Mentoring Coaching Contract

							  ASAE            Conversational Distinctions: Differences between
 Mentor           Mentoring, Coaching, and Counseling
Connector         Conversations

             What’s the Difference?
             Mentoring, Career Coaching, and Counseling can all be useful to your professional life. Learn
             about the differences here.

             Mentoring:

              •   Fundamental activity is "advising."

              •   Typical focus is advice and guidance about the organization, the profession, the
                  industry, the role or in some cases the mentee place on career path.

              •   Mentor shares own experiences and perspective with mentee to help the mentee to
                  learn and progress in career and life.

              •   Focus of the conversation is on the future and present, but both may draw from past
                  experiences of both people as well.

              •   Conversation generally addresses challenges and questions related to professional
                  life and career progression.

              •   Mentor gives advice and direct guidance and may express own opinion; mentor
                  guides and teaches.

              •   Mentor asks questions and so does mentee.

              •   Contract between mentor and mentee is usually informal and topics of discussion
                  vary from session to session.

              •   Mentoring relationship could have duration of one meeting or many meetings over
                  many years.

              •   Meeting may be structured or ad hoc.

              •   Mentee generates the agenda and focus for the session.

              •   Conversation is private and is expected to be confidential.


            Coaching:

              •   Fundamental activity evoking and reframing.

              •   Coach presumes that client has own answers and uses open-ended questions to
                  bring these answers to light rather than offering advice or problem-solving.




                                                   1575 I Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20005
                                                    202.626-2891 careerhq@asaecenter.org
  ASAE              Conversational Distinctions: Differences between
 Mentor             Mentoring, Coaching, and Counseling
Connector           Conversations
                •   Coach generally helps client draw from his own experiences and wisdom rather than
                    sharing own experiences.

                •   Focus of the conversation is on the future and present.

                •   Coach helps client develop greater self-awareness so as to create shifts in
                    awareness and new possibilities.

                •   Structured engagements. Contract between coach and client is formal and well
                    defined. (objective for the coaching is identified and certain number of sessions
                    during a defined period of time at regular intervals, etc.)

                •   Duration could be one session to several years, but typical engagements are 3-6
                    months.

                •   Client generates the focus for the session.

                •   Coach uses coaching frameworks and distinctions to support the conversation and
                    client's progress.

                •   Conversation is private and is expected to be confidential

       Therapeutic Counseling:

            •   Typical focuses include: resolving persistent and unhealthy emotional patterns and/or
                external behaviors; emphasis is on healing.

            •   Counselor uses questions and questionnaires to learn client's history and perspective.

            •   Conversation generally focuses on the past to a greater degree than mentoring and
                coaching conversations.

            •   Counselor generally does not share own history and personal experiences.

            •   Counselor uses training in psychology to structure his listening and the conversational
                process.

            •   Contract between counselor and client is formal and well-defined.

            •   Duration could be single session to many years, but generally at least 6 sessions.

            •   Conversation is confidential and protected by law.




                                                   1575 I Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20005
                                                    202.626-2891 careerhq@asaecenter.org