NHS EDUCATION FOR SCOTLAND | COACHING & MENTORING
the similarities and differences between
coaching and mentoring
WHAT IS MENTORING?
Definitions proliferate. Clutterbuck is the leading
authority on mentoring, and he has written
extensively about mentoring in the UK today. He
points to its origins in the concept of apprenticeship.
“When a more experienced individual
passed down his knowledge of how the
task was done and how to operate in the
commercial world.”
(CLUTTERBUCK, 2004).
Clutterbuck (2004 p53) describes the mentor’s role as:
MANAGE THE RELATIONSHIP
ENCOURAGE RECOGNISE THE MENTEE’S ABILITY
NURTURE CREATE AN OPEN, CANDID
ENVIRONMENT
TEACH CREATE A STIMULATING
ENVIRONMENT THAT CHALLENGES
THE MENTOR
OFFER MUTUAL RESPECT
RESPOND TO MENTEE’S NEEDS
Rogers (2004) says that typically a mentor is a colleague
in the same or a parallel organisation who is not in a line
management relationship with the mentee. A mentor has
sometimes been described as “a ‘career friend.’ Someone
who knows the ropes in the organisation and can act
as a sponsor or patron. … In practice mentoring does
have the overtones of implying that the older and wiser
mentors will be passing on their advice and that they
may be able to act as a patron.”
Mentors are generally seen as able to give political
advice, open doors and offer opportunities, such as
introductions to key stakeholders, which enhance the
mentee’s career prospects. They are often role models.
Rivera (2014) emphasises mentoring’s role in helping the
mentee realise his or her special gifts, and teaching both
mentor and mentee new things.
1
ECHOING RIVERA, STARR (2014) SUMS UP
MENTORING AS FOLLOWS:
“Mentoring isn’t about changing
someone, or getting someone to do
something differently, it’s about waking
someone up to who they really are. The
mentor’s challenge is to distil their own
experience into bite-sized chunks of
wisdom, help or guidance that ultimately
helps them to discover that.”
WHAT IS COACHING?
Having glimpsed the complexity and diversity of the
professional disciplines, methodologies and theories
that have helped shape coaching, it should come as
no surprise that there is no one single definition of
coaching either. (Renton 2009).
Table 1 (Hawkins 2006) illustrates the variety of
definitions put forward by some of the leading
practitioners in the field.
Table 1 Definitions of coaching
Unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their
performance. It is helping them learn rather than
teaching them.
Whitmore (1996)
A process that enable learning and development to
occur and thus performance to improve.
Parsloe (1999)
A collaborative, solution-focused, results-oriented and
systematic process in which the coach facilitates the
enhancement of work performance, life experience,
self-directed learning and personal growth of the
coachee.
Grant (2000)
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From this, Hawkins concludes that the key outcomes

Primarily a short term intervention aimed at that distinguish executive coaching seem to be the
performance improvement or developing a particular facilitation of:
competence.
Whitmore (1996) • performance improvement – so therefore it is goal-
focused, results oriented and practical
A conversation, or series of conversations, one person
has with another. • adult learning

Starr (2003) • personal development/support/unlocking potential

The art of facilitating the performance, learning and The activities that deliver these outcomes arise from a
development of another. working relationship with an individual that:

Downey (2003)
The coach works with clients to achieve speedy,
increased and sustainable effectiveness in their lives
•
generates a collaborative partnership
• allows clear, unvarnished feedback

and careers through focused learning. The coach’s

sole aim is to work with the client to achieve all of the
• has a short term and practical focus

client’s potential – as defined by the client.

Rogers (2006)

HAWKINS (2006) GOES ON TO DESCRIBE A USEFUL CONTINUUM OF COACHING THAT

DISTINGUISHES FOUR TYPES OF COACHING BY THEIR MAIN FOCUS. THESE ARE:

SKILLS
Skills coaching relates to specific skills 
the coachee needs 
on the job

PERFORMANCE
Performance coaching is more about raising 
the coachee's level of performance in
their current role

DEVELOPMENT
Development coaching is less focused on the 
current role, and more centred on the coachee's 
longer term development. It thus 
has some aspects of
mentoring

TRANSFORMATION
Hawkins sees transformation as enabling the
coachee to shift levels, and transition from
one level of functioning to 
a higher level
NHS EDUCATION FOR SCOTLAND | COACHING & MENTORING 3

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN Rogers (2004) makes clear, if someone has persistent
A COACH, A MENTOR AND A issues of self-esteem, unresolved grief, anxiety,
COUNSELLOR? depression, or severely dysfunctional behaviour and
beliefs, then counselling, not coaching, is appropriate.
First of all it is important to be clear about what sort
of coaching we are meaning here. There are a growing Table 3, based on that of the CIPD (2004), sums up the
number of types of coaching (such as life coaching, different emphases of coaching and counselling.
career coaching, executive coaching, leadership
coaching, maternity coaching). Here we are talking Table 3 Different Emphases in Coaching and
about coaching which aims to enhance your Counselling
performance at work and your leadership capability.
COUNSELLING COACHING
Let’s start by looking at the broad differences between
coaching, mentoring and counselling. Table 2 gives Broader focus and greater Narrower focus
a succinct overview of the different aims of coaching, depth
mentoring and counselling as expressed by the National Goal is to help people Goal is to improve
Leadership Unit of NHSScotland (2014), and Mike the understand the root person’s performance at
Mentor, a coach and mentor with a long-established causes of long-standing work
web-site devoted to mentoring. problems

Table 2 The aims of Mentoring, Coaching and A short term intervention, Tends to be a short term
Counselling but can last for longer intervention
periods due to the
NATIONAL MIKE THE breadth of issues to be
LEADERSHIP MENTOR addressed
UNIT,
NHSSCOTLAND Can be used to address Coaching does not seek
underlying psychological to resolve underlying
MENTORING The acquisition of Transforming
issues psychological problems.
wisdom myself
It assumes a person does
COACHING Unlocking existing Creating the not require this
gifts and skills future
Counsellor asks “Why?” Coach asks, “What?” and
COUNSELLING Supporting Resolving the
“How?”
someone facing a past
crisis Agenda is usually agreed The agenda is typically set
by the individual and by the individual, but it is
Regarding the difference between coaching and counsellor often also in agreement/
counselling, Hawkins (2006) makes two useful points. consultation with the
Firstly, both might explore the same area, but they have organisation
a different frame of reference. Coaching begins with
a current work issue. In exploring this, the coach may Other stakeholders are Other stakeholders (eg
have to explore some of the coachee’s personal issues rarely involved line manager) can be
and patterns of behaviour which have a bearing on the involved
current challenge. But the coaching should always return
to its prime focus - how the coachee can handle the No obligation to action Action and results
problem in the workplace. oriented

The second main difference is well expressed by Hall

and Duval (2005). Hawkins cites their argument that It is less easy to be clear cut about the differences
the assumption in coaching is that coaches work with between coaching and mentoring.
people who are healthy and embrace change, whereas
therapists work with people who “come from a place of
deficit,” and expect change to be hard and painful. As
NHS EDUCATION FOR SCOTLAND | COACHING & MENTORING 4

COACHING MENTORING
MENTORING HAS BEEN DESCRIBED BY
CLUTTERBUCK AND MEGGINSON, AUTHORITIES IN At a transactional level, Enhances client’s
THE FIELD, AS: coaching enables client technical and business
to incorporate skills related skills. Develops
Off-line help by one person to another into their leadership/ mentee professionally.
in making significant transitions in management repertoire.
knowledge, work or thinking (1997). Coachees develop their
self-awareness and
awareness of their impact
You can expect both coaches and mentors to listen to on others. Can sometimes
you attentively, ask you incisive questions, clarify and enable client to achieve
reframe what you are saying so that you see things in a transformational
different way, plan what to do, reflect and review. behavioural and
attitudinal change.
The CIPD (2004) veered away from trying to find
Structured meetings of Can last for long period.
a definition of mentoring, and instead looked at
variable length every
differences between mentoring and coaching by
month or so. Relatively
comparing their characteristic focus and activities, as
short term.
shown in Table 4.
Meet in client’s Can be informal and
Table 4 Differences between Coaching and Mentoring organisation or a neutral meetings can take place
place. as and when the mentee
COACHING MENTORING
needs some advice,
Coaching aims to The focus is on developing guidance or support.
develop the coachee’s the mentee professionally,
potential. The focus is on career development and From this, Hawkins (2006) concludes that mentoring
development / enhancing managing transitions. is less about creating precise and focused behaviour
performance. Aimed at Takes a broader view of change, and more about helping mentees build an
specific present-moment the person. Mentor can appropriate larger picture that will animate their future
work-related issues, and open doors to activities career choices.
career transitions. and opportunities.
As Table 4 shows, there is clear water between coaching
Coach and client are Mentor has more and mentoring activities when we look at their different
equals working in experience than client, processes and outcomes. For example, the directive/
partnership. Coach and shares it with more non-directive difference has traditionally been seen as
does not require direct junior or inexperienced an important distinction, although this has become more
experience of client’s role. employee. muddied recently.
Coaching is essentially Mentoring is typically
Perhaps a useful way of looking at this directive/non-
non-directive, though this more directive, sharing
directive distinction is to start with the two different
is not a hard and fast rule. experiences, offering
styles of influencing others to get things done - the push
advice.
and the pull styles. Pushing means being assertive and
Coach/coachee ratio of Mentor/mentee ratio of telling people what to do. Pulling means drawing people
speaking is roughly 20:80. speaking is roughly 40:60. towards you, making a link with them, for example by
creating a vision they can relate to, or by empowering
them. Both styles have their place, depending on the
situation. Traditionally, mentoring has been seen as
a push style, whereas coaching has been seen as a
pull style. If we use this as a framework, the activities
predominantly used in coaching and mentoring fall
roughly into this sort of continuum (Downey, 2003).
NHS EDUCATION FOR SCOTLAND | COACHING & MENTORING 5

Table 5 The Push/Pull Continuum

Tell Instruct Advise Feedback Suggest Question Summarise Paraphrase Reflect Listen

PUSH PULL

Although mentors will undoubtedly listen and question,
the traditional picture of a mentor is of someone who
gives advice based on his or her own experience. The
speaking ratio between client and coach or mentor
reflects this in that the mentor typically talks more than
the coach. The traditional picture of coaches was that
they did not give advice, but asked questions to enable
the coachees to find their own solutions. Where things
get muddy is in the middle of the continuum. As coaching
has developed and different methods have proliferated,
coaches do, on occasions, make suggestions or give
information.
Feedback is an interesting area. On the surface, it might
look like a ‘pull’ style. But in so far as it is a form of
telling, it is a ‘push’ style. Mentors might give mentees
feedback about their performance, or colleague’s
comments about them. And coaches can use it too, to
give feedback about how they experience the coachee
impacting on them during the session. This can increase
coachees’ self-awareness and may trigger behavioural
change.

ANNE SCOULAR, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE

COACHING FIRM, MEYER CAMPBELL, SEES IT THIS
WAY:

Mentoring and traditional ‘teaching

style’ coaching put in advice, guidance,
information, suggestions, contacts etc
– while non-directive coaching pulls
out the capacities people have within.
In practice, good mentors can coach
as well as mentor. Good coaches will,
unquestionably, put in some information,
tools or data, where they believe it is
in the best interests of the client, but
judiciously. (Renton, 2009)