These are common questions among clients I serve, and I gather among a much broader base of professionals as well. I am indebted to my very good friend, Robert McCleland, Ph. D., Executive Director of Let Them Hear Foundation, for his sharing of much of his research and many of his words to allow me to explain and illustrate the differences among these three.

Coaching

In general, all three might be referred to as Executive Interventions, with Coaching appearing most recently among them. Coaching has been in a steep growth curve since the 1980’s; but, previously, the phenomenon was known by different titles. While related in their design and implementation, literature in this arena has contrasted the differences between coaching and mentoring.

Between coaching and mentoring, there are several dually-associated skills:

Ø      Collaboration in developing ways to improve output

Ø      Developing agreed upon measurable action points

Ø      Creating a positive environment for future change

And some distinctive traits:

Ø      Coaches are external resources while mentors are typically internal resources to an organization

Ø      Coaches may not hold project-specific expertise (being from outside the organization) while mentors tend to have more project-specific knowledge or experience

Ø      Coaches are paid for their interventions while mentors are not typically paid to perform the specific tasks of mentoring

Ø      Coaching is a structural process with clearly defined outcomes and definite closure while mentoring may be a long-term, slow-moving process over an individual’s career

The end result of these comparisons and contrasts is that mentoring in more career-focused and broader in targeted areas for development, if indeed any areas are targeted at all. Coaching is more personal, individual-focused with very specific areas of development to be addressed. I would always recommend that any Coaching client also have a mentor relationship inside their organization; they can then achieve the best of both world’s—and external source of personal development and an internal source of corporate development. One article summed it up as, “Coaches work with clients who identify their own issues or goal-asking questions and giving feedback so that clients discover their own solutions.”

Counseling

The literature surrounding counseling of executives tends to blur some of the lines between counseling and coaching; perhaps due to the fact that both tend to deal with issues of the inner-world of the executive. That is, coaching deals with issues of character and the need of improving self-awareness—both seemingly psychological in nature. Some identified common actions or traits between the two are:

Ø      Articulating problems for exploration

Ø      Making the unsaid, said

Ø      Making the unconscious, conscious

Ø      Focusing primarily on personal development, rather than immediate work-related tasks

One author sated, “Coaching is not counseling. It is not for those who need to overcome disruptive painful influences from the past; coaches help people build vision and move toward the future. Coaching is not reactive looking back; it’s proactive looking ahead. It is not about healing; it’s about growing. It focuses less on overcoming weaknesses and more on building skills and strengths.”

Consulting

Edgar Schein of MIT has delineated three different roles the consultant might play within the organization:

Ø      One who conveys expert information

Ø      The organizational diagnostician who prescribes remedies

Ø      The process consultant who helps the client help himself or herself

Other authors have defined these same issues slightly differently. The Institute of management Consultants has adopted a definition of, “The provision of independent advice and assistance to clients with management responsibilities.”

Given this definition several have identified that consultants:

Ø      Are outside professionals acting as change agents

Ø      Employ the skills of listening, observation, giving feedback, data analysis, intervention and process facilitation as needed

Ø      Hold an organizational focus as opposed to an individual focus

According to two of the authors, “Consultants are in the business of providing expert advice. They identify a problem with a client and then resolve it through activities that can include option analysis, facilitation, training, and the like. Some may focus more on a “process” approach, aiding clients to work through issues.”

So, what is the difference among these three?

As a summation, one might say that coaches ask and evoke, counselors help overcome deficiencies while consultants tell and solve.

Seaborne Leadership can provide all three levels of service, and would appreciate the chance to discuss your specific needs. Please e-mail us at info@seaborneleadership.com or call (317) 863-0342 to discuss your needs and our options to assist you grow.