Mentor versus Coach

What’s the difference between a mentor and coach? Do you think you know what the difference is? Do you actually know what the difference is between a mentor and a coach? Do you really?

Most people who are helping to develop others think they are coaching, until they know the difference 😊 But, knowing the difference can have a dramatic impact on how a mentee/coachee deals with their challenges, develops their skills and techniques, and learns, so it is worth being precise.

The 70:20:10 Model

The 70:20:10 model is a learning and development framework that suggests individuals obtain 70% of their knowledge from experiences, 20% from interactions with others, and the remaining 10% from being taught. More basically, if I tell you how to do something, you will gain approximately 20% of the knowledge you could have acquired, compared to 70% if you had worked through the challenge and developed your own solutions and approaches. What’s more, if you develop your own solutions and approaches you are far more likely to complete a challenge as they are your solutions and approaches and not what somebody else has told you to do. You own it.

Our View of Coaching is Skewed

Until I really started to look at developing my coaching skills, I thought I had been coaching people for years. I had been leading teams and supporting people to develop in their careers. I was coaching them, right?

But, our view of what a coach is has been skewed, predominantly by sport. We’ve all been “coached” in sport. In sport, your coach is typically somebody with relevant experience, who can tell you what to do, how to improve your technique, they impart their wisdom. This is what I was doing. Exactly the same but in a work environment; how to make code more generic, providing insights into emerging technologies and techniques, giving direction on how to debug production issues.

What is a Mentor?

Despite our skewed view from sport, what we have been describing thus far isn’t coaching, it is mentoring. A mentor is a subject matter expert, an SME. They are an experienced and trusted advisor who guides and supports a less experienced or knowledgeable person, known as a mentee. This relationship is built on mutual respect, communication, and commitment to the mentee’s personal and professional development. Mentors provide advice, share knowledge and experiences, facilitate networking, and offer constructive feedback to help mentees navigate challenges, achieve goals, and make informed decisions.

Mentors work in the 20% area of the 70:20:10 model. They are gifting their experience and wisdom, the choices they have made and would make in your situation, introducing you to new concepts, technologies, processes, and people that can assist you and further you in your career. But as a mentee you can choose whether you take this advice, whether you follow this guidance.

What is a Coach?

Coaching switches the focus from the teacher to the learner. Coaching principles are centered on the belief that the biggest obstacles to success and personal achievement are not external (the teacher resolving them), but lie within us (the learner resolving them). You have more potential than you realize, and a coach’s job is not to instruct, but to unlock your potential. Coaching is more facilitative than directive, encouraging you to find your own solutions and approaches rather than being told what to do.

As we consider the 70:20:10 Model, coaching lies in the 70% area; coaching enables 70% of knowledge development compared to 20% from mentoring, and 10% from teaching. And, moreover, as you identify your own solutions and approaches, you own them. If you own something, you are far more likely to make it succeed.

So, instead of instructing, a coach facilitates. A coach listens. They ask open questions. They support. They unlock. They do not need to be a subject matter expert; in fact it can be beneficial if they are not. A coach does not give their views, opinions, instructions, or direction – this is the role of a mentor.

Mentor

Approach: Usually informal, relationship-driven learning, based on the mentor’s lived experiences

Role: Acts as a role model, a subject matter expert, and an advisor

Focus: Resolving immediate issues and blockers, and development of mentee’s overall growth

Experience: Relies heavily on sharing personal experiences and insight

Scope: Can cover various aspects of life and career

Responsibility: Less formal responsibility for outcomes

Qualifications: Typically based on experience and expertise

Coach

Approach: Typically a formal, contracted relationship, providing structured, goal-oriented learning

Role: Serves as a sounding board, a facilitator, a guide

Focus: Resolving both immediate issues and blockers, and facilitating long-term goals and behavioural change

Experience: Facilitates reflection, self-discovery, and critical thinking

Scope: Generally focused on personal and professional growth

Responsibility: More formal responsibility for progress

Qualifications: Often certified in coaching methodologies

Do I Need a Mentor or Coach (Or Both)?

Whilst there is a clear difference between the two roles, the answer lies in what you are trying to achieve, what challenges you are trying to complete.

A coach can help you to identify your own solutions and approaches, make you accountable for them, and support you to identify and overcome obstacles that may prevent you from maximizing your potential
A mentor can give you their insight, wisdom, and views from their career long experience. They can help you identify and overcome potential pitfalls that they have witnessed. They can introduce you to other people, different processes and solutions, alternate technologies to provide you alternative approaches, thoughts, and experiences

However, a combination of a coaching and mentoring can provide both aspects of support, especially if you have a coach that is a subject matter expert in your field

Crossing the Lines

A coach who is also a subject matter expert can combine both roles. But beware, if you go down this route, you need to have a strong, ideally qualified and supervised coach that clearly understands when they are switching from coaching to mentoring and vice versa. If the individual is unable to manage this boundary correctly, you will just be mentored and not receive the 70% value from being truly coached.

Conclusion

If I now ask you the question what’s the difference between a mentor and coach, I hope you have a much clearer understanding. Each has a specific purpose. Each requires a different set of skills. Both can be invaluable as you develop and as you develop others.

If you would like to know more about the differences between mentoring versus coaching then feel free to drop me a message. If you are looking for somebody that can be both a true coach and a mentor in the Information Technology space then I can support you with this. I am a qualified, certified, and supervised Executive Coach, and I have over 25 years’ experience of leading edge IT project delivery – for more about me see my LinkedIn profile.

More About the 70:20:10 Model

Originating in the 1980s, this model was developed by Morgan McCall, Robert W. Eichinger, and Michael M. Lombardo at the Center for Creative Leadership. It emerged from their research and the observation that most learning occurs not through formal training but through real-life and on-the-job experiences, tasks, and problem solving. This model encourages organizations to recognize and support the range of learning opportunities that occur within the workplace, facilitating a more holistic approach to employee development. It emphasizes the importance of experiential learning, social learning, and formal training in nurturing competencies and personal growth. The 70:20:10 model has since been widely adopted and adapted across various industries worldwide, shaping modern approaches to professional development and continuous learning strategies.