FAQ Coaching and Mentoring for Boomers
FAQ About Coaching and Mentoring for Boomers – A Coach Can Make A Big Difference In Your Performance
Quick Points on Coaching and Boomers
A coach can help you change your perspective. When you see things differently, it’s a whole new ballgame.
Coaches do their work from the sidelines. It’s still your show, still your performance.
Coaching and mentoring are fundamentally different. The mentor has usually been where you want to be. The coach often comes from another place.
I came to realize early the value of mentors and coaches in listening, affirming, nudging, sharing my passions and my desperations and contributing to my success.
When it comes to coaching and mentoring, the old story about an old dog and new tricks doesn’t apply. We Boomers are knowledge sponges – always learning.
If my company is paying the coaching fees, can I expect confidentiality?
Absolutely, one of the key tenets of the coaching profession is confidentiality between the coach and the client (being coached, not the one paying the bill. Your company may know the general gist of your situation and be given progress reports but the actual interaction is strictly confidential. Coaches, though (except in pastoral coaching), do not have any shield law protection and can be legally required to divulge confidential information but usually only in the course of litigation.
What’s the difference between a coach and a mentor?
A coach helps you identify and clarify your goals, works with you to develop a plan of action for implementing those goals and helps you (holds you accountable) through the learning curve of implementation. A mentor usually helps you navigate through situations of growth where the mentor has gone before. As such a coach is predominantly suggestive, while a mentor is prescriptive.
Should I pick a coach based on reputation alone or should I also consider how we “fit?”
You will be sharing your hopes and dreams, your strengths and weaknesses, with your coach. Reputation is only one piece of the relationship pie. If you don’t “feel good” about a particular coach, keep looking.
Should all coaching be tracked and all plans be put in writing?
Coaching is a process, not an event, and human memory – not to mention a media frenzied society – means that memory just can’t be trusted. You are paying for a service. Document your progress, your To Do items and your successes.
I feel I’m making great progress with my coach, but I’m finding I’m liking my job less and less. Is this normal?
Coaching helps you see your work and life from a new perspective. Some dissonance is common. I many cases it will go away; sometimes it doesn’t. During my coaching career, I have had more than one boss provide feedback about a coaching client that essentially said, “so and so is great, but I wonder if s/he is cut out for this company long term.” In some instances, coaching can be a prelude to a career move.
What’s the difference between Executive Coaches, Career Coaches, Life Coaches, etc?
Coaches, like other professionals, have their specialties. Some coaches focus on executives and teams, others on career identification and still others on life skills. Getting a coach with the right combination of skills (and sensitivities) is critical to maximizing coaching success.
