A comparison of mentor and coach approaches across disciplines

Coaching and Mentoring Research Conference at Oxford Brookes University: January 2014

t.salter@ymca.ac.uk

TINA SALTER

DCAM STUDENT

• Diversification of the field has contributed to definitional confusion:– Personally– Professional bodies and training

providers varying in focus– Literature definitions inconclusive and

often limited to the author’s experience• Clarification of mentoring and coaching

needed:– Instil greater confidence in the

profession as it becomes more established

– Appreciate the complexities, specific client needs and practitioner approaches within and across disciplines

THE PROBLEM

MENTORING Membership Organisations:

COACHING Membership Organisations:

MENTORING AND COACHING Membership Organisations:

Mentoring and Befriending Foundation (www.mandbf.org)

Association for Coaching (www.associationforcoaching.com)

European Mentoring and Coaching Council (www.emccouncil.org)

International Mentoring Network Organization (www.imno.org)

The Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (www.wabccoaches.com)

The Coaching and Mentoring Network (www.coachingnetwork.org.uk)

  International Association of Coaching (www.certifiedcoach.org)

 

  International Coach Federation (www.coachfederation.org)

 

  Coaching Supervision Academy (www.coachingsupervisionacademy.com)

 

  The Association for Professional Executive Coaching and Supervision (www.apecs.org) 

 

MENTORING AND COACHING MEMBERSHIP ORGANISATIONS

A comparative case study using a social constructivist approach

Six mentoring and coaching disciplines were selected in order to explore how practitioner approaches might be similar or different

RESEARCH APPROACH

RATIONALE FOR SIX DISCIPLINES

Criteria:•Established disciplines where existing research can be found•Disciplines where practitioners can specialise or work full-time•Disciplines which offer elements for comparison

• Semi-structured interviews• Three participants

representative of each discipline (18 in total)

• Thematic analysis was used to analyse interview transcripts

• Each discipline was analysed separately before comparisons were made between all mentors and all coaches; and then comparisons were made across all disciplines

METHODOLOGY

  Discipline-specific approaches – nature or nurture?Mentors of Young People

Understand the needs of young people Normally adopt a non-directive approach Do not usually need to have any specialist

knowledge Understand safeguarding, child protection and

boundary-setting Normally work with the mentee long term

  Mentors of Leaders

Understand the needs of leaders and senior managers

Normally adopt a directive approach when focusing on skills

Require specialist sector and leadership knowledge

Understand organisational culture Normally work with the mentee long term

  Mentors of Newly QualifiedTeachers

Understand the needs of teachers Normally adopt a directive approach Require specialist teaching knowledge Understand school culture Normally work with the mentee long term

• With child protection and safeguarding there are limits to what can be kept back (mentor of young people)

• Sponsorship mentoring which is very cleverly about the mentor being somebody very senior in the profession doing things on behalf of the mentee… somebody who is very protective (mentor of leaders)

• It will be somebody in their faculty because they can discuss very specific lesson planning or very specific syllabus type stuff (mentor of newly qualified teachers)

EXAMPLES OF DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC MENTORING KNOWLEDGE

  Discipline-specific approaches – nature or nurture?  Executive

Coaches

Understand the needs of executives Normally adopt a non-directive approach Do not normally require specialist knowledge

about coachees’ skill-set Understand aspects of organisational culture Normally work with coachee short term

  Coaching Psychologists

Understand the internal needs of humans Normally adopt a non-directive approach Require training in psychology Normally understand aspects of

organisational culture Normally work with coachee short term

  Sports Coaches

Understand the physical needs of humans Normally adopt an instructional approach Require training in sports coaching Understand technicalities of sport Normally work with coachee long term

• When I am working with my clients today who are often running a section, or sitting on a board, I have credibility immediately because I understand and I have been there (executive coach)

• I am equipped therefore to go into domains that other coaches might not be because I have that psychology and psychotherapy training. But only if the individual wants to do that. It is very client-led (coaching psychologist)

• You have to understand the role of the player in that position. And for me, to look at the technical, tactical, psychological, biomechanical and social side of the development of the individual and within a team (sports coach).

EXAMPLES OF DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC COACHING KNOWLEDGE

INTER-DISCIPLINARY SHARED PHILOSOPHIES

Deficit model

Mentors of young people

Mentors of NQTs

Sports coaches

Developmental model

Mentors of leaders

Executive coaches

Coaching psychologists

INTER-DISCIPLINARY SHARED APPROACHES

Directive approach

Mentors of leaders

Mentors of NQTs

Sports coaches

Non-directive approach

Mentors of young people

Executive coaches

Coaching psychologists

• A greater acknowledgement of where and how mentor and coach approaches adapt according to the discipline they are situated within

• Coaching young people, mentoring athletes and coaching NQTs need greater theoretical attention

DEVELOPMENT OF THEORY

• The need for practitioners, purchasers and referrers to understand how mentoring and coaching disciplines are shaped; and where alternative approaches might better fit the need of the client

• Offer mentors and coaches the opportunity to receive training so that any specialist knowledge required of a new discipline can be learned

• For practitioners to grow and become more equipped and supported to mentor and coach competently in range of settings; or be clear about the reasons why they have chosen to specialise

DEVELOPMENT OF PRACTICE

Due to the limitations of this study, further research is needed which appreciates alternative angles and experiences:•Additional perspectives from other disciplines•The mentee-coachee perspective•Views and experiences from other stakeholders

THE NEED FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING