What is the difference between a mentor, a teacher, and a coach?

I was recently asked to give a keynote speech about mentoring at the Women in Leadership Summit in Melbourne this year.

The primary question that came up throughout the summit was around the difference between mentoring, teaching, and coaching.

There is a blurred line between these three roles and indeed, someone might change from one into another at various points in a relationship. However, there are some key differences:

A mentor is an experienced and trusted advisor. There is often the implication that a mentor is older than the mentee, but this isn’t always the case.

A mentor is someone we turn to for advice and there is an expectation that we know them in person. We might also refer to them as a sounding board, or a voice of reason when a decision needs to be made.

A mentor usually gives their advice freely, though in some high level masterminds, the relationship with the mentor might include a financial component.

The key distinction between a mentor and any other form of teaching is that the information isn’t prepared beforehand and delivered in a structured format. This is because the mentee might set the agenda for the discussions. They have specific needs and will ask the questions.

The mentor dispenses advice freely in response to a specific need or question.

A teacher, on the other hand, tends to deliver structured information. Obviously in schools and universities, we refer to the instructors as teachers, rather than mentors because there is a formal learning relationship between a teacher and the students.

School teachers are usually paid to deliver a series of structured, generalist information to a group of people, often accompanied by exercises and activities designed to help the students learn by doing.

There might be other instances where a mentor becomes a teacher, and takes the student through a series of exercises around a specific problem. We might also refer to a religious or community leader as a teacher because they impart wisdom and knowledge to a group of people, with or without specific activities or assessments.

The primary difference between a mentor and a teacher is that the mentor offers personalised advice, while the teacher delivers structured information to groups.

We can learn from both and easily switch between these roles.

A coach, on the other hand, combines both. A coach will train someone towards a specific goal, rather than teaching general information or offering personal guidance and advice. However, the training process might involve some teaching and some mentoring as well.

The majority of us will have experienced all three relationships at some point. As children, we usually have a formal education process which puts us in contact with teachers. There may be leaders in our community who coach us to victory and we might have a trusted mentor or advisor at various points throughout our lives.

The advice I gave the attendees at the summit was no matter how young or old you are, or what point in your life, you should always aim to have a mentor, and be actively mentoring somebody. By remaining reachable, and willing to share, the rewards are immense for everyone involved.