Coaching or consultancy
Let’s explore the similarities and differences between coaching and other practices that sit in similar territories, which can sometimes be confused.
Mentoring
Mentoring is helpful if you are looking to better your craft or skillset from someone who has trodden a similar path. It helps to deepen a specialism usually in a professional development space. Mentors give advice and share experiences and insights that can support another person’s journey.
Coaching (transformation)
A coach holds someone as capable and creative, and they work with them to find their own path. Coaching helps support someone in new ways of being and doing. It is a collaborative process where you explore a broader range of areas across life — career, health, relationships, etc. It can involve challenging and powerful questions, reframing perspectives and is driven towards transformation and change for the person.
Therapy
Coaching can delve into areas of mental health and bring up strong emotions for people. While working with emotions is integral to coaching and is a supportive safe space to work with clients, ethical coaches know when their client would be better placed in therapy. This is when the client needs to work through deep trauma, rather than process feelings that won’t cause possible harm.
Consulting
Mentors, Coaches and Therapists are not there as problem solvers. Whilst some may offer advice they don’t tell you what to do. Consultants are strategists, problem solvers, opportunity seekers and experts in their field. Consultants are useful if you need to fix something or design something innovative.
Coaching (training)
And finally, I think it’s useful to point out that Product Coaches or Design Coaches tend to be more like facilitators for a specific area. They may go deep with the person the same as in coaching but they may stay more narrow in a specific area of development i.e design and leadership. They often bring their own expertise and experience with them so they can also advise and share insight like mentors.
I can wear different hats when I work as a Coach, Design Coach, Mentor or Strategic Consultant. When I start working with a client, we discuss what is needed and expected from our relationship from the start. It’s important that we both are clear on roles and purpose.
> Read more about leadership coaching
> Read more about design consultancy services
