The Differences Between a Coach and a Mentor

Coaching and mentoring are both important roles in a person's life. Many people need guidance and help to achieve a certain goal they are trying to accomplish, making a mentor and/or coach a helpful part of his or her life. Coaching and mentoring are different, though they are thought to be the same.

Coach

According to Eric Parsloe, Director of the Oxford School of Coaching and Mentoring and author of several books on maximizing individual performance, "coaching is a process that enables learning and development to occur and thus performance to improve. To be a successful coach requires a knowledge and understanding of process as well as the variety of styles, skills, and techniques that are appropriate to the context in which the coaching takes place." Coaching is giving someone advice and/or guidance to help him or her achieve a particular goal. Coaching is an important job that helps the community and others. A person that is being coached has to listen and do as the coach says, not having a choice as to whether the person wants to listen or do as told.

How to Teach Women Leadership Training

The role of the woman in society has undergone many changes in past decades. Today, women occupy positions of leadership in government as well as in the private sector. Women also study in universities, vocational schools and community colleges around the United States. As more females enter the workforce and educational institutions, leadership training programs are being developed to aid women in realizing their potential in their studies and in their careers. An effective leadership training program must take into consideration the unique characteristics of female leadership styles.

1. Identify your audience. When you begin planning, think about who the leadership training is designed for. Ask yourself if you are going to be teaching young women who are still studying or women who have worked and developed a career. Keep this in mind when developing other aspects of the course.

2. Decide how the training will be delivered. Some training can be delivered in large lectures; keep in mind, however, women's special capacity for interpersonal relationships and plan to deliver other training in smaller focus groups. Think about the length of the course and whether you will ask participants to complete assignments or implement certain skills they have studied in the training.