Mentoring is not the same as coaching

Mentoring in India is an ancient concept. From the 'guru-sishya' relationship described in our ancient texts to godheads like Gautama Buddha and Mahavir Jain, our spiritual leaders were 'mentors' in the true sense – they trained their disciples in all they knew, so that these could pass on the concepts to future generations.

In today's corporate world, however, mentoring seems to have taken a back seat compared to mere training; and businesses are largely family-run. But this seems to be finally changing – there is a substantial shift noticed when it comes to the concept of leadership. It's now more about coaching than command.

Organisations have realised that in order to survive, first generation leaders should pass their knowledge and wisdom to the next generation. Organisation leaders increasingly feel that people should remember it for generations, and mentoring is the new buzz word.

Mentoring is still being looked upon as post-retirement activity where you train a team. When you choose to become a mentor it is not a time to hand over the reins of power. ''Mentoring is a logical progression, a far bigger role then leadership,'' Explains Matt Barney, vice president of the Infosys Leadership Institute.
 
''Mentoring shouldn't be mistaken as coaching,'' he adds. ''Coaching is done to achieve short-term goals and for immediate returns, whereas mentoring is a long innings to achieve a vision. Coaching is a common string tying mentoring and leadership. Ideally a chief mentor is a person who is a seasoned chief executive officer. To become a mentor, a CEO should detach himself or herself from daily operational responsibilities.

''As a coach a mentor helps team to achieve short term goals of increasing profitability of the company. In principle he shortens the learning cycle of a mentee and accelerates his performance. As a chief mentor officer he focuses on organisation and its leadership and designs a strategy that will help leadership of a company to sustain for coming hundred years.''

Some time back over a dozen University of Connecticut current and prospective business students travelled to GE's corporate headquarters in Fairfield in the state for the conclusion of the GE mentorship program. The programme was a way for the students to network with a professional mentor and other GE employees, talk about possible internships, and attend three professional development workshops. This is part of GE's billion-dollar programme of mentoring.