WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MENTOR, A COACH, OR A BUSINESS CONSULTANT

WHAT IS BUSINESS MENTORING?

Think of Mr. Miyagi from the hit 80s movie “The Karate Kid.” Mr. Miyagi shared his karate experience, knowledge, and skills with Daniel while guiding him through direction and providing supportive feedback. This is the definition of a mentor. The focus is more developmental-driven and relies on the mentee to decide what they want to achieve and what goals they strive to meet. While there aren’t exactly any certifications or qualifications needed to become a mentor, one usually gains the title after years of experience and seniority, eventually becoming a trusted advisor. This type of professional relationship can last anywhere from six months to five years. 

WHAT IS A BUSINESS CONSULTANT?

If you are looking for someone to tell you what you need to do, then a consultant is what you want. Consultants diagnose a specific business challenge and provide solutions or recommendations based on their analysis of the situation and their specific experience in your field. The main focus is the business problem. Depending on how much you want to pay, a consultant may even do the work for you. Contracts may be involved and are usually short-term (one day or on a month-to-month basis). Unlike mentoring, consultants are qualified/certified experts in their field.  

WHAT IS A BUSINESS COACH?

If you were on any sort of team when you were younger, you had a coach. Think about what your coach did. If they were a good coach, they focused on helping each player tap into unseen abilities and unleash their full potential.

Coaching is a partnership where the client is seen as the expert.

Together, you and the coach determine the biggest questions you want to explore, they provide you with the right tools and strategies, and allow you to arrive at your destination on your own terms. They may diagnose problems in your business based on seeing things from a different perspective, and based on their experience may give you suggestions on how to fix them, but they will rarely fix them for you. Just like a coach in sports, the coach is on the sidelines allowing the owner to own the victory.

A coach (unlike a consultant) may not be an expert in your specific industry.

The coaching relationship is by nature long-term, and the best coaches grow with you as your business grows. They’re not just going to fix one problem and walk away as your business goes through multiple challenges. Coaches will often work with the owner to bring in consultants with specific industry experience and work alongside the consultant and owner to ensure the goals of the organization are met.  

To put all three together in a scenario that best describes their differences, let’s say you had a big presentation to give last minute with very little preparation time. The mentor would share their stories and similar experiences with you to help you get through this. The consultant would prepare a presentation for you and show you how to present it. The coach would be there to give you mindset advice, encourage you as a presenter and give you honest feedback on your ideas. They would also use their years of experience with other presenters to share ideas.