About us

The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself

What is the difference between coaching and mentoring?
In our view, a mentor has “trod the path." Seeing the qualities that makes someone successful in a certain field is, in itself, a valuable part of the learning experience. Mentoring also focuses on tasks. Coaching is a specific discipline that uses active listening skills along with performance enhancement techniques. A good coach will have had a significant amount of coach-specific training as well as extensive experience actually coaching people.

Our approach is that the coach’s role is to facilitate their client using active questioning. These questions invite the client to identify their own approach to solving issues, whilst the framework of questioning will ensure that the underlying issues are addressed.

We also believe that it is necessary for the coach to share stories of their career or the experiences of other clients (names withheld) to provide alternative ideas. This part of the experience is more akin to “mentoring.” It is often important to explain specific business or organisational models, where the coach is briefly creating bespoke teaching which is relevant to the issue being discussed.

Sometimes coaching is done on the basis that only questions can ever be asked. In our view, whilst questioning is the preferred method of coaching, it is not always appropriate, and part of the role of a coach is to mentor and teach where required. We believe that this provides a unique approach to coaching and all our coaches are trained and supervised with this approach.

It is essential that this approach is adopted, and that coaching is not the same as a chat. It is a different way of communicating: asking questions without passing judgement or offering advice.