain the program, and a realistic assessment of the commitment of coaches, mentors, and protégés.

There are a number of questions designers should reflect on as they create programs. Here are some considerations:

• What learning or development problem are you solving? Is the goal to develop the learner personally and professionally? Are you addressing a clear gap in performance or work-related skills?

• How will you know the program is successful?

• What resources are available to staff the program?

• Will the mentors and coaches be volunteers? Will their participation be part of their job responsibility?

• How will you pair people as mentors and protégés? How will you align people for coaching roles?

• If the pairings fail, how will you make corrections?

• How will you prepare people for the role of coach or mentor?

• Will the program be formal or informal? Voluntary or mandatory?

• Is there a time limit? Three months? A year?

• Are the mentors and protégés comfortable with the technology? In your environment is it realistic to expect people to develop a meaningful interpersonal relationship using the Internet? Will coaching be effective using the medium?

• Will mentoring via the Internet be rewarding and satisfying to the participants?

• If coaches are external, what kinds of compensation models are acceptable?

If the coaches are internal, how will you measure their success?

• Will the mentor or coach have input into their protégé’s or learner’s annual review?