The Essentials of Coaching and Mentoring

The Essentials of Coaching and Mentoring

Activity 1

Coaching and mentoring are both learning methods that are used to mean different things. However, they both involve helping individuals improve their performance and solving life problems.

Coaching is a process that is aimed at invoking a positive influence in an individual to allow improvement, learning, and development. It is meant to provide supportive feedback to improve the performance or behavior of an individual. Coaching is applicable in various life situations, which include; education, sports, life, and business ventures, among other life aspects. The four fundamental concepts of coaching involve the first active goal setting, which provides a foundation for sustainable change. These assist individuals in maintaining focus on areas intended for growth. Secondly, is the understanding of leadership. The concepts are mainly applicable in areas where leadership roles are needed, and executive coaching partner is supposed to support an individual leading to improvement in their skills. Thirdly is the essence of feedback to encourage the achievement of goals. This promotes the continuation of work done as individuals can understand how they have worked to achieve their goals. Lastly is the need to realize that we are the result of our daily thoughts, and creating positive beliefs around ourselves will result in character and personality change.

Mentoring, on the other hand, refers to the process of using trained individuals or specialized individuals to help people in their learning and development process, thus able to acquire skills and knowledge from experienced people. The concept of mentoring involves an on one relationship between a qualified individual and a less experienced individual, which aims to improve the professional growth of the less experienced individual. Mentoring provides a link based on interpersonal skills and commitment, which impacts on the personal growth of the less qualified individual. Both coaching and mentoring differ from other learning and development methods in that they both focus on developing an individual. For example, counseling provides a therapeutic intervention aimed at overcoming barriers and issues in the past, present, or future.

The benefits of coaching to a couch include; improving specific skills leading to the progress of the coaching process. A coach can build their awareness as coaches are provided with opportunities to improve themselves and work on their personalities. Through coaching, coaches can understand more about themselves and improve on characteristics they are not satisfied with. Through coaching, coaches can improve on their careers as they build their skill sets and work on their career goals, thus able to achieve their set goals. Benefits to the coachee include; improvement of individuals’ performance. It allows for the recovery of communication and increased openness to individual development and learning. The coachee can take responsibility for their life decisions and identify solutions to their problems. Besides, they are able to improve their behavior and self-awareness.

The benefits of a mentor are that they are able to achieve the satisfaction of assisting an individual. They are able to use their acquired knowledge and skills in guiding their mentee. Mentors are also provided with the opportunity to learn from their mentees and improve on knowledge gaps. Through the mentoring process, they are able to enhance their communication skills. Benefits to a mentee include; boosting confidence and self-esteem. Through mentorship, mentees are able to identify their areas of weakness and become better in problem-solving. Through mentorship, individuals are able to focus more on their issues and reflect on them. Mentees are also presented with opportunities for increased learning and knowledge as well as become more exposed to other methods of learning. In different situations, mentees are advised on stress reduction techniques that are helpful in work progress. Mentees are also presented with opportunities in networking hence broaden their career goals.

As coaching becomes more prevalent in our everyday lives, it is essential to distinguish between the different types of coaching. One of the examples is leadership coaching, which is aimed toward helping leaders work on their leadership roles. In this case, the coach has typically had an experience as a senior leader; therefore, he or she understands issues faced in an organization, for example. The coach should also be equipped with business experiences and cultural issues surrounding the corporate environment hence provide adequate counseling on the coachee. Leadership coaching, besides, involves the comprehension of leadership psychology accordingly guide the leader on the problems they are likely to face. Another type is life coaching, which focuses on the development of the self, which is psychologically, emotionally, and career-wise. This kind of coaching influences personal decisions on the person hence influence how they live their lives. Through this, individuals can work on their passions, own desires, and dreams. Another type of coaching is relationship coaching. This works to help people identify their relationship matches. This kind of coaching guides the coachee on the confidence needed to approach a probable partner. This is also applicable in relationships where individuals are guided towards improving their relationship as well as learn how to deal with issues affecting them.

Two primary forms of coaching exist that is directive and non-directive styles of coaching. Directive coaching is where a coach provides a set of goals for either an individual or a group. In this case, the coach serves as the expert and guides the individual or group on what to do. The couch then implores them to achieve the goals while monitoring their performance and finally providing evaluative feedback. In directive coaching, the coach has expertise in the context; for example, a football coach should know about the game. On the other hand, non-directive coaching is where an individual or a group sets their plan, and the coach guides them to achieve the outcomes intended. In this case, the coach only requires knowledge and the skill necessary to help individuals solve their problems.

The stages of coaching are preparation and start-up. In this stage, the coach briefs the coachee on the training, and both agree on the partnership. The second stage is contracting, where meeting times, locations, rules, responsibilities are discussed between the coach and coachee. The third stage is coaching meetings where both the coach and coachee meet to review the progress and any new course of action. The final step is the exit where recognition of success is done, and areas needing development are identified.

Mentoring is a process where people come together with one of the individuals tasked with the ability to help others work through in whatever he is dealing with. The mentor works to empower the mentee to identify their strengths as well as their faults and help him or she achieve set goals or life desires. The nature of the relationship between a mentor and a mentee should be conducive enough to allow a sustainable relationship based on trust. The mentor should first build a rapport with the mentee to ensure the confidence of the mentee is achieved. The three stages of mentoring include the introductory phase, where the mentor and mentee make the initial contact, and a rapport is established. The initial step also involves understanding of the purpose of a mentor and exploring the needs of the mentee. Sharing of expectations from both parties are also outlined during this stage. The second stage is active mentoring, where the mentee is assisted in reflecting on their challenges and issues. The mentor’s role in this stage will be to find appropriate solutions and help the mentor develop self-awareness skills required to help them develop solutions. The mentor also guides the mentee to create a plan and encourage progression into their career goals. The third and final stage is the exit phase, which does not necessarily mean to the complete end of the relationship. Once the mentee’s needs are achieved, the mentorship program comes to an end. The parties may then decide to end the relationship entirely or develop it into a friendship.

One of the useful models used in coaching is the GROW model, which stands for Goal Reality Options and Wrap up. The goal outlines what the coaches need to achieve. Reality establishes what the coachee has done towards achieving their goal. Options are where the coachee discovers options available to achieve their goals. Wrap up where the coachee decides on what option is best for them towards achieving their goals. Another model is the COACH model, which stands for Connect Outcomes Awareness Course Highlights, which provides an expert solution to problems. Techniques used in coaching include active listening and goal setting.

Models used in mentoring can include multiple mentoring where a mentor has more than one mentor meeting with each mentor separately. Another model is peer monitoring, where both the mentor and mentee are at similar levels; hence, they mentor each other, for example, an intern introducing a fellow intern within the same organization. Models used in both coaching and mentoring incorporate skills and knowledge towards life development in individuals. Coaching activities can be recorded through a record sheet. An example of a record sheet should include a written record of contacts of parties involved, information discussed concisely and objectively. The entries should be up to date, and each party should sign after each session or after any changes made. The record sheets should then be marked as confidential and kept by the client.

Activity 2