A Guide to the World of Guidance: The Differences Between Coaching, Consulting, Mentorship and Therapy
By nature of the job, people management requires you to wear many hats (often several in the same day!). It can actually be one of the most exciting parts of leadership: playing the role of mentor, consultant, coach, and, occasionally, impromptu therapist.
Understanding the difference between each of these roles will help you recognize what is within and outside of your own abilities, and help you best understand what your team member needs from you most in a given situation.
So let’s dive in, shall we?
Some simple googling will lead you to a slew of articles from reputable journalistic sources, opinion pieces from online blogs, and even a few social media rants about the differences between Coaching, Consulting, Mentorship, and Therapy. So, naturally, I thought it only made sense that I provide my own piece of content to add to the mix.
After reading several pieces of the aforementioned content (feel free to browse them individually in the references section at the end of this post), I felt it might be helpful to my own readers to provide clarity on this subject as clearly and simply as possible, based upon my own data analysis.
First, some definitions:
Coaching
The word “coach” originates from the Hungarian word kocsi and the French term coche, both of which translate to a version of the word “carriage,” or a vehicle used to carry people from where they are, to where they want to go. Similarly, professional coaches help take people from where they are in a particular area of their personal or professional life to where they want to go.
In modern times, the International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as: “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.
Consulting
The Oxford dictionary defines consulting as “the business of giving expert advice to other professionals, typically in financial and business matters.”
Alternatively, you can look at consulting based on how Harvard Business Review articulates 8 core objectives to consulting: providing information, solving problems, making diagnoses in the business, making recommendations, assisting with implementation of proposed solutions, building consensus around corrective actions, facilitating client learning, and improving organizational effectiveness.
Mentorship
The Oxford dictionary defines a mentor as “an experienced and trusted advisor.”
World Education Services (WES) gets a little broader with its definition: “a relationship between two people where the individual with more experience, knowledge, and connections is able to pass along what they have learned to a more junior individual within a certain field.”
Therapy
Lastly, the American Psychological Association (APA) defines counseling as “helping people with physical, emotional, and mental health issues improve their sense of well‐being, alleviate feelings of distress, and resolve crises” and therapy as “collaborative treatment based on the relationship between an individual and a psychologist. A psychologist provides a supportive environment that allows patients to talk openly with someone who is objective, neutral, and nonjudgmental.”
While there are distinct differences between each of these; it’s also important to recognize where each specialty intersects with one another. Here’s how that looks in a visual format:
Anything outlined in green represents Mentorship; yellow = Consulting; blue = Coaching; red = Therapy. You’ll notice the boxes overlap with one another in a few areas. Obviously this can shift case-by-case. For example, coaching and consulting intersect often in business coaching or small business advising, where the largely relationship centers on the organization’s goals, rather than those of the individual.
Another way to illustrate the differences is by comparing how each role might approach a real life example.
Let’s take “cooking” as an analogy:
A Coach would start by helping you understand and define your goals for cooking. They’ll ask questions like why cooking is important to you, guiding you as you map out an action plan toward your cooking goals. They’ll be right beside you every step of the way to motivate, encourage and hold you accountable; checking in on progress along the way. They’ll also provide a safe environment, actively listening to your needs, paying attention to your physical and mental needs as it pertains to the kitchen.
A Consultant would assess your current cooking ability as a baseline compared to where you want to go when it comes to your culinary craft. They will then advise on a cooking plan, advising on kitchen tools, cookbooks, maybe even cooking schools or other programs. They’ll provide expert recommendations on the best farmers markets, where to buy the best meats, along with practical tools like meal planning frameworks, maybe even doing an analysis of your kitchen layout and appliances to suggest ways to maximize efficiency and ease of cooking experience in the kitchen.
A Mentor will share their real life experience with cooking, along with lessons they learned, mistakes they made, and general wisdom from their years spent in the kitchen.
A Therapist will explore your experience with cooking, helping you with anxiety, emotional or other mental distresses you have around working in the kitchen or being around food. They’ll dive into your past, help make sense of why you perceive cooking the way you do, and identify coping strategies to overcome your cooking related issues.
Now, let’s look at how each role shows up for leaders (I’ll specifically look at the analogy of a Sales Manager here):
A Sales Manager steps into the role of Coach by helping their employee define their goals outside of what’s required by the company. The key here is they don’t tell them what their goals are, but rather ask key questions to understand what “success” looks like for them individually. This can relate to things like career growth, personal development, values, and more. They’ll ask intentional, non judgmental questions to evoke self awareness in the employee and display active listening. A great Sales Manager will allow space in places like 1:1s for this role to show up with employees
Inversely, a Sales Manager takes on the role of Consultant in both employee and client interactions when it comes to things like proposals, territory planning, analyzing results, forecasting, data driven decisions on sales strategy, performance management and more. Sales Managers are constantly assessing a situation, understanding the problem, and leveraging their expertise and knowledge to provide meaningful recommendations to clients and employees.
Then comes the Mentor hat. Sales Managers often wear this hat in Corporate America as Mentor (the one mentoring) or Mentee (the one being mentored), depending on the situation. As a Mentor, they’ll provide valuable career insights, situational recommendations and impart their wisdom to a Mentee who is likely more junior and looking to develop themselves professionally.
Lastly, the role of Therapist. Sales is hard, and can become emotional and deeply stressful. Good managers will create space for employees to feel comfortable approaching them with their concerns and problems, and during those times, Sales Managers will set their KPIs and OKRs aside to simply listen. It is important to note, however, that Sales Managers are not equipped in the role to diagnose or treat things like anxiety, depression or other mental health disorders, and therefore carry the responsibility of recommending applicable specialist resources like Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) to the employee.
In case I lost you, here’s the TL/DR:
People seek Coaching, Consulting, Mentorship and Therapy to help them with their personal or professional development. Where they differ comes down to a few key areas:
General purpose of the relationship
Is the individual seeking advice (Consulting or Mentorship) or to uncover the answers within themselves (Coaching or Therapy)?
Who holds the answers or expertise in the relationship
Consulting or Mentorship = the Consultant or Mentor; Coaching or Therapy = the Client holds the answers and expertise
What area of time is emphasized
Past = Therapy or Consulting for analytical purposes, Present = Mentorship and Future = Coaching
Governing body of ethics
Therapy = APA and Medical Ethics Board; Consulting, Coaching or Mentorship = none or those outlined in the contractual agreement
For more insights and information on how C2it Partners helps our clients with Coaching and Consulting services, schedule a free 30 minute consultation with Casey.
References:
Consulting Is More Than Giving Advice by Arthur N. Turner, Harvard Business Review, October 1982.
