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Making a difference: The Power of Coach-Mentoring

 

the power of coaching / mentoring

Millions of people worldwide are waking up to the benefits of having a coach-mentor. Someone whose specific role is to help you in a non-judgmental, yet objective way, achieve your dreams, goals and ambitions… even if you’ve yet to clearly define what these might be! Having an experienced, well-qualified and professional coach-mentor can provide you with a much-needed competitive edge.

I meet thousands of people every year through my trainings, keynotes and coach-mentoring: Typical key frustrations people talk to me about are coping with the pressures and stresses of contemporary life, a lack of time to reflect and plan effectively, an inability to cope with shifting priorities, difficulty in really levering off their latest training experiences, a lack of influence, or confidence, problems in communicating their message, an insecure career situation, or an inability to follow through on their own dreams, intentions and action plans.

So what exactly is COACH-MENTORING?

A rather formal interpretation is:

“Confidential and developmental conversations between a trusted coach-mentor and their client (the coach-mentee) designed to help them achieve their immediate goals as well as their longer-term aspirations… whatever those may be!”

As a professional COACH-MENTOR it’s simple… I’m in the business of working with you and YOUR AGENDA, to help you identify ANY BARRIERS & OPPORTUNITIES, to turn on your ’SUCCESS NOBS’, and to guide you in building and delivering on your SUCCESS ACTION PLAN so that you can FULFIL YOUR GOALS!

People also ask me about the difference between COACHING and MENTORING: In reality there are many similarities between coaching and mentoring in that both kinds of relationship interventions rely on confidentiality, high levels of trust, and considerable skill on the part of the coach-mentor.

But for me there are significant differences:

MENTORING more often than not in its traditional form, involves an often long-term relationship between a more experienced mentor and a less experienced mentee, sometimes within the same employer or organisation.

The focus is usually on the mentor giving advice (especially where there is an experience deficit), in order to support the career or management needs of a less experienced more ‘junior’ partner or ‘protegé’. It is often based on the mentor being a ‘sponsor’ where appropriate, helping the mentee by being an additional set of ‘eyes-and-ears’ on the ground, and sometimes helping the mentee connect with useful contacts, or signposting to relevant resources.

Mentoring tends to be much more directive than coaching, focusing as it does on the mentor passing on key insights into specific sectors, areas of expertise, or roles. Hence the mentor will normally need to have in-depth knowledge pertaining to the mentee’s career or business aspirations.

Coaching provides some subtle yet important contrasts: A coaching relationship these days goes well beyond the traditional one-off skills input, ie “I am going to help you learn to do x, y and z”.

Contemporary coaching is focused much more on the longer-term applied learning and development of the coachee. Contemporary coaching tends to be:

• much less directive
• depends on an unconditional regard for the client or coachee
• places the responsibility for learning firmly with the coachee, and
• is premised on a trusted relationship of equals.

Coaching typically operates at a number of levels, depending on the needs and agenda of the client or coachee:

LEVEL ONE SUPPORT: for instance, most coaches can help with specific short-term challenges such as dealing with conflict at work, preparing for a job interview, managing a complex project, taking over a new team, moving into a new role, reviewing your skills etc.

LEVEL TWO SUPPORT: some coaches can help you deal with deeper issues like wanting:

• to be more open or effective in communicating with others
• to enhance your inner confidence
• to increase your personal and professional effectiveness
• to improve your management and leadership impact
• to enhance your ‘technical’ and perceptual skills by utilising your right-brain, as well as left-brain thinking etc

LEVEL THREE SUPPORT: fewer coaches are experienced enough to help you make ‘inside-out’ transformative changes, ie supporting an ‘enduring and positive development in your fundamental view of life and of yourself, your surroundings and your way of ‘being’ in the world’.

This is fantastic opportunity for those of you wishing to re-evaluate your life, business, or your career, to explore the ‘inner-you’ in order to map out new strategies for the rest of your life.

Level 3 helps you to develop congruence (a kind of ‘inner balance’) between your professional and personal life, which in turn builds inner wellbeing and confidence and helps you cope with your stress levels. It also supports your ongoing spiritual development, otherwise known as your ‘soul’s intelligence’ or ‘inner-intuition’.

And IMPORTANTLY, research in the US demonstrates that senior managers who develop increased self-awareness and emotional intelligence make for much more effective leaders and have a direct impact on a company’s bottom line.

The expertise of the coach is focused at being highly effective at using some of the following (depending on the needs of the coachee):

• coaching approaches / language forms like Non-Directive Questioning, Appreciative Enquiry, and coaching models like Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Transactional Analysis, and philosophical foundations such as Gestalt, Existentialist, and Spiritual Humanist approaches.

• analytical tools to aid the coachee’s self-understanding such as Myers-Briggs Type Inventory; Careers Anchors; Communications / Influencing Styles / Learning Styles inventories, Belbin Team Roles, etc, and the use of 180º and 360º feedback tools.

• coaching ‘sub-routines’ such as the GROW model, the Skilled Helper Model, augmented with (for instance) Force Field Analysis, Cost Benefit Analysis, Critical Path Analysis, the Johari Window [and the ‘weird’ poetry of Donald Rumsfeld, Wheel of Work & Life, and business planning tools including PEST analysis etc.

A really skilled COACH will take you through a really professional process, like the one I use below:

• establishes the coach-mentoring relationship with you in order to build trust and rapport
• shares with you their professional ethics and coach-mentoring values
• enters into a coach-mentoring ‘contract’ that sets ground rules; opportunities for structured reflection; and a review of the coaching relationship
• helps you to identify your agenda and goals, and helps you set out an action plan if appropriate
• offers up opportunities for self-reflection and self-analysis through a variety of tools, inventories and learning conversations
• helps you identify and better utilise your intellectual, your emotional, and your spiritual domains of intelligence
• supports you in finding your inner wisdom and learning from those ‘light-bulb moments’.
• helps you utilise the resources you require, both ‘internally’ and externally to support positive change
• gently challenges your assumptions and encourages new perceptions, behaviours and positive habits
• encourages you in regular and structured reflection on thoughts and actions experienced in between sessions
• ensures you develop an ongoing strategy for when the relationship ends

TIME FOR A CHANGE? If this sounds just up your street and you’re ready to make the changes you need in order to be more successful in your career, business, and in life generally then call me now on 07760 270 392, or to email me . There’s never been a better time to invest in yourself and your future!

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