EVOLUTION FROM MENTOR TO COACH

n Earlier, coaching meant someone spent 30-35 years in the corporate sector, retired from a senior position, and turned to coaching. They would talk to the next generation of leaders about their experiences, choices, and compulsions n Today, this is called mentoring. The general tone of the mentor is about what worked for them and why the same concepts might work for the new-age leader n Coaching the leader is a different exercise, one in which the client decides what works and what does not work for them. The coach does not offer their own learnings n Some challenges in mentoring and coaching may be similar, but coaching two different persons will almost always generate different responses, and therefore different solutions n During a coaching session, the client is encouraged to share their experiences n A mentor will do 50% of the talking in a session, a coach will probably talk for 10% of the time, or less n A mentor is typically telling a lot to the client, a coach is usually asking a lot n A mentor's conversation would be on the lines of "why not try that, that is a good resource to tap into" n A coach would ask what exactly is the client seeking, how is that important, what would they lose if they did not get what they seek n If the client needs help with public speaking, a mentor would guide them through the steps n A coach will first want to know the importance of the public speech and how would the client measure its success n The latter approach compels the client to think about what they seek n Subsequently the client begins defining by themselves what needs to be done and that no fixed template need be followed n The rate per session for corporate leadership coaches could be between ~20,000 and ~35,000 a session when the employer is paying for it n For smaller companies, the rate is ~8,000-10,000 n Celebrity coaches charge between ~60,000 and ~1,00,000 a session