Kas - My experiences with your coaching and mentoring have been distinctly different, primarily in your approach and the scope of the impact.
Both coaching and mentoring have profoundly impacted my professional life, but in distinctly different, yet complementary, ways. The core difference in your approach has shaped my development in specific areas.
Key Difference in your coaching is rarely gave direct advice. Instead, you asked powerful, thought-provoking questions -or- open-ended questions that forced me to look inwards and uncover my own solutions. This process was initially challenging, but it built my confidence in my own problem-solving abilities.
Impact: This approach built my self-awareness and self-confidence. For a specific challenge I had with fear of review meeting public speaking and showing big picture in review meeting, you helped me set a clear, short-term objective: join a public speaking group and read more books and take a leadership role and you provided a structured program with regular meetings to track progress against this single goal. Within a year, I had achieved and exceeded this goal.
Accountability: The structured, formal nature of the coaching relationship, with set timeframes and objectives, provided the accountability I needed to consistently work on my behavioural habits and turn insights into action.
Impact of Mentoring
Your Mentoring has offered long-term, holistic career and personal development guidance, providing wisdom from someone who had "walked the path before me".
Key Difference: You had shared your personal experiences, knowledge, and network. offered direct advice and suggestions, based on a career path similar to the one I aspired to follow.
Impact: This made a huge difference in my ability to navigate complex, long-term career decisions. You acted as a trusted advisor who provided emotional support and confidence-building guidance, rooted in shared industry context. When I was unsure about a potential career move, you didn't ask me questions to find my own answer; you told me about a similar situation you faced and the strategies you used to navigate it, allowing me to leverage your wisdom.
Ultimately, your coaching helped me unlock my potential to achieve specific objectives using my own internal resources, while mentoring provided invaluable real-world experience and guidance to shape my entire professional journey.