Professional Distinctions

I often hear a lot of confusion about the differences in these professions.

Hope this helps.

The HR Workplace Coach

Therapy

· Deals mostly with a person’s past and trauma, and seeks healing.

· Doctor-patient relationship (therapist has the answers)

· Assumes many emotions are a symptom of something wrong

· The therapist diagnoses, then provides professional expertise and guidelines to give clients

a path to healing.

Mentoring

· Deals mostly with succession training and seeks to help someone do what you do.

· Older/wiser/younger/less-experienced relationship (mentor has the answers)

· Limited to emotional response of the mentoring parameters (succession, etc.)

· The mentor allows you to observe his/her behavior and expertise, will answer questions, and provide guidance and wisdom for the stated purpose of the mentoring

Consulting

· Deals mostly with problems and seeks to provide information (expertise, strategy, structures, methodologies) to solve them

· Expert-person with problem relationship (consultant has the answers)

· Does not normally address or deal with emotions (informational only)

· The consultant stands back, evaluates a situation, then tells you the problem and how to fix it.

COACHING

· Deals mostly with a person’s present and seeks to guide them into a more desirable future.

· Co-creative, equal partnership (coach helps clients discover their own answers)

· Assumes emotions are natural and normalizes them

· The Coach stands with you, and helps you identify the challenges, then works with you to turn challenges into victories and holds you accountable to reach your desired goals