Mentorship

Mentoring Is Not Coaching Or Teaching

teaching : the transfer of domain-relevant knowledge and skills

coaching : the provision of training or guidance, for the purpose of increasing skill and/or achieving goals, via skill-building activities, accountability, and relevant feedback, usually in a specific skill domain

mentoring : the provision of guidance, advice, and support to help suomeone gain knowledge, skills, and overall success over time, within the context of a sustained relationship

Mentoring includes teaching, but teaching can be done alone without mentoring.

Mentoring does not employ the authoritativeness of specific assignments and goals with accountability, elements that we usually see in coaching.

However it is possible (and common) for a mentor to also simultaneously be a teacher and a coach, to the same person and in the same skill domain. When they are teaching through one-way giving of knowledge they are not in that moment being a mentor. When they are coaching by direct assignment of tasks and goals with accountability they are not in that moment being a mentor.

The following address only the mentorship aspect of any teaching/coaching/mentoring relationships.

Qualities of an Effective Mentor

Mentor has on-the-field experience in the relevant skill domain

Mentor is clear on his core values¹ or guiding principles as relates to his personal life, relationships with others, and relevant skill domains

Mentor is committed to learning as well as teaching

Mentor is invested in the results, outcome, and effects of the mentee's duty effectiveness

Qualities of an Effective Mentorship Relationship

The matching (choice of who mentors who) is voluntary and consentual on the part of mentor and mentee alike

There is domain-relevant transferable knowledge

The relationship is mature and masculine²

There is rappour between mentor and mentee

There is no power dynamic, i.e. the mentor does not have power or authority over the mentee

The mentor emphasises witnessing over speaking

The mentor asks opening questions

The mentor exercises restraint

Footnotes

1 : core values : for a general description of core values or guiding principles, see the MCV article. (That article also gives a specific example of one person's core values.)

2 : masculine : or feminine or bilateral as is appropriate:

masculine if mentor and mentee identify as male,
feminine if mentor and mentee identify as female,
bilateral if one of each: a relationship that is mature in the
sense of a healthy marriage.

This page was written in the "embarrassingly readable" markup language RHTF, and was last updated on 2025 Oct 26.

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