A mentor, according to the Royal Spanish Academy, is a counselor, guide, teacher or sponsor. On the other hand, the concept business mentoring It has been defined on various occasions, but if we had to highlight a conception, we would stay with the one proposed in the book. Coaching and mentoring: How to develop high-level talent and achieve better results From the Harvard Business Essentials Collection:
“Offering advice, information or guidance by a person who has experience and skills for the benefit of the personal and professional development of another person”
Where does the term mentoring come from?
Although we now refer to this concept in the business context, the truth is that mentors have existed since the most remote times. Moreover, the concept comes from Greek mythology, and we have already seen it represented in The odyssey from Homer where Odysseus leaves his son Telemachus in the care of a mentor while he prepares for the Trojan War.
business mentoring
In the business field, when we talk about mentors we refer to managers, businessmen or highly talented professionals who are willing to pass on their know-how. Generally, they are people with a long history in a sector who have cultivated successes and failures through which they have learned great things. But they also have great communication skills that allow them to write books or give talks at large professional conferences in the sector. However, in recent times and with the advent of new technologies, it is not difficult to find great mentors at an early age who, despite their years, have a lot to say. From young video game programmers who created companies in their teens, to professionals who are not yet thirty but have achieved great success in the world of online marketing.
What does it mean to be a mentor?
It is about acting as a guide and counselor for another person. In this case, in the business field, we will look for a person who can serve as an example and is an expert in the field in which we want to develop. This person will have to make all of his know-how available to us in order to develop professionally and achieve our goals.
What is the difference between coaching and mentoring?
Finally, it is worth noting the difference between coaching and mentoring business. A coach is a person who focuses especially on motivation to help another person achieve high results (his origin being in the field of sport) through his guidance and training. For his part, a mentor personifies the inspiration, experience, prestige, maturity and influence that a person needs at a professional level to take the next step.
Below, you can see a more complete comparative table:
Mentoring Coaching It has to do with personal or professional growth at an integral level. It focuses on the performance of an individual, emphasizing that non-technical skill that causes problems to perform fluently in their position. Show a positive role model. Helping a person develop from their current state to their ideal state Long term Short term Relationship focused Task focused The mentor is strategic The coach is tactical The knowledge base is the experience of the mentor The techniques and motivation of the coach is what makes the subject develop his own experience and knowledge
Example of a mentoring program
A mentoring program is generally divided into four stages:
- Build a mentor-client relationship.
- Exchange the necessary information to set the client’s goals and objectives.
- Define the strategy and actions to be carried out to achieve the goals.
- Close the relationship with an evaluation report of achievements and next steps to follow.
An example of a mentoring program is the one that Vilma Nuñez proposes to us on her website with online work sessions via Skype, strategic plan design, personalized training according to needs and access to all her courses, templates and resources on digital marketing.
Today, there are large programs of mentoring for young people, but also, it is increasingly common for companies to hire digital marketing consultants to update their internal teams through a mentoring business.