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XHolly Worton E-mail: holly.worton@gmail.com Web Site: http://hollyworton.com/ Info: Posts by the author (5)

Combining coaching and mentoring for powerful results

I loved Sonia’s To advise or not advise; that is the question post last month. When I first started training and getting in my coaching practise hours I was terribly concerned about advising. I was so afraid that a bit of advice would slip, either directly or in the form of a leading question.

In the end, advice giving wasn’t an issue for me. Maybe it was because my radar was on, but few leading questions passed through my filter, and I can’t remember a session where I actually gave a client direct advice.

Now that I’ve got more coaching experience I, like Sonia, realise that sometimes advice is in order. I’ve moved from focusing on my life purpose coaching niche to social media coaching and consulting. In reality, it’s more consulting than coaching. And if I were purely focusing on coaching, I don’t think the sessions would be as beneficial to my clients.

I’ve got years of experience in online and social media marketing, and now I’m applying that to help charities and businesses get clear on how they can use social media for their needs. I have a handful of different packages, but the full package involves helping them get clear on which social media tools are right for their organisation, setting up a social media policy specific for their needs, and crafting a full social media marketing plan.

To do this, I ask a series of coaching-style questions over a series of sessions. I actually have a marketing plan “cheat sheet” document where I’ve set up the basic skeleton of an online marketing plan, including specific questions I’ll need to cover with the client to flesh out the final document. So while I use coaching-style questions to acquire the information I need about their organisation, in the end my work is consulting and mentoring. The very nature of providing an organisation with a social media policy and marketing plan involves advice giving: sharing my expertise with them.

It’s important to keep in mind the value of different techniques and apply them as needed. Clearly, advice giving is generally not a part of coaching sessions, but certain types of services do require more than just coaching. And of course, it’s important to be clear on what the client’s needs are, the scope of your own business, and what specifically you want to provide to your clients. Combining coaching with other techniques, including consulting and mentoring, can provide powerful learning experiences for clients.

Filed Under Coaching in Action

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