Mentor v Coach or a Combination?
By Nick Roud, Leadership Coach
As a leader matures, grows and progresses to an executive position there might come a time when a staff member approaches you to mentor them. For many just asking the question would have been something that they have deeply thought about. No matter how ‘busy’ you believe you are the role of a leader is to serve and by serving I mean helping.
Your first response may be of shock or surprise but as you reflect on that question ‘will you be my mentor’ I’d encourage you to simply say yes, thank you.
The role of a mentor and that of a leadership coach are different and play different roles, more of that soon. In my coaching practice during the latter stages of an engagement with a CEO, senior executive and emerging leader I ask my client to if not done already to seek out a mentor. It may surprise you but having a mentor doesn’t stop when you get your leadership badge. In fact quite the opposite, you see any elite executive may well have had a mentor as they progressed in his/her career.
In my role as a leadership coach I haven’t had the privilege of being the CEO of a large bank, insurance company, airline, not for profit, global engineering firm, tax advisory, government agency etc, my role is to coach those successful leaders and emerging leaders. My role couldn’t possibly add much value to the executive of an airline because I haven’t been in that role or position (this is where a Mentor comes in), the role I play is one of behavioural change. It’s because the higher up you go in the organisation, the more your problems are behavioural. You’re smart, you’re up to date, you know the technical aspects of your job, but you may lack some important people skills and it’s hindering your success. This is my role as your leadership coach to help you continue to be successful.
Sometimes the very simple answer is we can’t see in ourselves what we can clearly see in others and this is where coaching plays an extremely important part. How do you see yourself as a leader and what is the perception of how others see you as a leader. What we have that laid out via our leadership assessments then it’s game on!
We can always get better at something, Nick Roud
During our time together we talk about many things (in confidence) and during some key meetings I hold the mirror up so you can really see what is going on. Here we unpack your leadership assessments and individual development plan. What I have noticed over the past nearly 10 years is my clients who are Chief Executive Officers, senior executives laser in on 3-4 key aspects of their leadership. Together we lay pathways to improve these things and strengthen what is also working well for you.
To sum up our evidence continues to shine a light on ‘how you relate and work with people’.
So what is the role of a Mentor v Coach?
- A Mentor has been their, got the t-shirt and can tell you what to do
- A Coach holds the mirror, asks you meaningful questions in order for you to find the answers (yourself)
For organisations looking to invest in professional development of your leaders, I would encourage the combination of a mentor and a leadership coach. This is very powerful and will make a positive lasting difference to your leaders and emerging leaders.
Discuss your leadership development with Nick Roud.