Mentoring is having someone more experienced provide you with advice and tips that help you succeedThey were able to answer some questions that you didn’t have enough context on or connected you with the right people. Generally, mentoring is more about:
“What questions does this person need me to answer?”
In my experience, mentoring is more effective when someone is asking a specific question that requires technical expertise. Now, contrast that with coaching.
What is coaching?
The goal of coaching is to ask a series of questions to the other party that enables them to think independently. The reason why you would employ coaching techniques is to push the other person to solve their own challenges as opposed to asking or expecting an answer directly from you.
When I coach designers and engineers, I ask a series of questions that pushes people to think more deeply and critically about their problems. Using these techniques, I’ve experienced a lot of success with changing people’s perspectives and redirecting their focus towards more productive thoughts. By learning the strategy behind how to ask thought-provoking questions…
