If you love coaching because of the opportunity to be collaborative, you’re in luck. You can use your coaching skills as your foundation and bring that same collaborative spirit and approach to your mentoring, rather than being the expert with all the answers.
Over the past decade, we’ve worked with hundreds of coaches, mentoring them on coaching skills. We’ve learned that whether they are seeking professional growth or an ICF credential, people respond best and find new ways to expand their coaching when the mentoring relationship and conversation is based on mutual sharing and respect.
So what is the best way to collaborate with a mentee? In other words, how can you create a space of true partnership that carries an invitation to a shared focus and at the same time maintain your commitment to guide and support your mentee’s growth?
Here are a few tips we find useful:
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- Be sure to invite your mentees to share what they are focused on in their coaching and in what areas they want to grow and improve their skills. Then, build on these areas when discussing the coaching with the mentee.
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- Remember to engage your mentee in a conversation, as opposed to only sharing your feedback. While your feedback is a fundamental part of the mentoring process, it’s important that you share it in a context of a two-way conversation.
- The ICF Core Competencies show up and are demonstrated in many styles of coaching. Be open to listening and hearing the competencies exemplified as you work with coaches from various backgrounds.
Some coaches shy away from mentoring because they are not comfortable with being in the role of giving advice, strategies or feedback. But here’s another perspective; the role of mentor is nuanced and gives the mentor and coach an equal opportunity to work side by side to encourage the mentees’ development.
To learn more about our Certification program where we teach mentoring in this collaborative style, please visit MentorCoachCertification.com.
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