Do you know the difference?

People often confuse mentoring and coaching. Though related, they are not the same. A mentor may coach, but a coach does not mentor. Mentoring is “relational,” while coaching is “functional.”
Okay, let’s talk about the differences:

Coaching is about…

• Managers coaching their staff as a required part of the job.
• Coaching takes place within the confines of a formal manager-employee relationships.
• The focus is to develop individuals within their current job .
• The interest of the relationship is functional, arising out of a need for individuals to perform the tasks required to the best of their ability.
• Managers tend to initiate and drive the relationship.
• The relationship is finite, ending when an individual has learned what a coach is teaching.
  

Mentoring is about...

• Mentoring occurs outside of a line manager-employee relationship, at the mutual consent of mentor and mentoree.
• It is career-focused on professional development that may be outside a mentoree's area of work.
• Relationships are personal - a mentor provides both professional and personal support.
• Relationships may be initiated by the mentoree.
• Relationships cross boundaries - mentoring on all areas of career development.
• Relationships usually last for a specified time period in a formal program or may continue over a long period of time, or lifetime.