If there is a constant in business, it is that there is always SOMETHING that needs to be worked on. Running in the background as places of refuge for people looking for answers, there are these three words – coaching, mentoring, and consulting. In my time in the business community, I have noticed that the three of them get blurred in meaning, to the point that most people use them interchangeably. I believe that they have very different meanings, and most of it has to do with who has the answer.

Coaches are paid to get the most of individual talents and produce team results that are greater than the sum of the parts. Coaches do not play the game FOR the players. They build awareness of strengths, motivate improvement in areas of weakness, develop game plans ,and consistently work on team chemistry to execute on the plan. We marvel at what we see during game time, but often have no perspective on what takes place in practice – observation, statistical analysis of performance in all kinds of situations, individual development plans based on the awareness built through observation, understanding of motivations and temperaments. The pre-game coaching effort dwarfs the sideline performance, which is mostly adjusting to the competition real-time. And, of course, baiting the refs. I believe that is mostly a motivational play, and fun to watch when it is your team’s coach “working it”!

The defining characteristic of a mentor is that he or she has had an experience that they are willing to share as additional perspective to a mentee. Mentors do not do the work of reaching deep inside an individual, finding motivations and growth opportunities, and challenging them to fulfill potential. Mentors are more of a soothing voice, describing where they have been, what happened to them on their journey, generally increasing the field of awareness of the mentee. Sports coaches can play the mentor role as well, freely exchanging ideas with other coaches about how they played certain teams. Many share game film. In the end, any given coach needs to decide if any of what they heard fits THEIR team. That’s mentoring.

Consultants have expert technical knowledge and are able to execute on behalf of management teams. Usually, management has created a problem so difficult that they cannot solve it on their own, or they have a problem requiring technical expertise that they do not possess. The latter is particularly true in business in technical areas of automation, information technology, or other hardware/software implementations. I have worked with consultants on “soft systems” as well, such as culture or human resources/relations. When a business cannot take care of its own cultural problems, even a consultant may not help. In sports, I have seen consultants hired for pure “X’s and O’s” work, very specific situational analysis, or even draft/recruitment strategy. The consultants are rarely the ones asked to get the most out of the players.

With these definitions in mind, where do Small Business owners go for help? Stay tuned for Part 2.