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Coaching… Consulting… Mentoring…  These words are common to the modern business world, and the industries are quickly rising.   However, there seems to be some serious confusion when it comes to defining these professions.  We have noticed that these words are being interchanged when they are each, in fact, very different.   In this article, we will define these three professions and discuss common misconceptions, allowing you to make an informed decision on the right support service (or combination of services) for you.

Coaching, in particular, has actually become somewhat of a buzzword these days and is a common topic for articles and blogs.  Many companies are leveraging the popularity of this profession by adding coaching services to their own funnels, either as a paid service or as a bonus for their customers.

As of right now, there are no regulations for becoming a coach.  Whereas counselors must have a degree and a license in order to practice counseling, coaches have no such requirements.  Technically, anyone can wake up one day and decide to call himself a coach, no matter what his service actually provides.

This poses a great danger to you as you seek coaching services because even the most honest business-person may end up conducting their services unethically, simply because they themselves are misinformed about the definition of coaching.

This does not mean that it’s difficult to find a qualified coach.

It simply reinforces the importance of understanding these misconceptions.  This will increase confidence in your ability to easily recognize and hire an authentic coach instead of one who inaccurately refers to their services as coaching.

Great coaches are very accessible. For example, all of the coaches on the Coaching Cognition Platform have graduated from our coach-specific training program, making this an ideal place to begin the search for your perfect coach.

Time and time again, we are finding individuals with great intentions who want to answer questions from their curious readers about the coaching profession and how it relates to other support services like consulting or mentoring.

I came across an article that was a perfect example of someone who was honestly attempting to inform their readers about coaching, but ended up perpetuating the very common misconceptions about the profession. The article described coaching as a very directive support service.  It used words like leader, trainer, and overseer to define a coach.   The coaching method itself was described as directing the actions of a person or group with a specific goal in mind.  Examples included training programs, workshops, motivational talks, seminars, and ‘practices’ (like in sports).

Because the word coach has related to sports for so long, this is an incredibly common, though incorrect, description of this valuable support service.  Unfortunately, until the correct definition of a coach becomes public knowledge, this misconception is likely to be shared and repeated for some time.

Therefore, as coaches, it’s our mission to get the right information out there.  The coaching process yields incredible results, but if you are never exposed to an authentic description of the process, you may never experience the personal and professional accelerated success that is available to you.

The Mentor:

A mentor is someone who has already reached a goal that you have set for yourself.  This is a person whose footsteps you wish to follow.

You may have a mentor who is available to work with you one-on-one.  Some may have reached a level of success in which their time may be better spent assisting the masses through seminars or classes rather than working with individual basis.

The mentor-mentee relationship is focused on the mentor’s life, goals, and actions. There may be several ways to reach a particular goal, but the mentor offers a path that worked for him, and might in turn work for the mentee as well.

Think of the mentor as someone who offers advice that is based on his own experiences, strengths, and resources.

The Consultant:

Consultants offer you their expertise on a particular subject to help you achieve your specific goal.  Choosing a consultant involves finding someone who is knowledgeable about the program, tool, product, business, etc that matches your needs.

You may end up hiring different consultants for different needs.  Your software consultant will not be able to show you how to assemble your new bed frame.

A consultant is a human instruction manual who can help you with all of your how-to needs.

This is the support service that is most commonly confused with coaching.  You can tell if people are offering consulting services by the language they use in their marketing.  If you see words or phrases like, How-to, Training, I’ll Show You How, Learn How, Step-By-Step Assistance, Click-by-Click, Teach, or Demonstration, they are most likely consulting.

The Coach:

Coaching is an action oriented support service designed to get you from where you are to where you want to be. The coach is trained to help you, the client, through:

• Creating a safe space to explore the possibilities
• Observing & listening; Then offering feedback & perspective
• Action plan to achieve goals
• Commitment to & from you to work toward those goals
• Holding you accountable

Coaching Cognition

The International Coach Federation (ICF), a global organization that advances the coaching profession by setting professional coaching standards and providing certification for coaches and coaching schools, defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”

Successful coaching will lead to the discovery of the very tools needed for positive results that may have been dormant or hidden within the clients themselves.  In this setting, the client has all of the answers, but the coach is trained to facilitate the client’s discovery of those answers in a safe and trusting environment.

Choosing a coach involves finding someone who is qualified (certified or credentialed), with whom you click.  At Coaching Cognition, our coaches offer free 15 min “Get To Know You” sessions in order to see if the two of you are a good match.

If you are a Renegade Professional member, you can access our list of coaches by clicking on the Coaches icon on the main page in your back office.

To learn more about the coaching profession and how you can get involved, join us on Facebook and visit our Website to sign up to receive updates on our training program and coaches platform, which will be open to the public very soon!

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