Coaching, Counselling, Mentoring and Consultancy

Coaching: refers to a teaching process that allows another person to improve awareness, reframe, set and actively pursue the achievement of meaningful goals. The coach’s domain is future oriented and uses the here and now as the starting point. It teaches the client to discover what he wants and whatever hinders him to obtain it. From there onwards, the purpose of coaching is to accompany the client on his way to reach his goal. The client is who provides answers, sets goals, decides the course of action and follows it. The coach accompanies.

Counselling, is a highly skilled intervention focused on helping individuals to address underlying psychological problems. This needs first to discover and clarify them, which may require resolving situations from the past. Thus, counselors require a training to diagnose and help clients with emotional problems or dysfunctions while coaches do not. The counselor intervenes.

Coaching vs. Counselling

Coaching	Counselling
Narrower focus	Broader focus and greater depth
The goal is to improve an individual’s performance in achieving some goals, either personal or at work, starting from  the here and now.	The goal is to help people understand the root causes of long-standing personal or performance problems/issues at work
Tends for be a short-term intervention	It can be a short-term intervention, but can also last for longer time periods due to the breadth of issues to be addressed
Coaching does not seek to resolve any underlying psychological problems. It assumes a person does not require a psycho-social intervention	Counselling can be used to address psycho-social as well as performance issues
The coach is not a therapist. Moreover, the coach has usually no expertise on the coachee´s subject matter.  Even if he had it, the coaching session is not the place to put it in effect.	The counsellor needs to be an expert in therapy. Expertise in the subject matter is not mandatory.
The agenda (goal and process) is typically set by the individual, but in case of executive coaching in agreement/ consultation with the sponsoring organization. Other stakeholders are normally involved	The agenda is generally agreed by the individuals and the counsellor Other stakeholders are rarely involved

Coaching differs from counseling in that coaching works in the realm of positive psychology while counseling focuses more on psychopathology. This fact is seen in the goals for clients. Coaches are more focused on helping clients finding fulfilment, improving their performance, and looking towards the future. Counseling looks to the past to find the source of clients’ problems and seek out solutions for those issues. Counselors work to fix problems while coaches work to help clients achieve their goals. 
Mentoring: helping to shape an individual’s beliefs and values in a positive way; often a longer term career relationship from someone who has ‘done it before’. A mentor is a wise and trusted guide and advisor. The mentor is the teacher that shares their experience while bringing the “mentee” up the ranks.  A coach is not necessarily the subject matter expert in order to help develop the client. The mentor models and advices.

"A coach has some great questions for your answers; a mentor has some great answers for your questions."

Coaching vs. Mentoring

Coaching	Mentoring
Relationship generally has a set duration	Ongoing relationship that can last for a long period of time
Generally more structured in nature and meetings are scheduled on a regular basis	Can be more informal and meetings can take place as and when the mentee needs some advice, guidance or support
Short-term (sometimes time-bounded) and focused on specific development areas/issues	More long-term and takes a broader view of the person
Coaching is generally not performed on the basis that the coach needs to have direct experience of their client’s formal occupational role, unless the coaching is specific and skills-focused	Mentor is usually more experienced and qualified than the ‘mentee’. Often a senior person in the organisation who can pass on knowledge, experience and open doors to otherwise out-of-reach opportunities
Focus is generally on development/issues at work	Focus is on career and personal development
The agenda is focused on achieving specific, immediate goals	Agenda is set by the mentee, with the mentor providing support and guidance to prepare them for future roles
Coaching revolves more around specific development areas/issues	Mentoring revolves more around developing the mentee professional's career

Consultancy

Consulting – a consultant is an expert who is called on for professional or technical advice or opinions. They are relied on to understand the problem and present solutions. Consulting is unlike coaching because   the questions, if any, come now from the client and answers and actions come from the side of the consultant.

In consultancy when the client is challenged by a problem, beyond asking the consultant whatever suitable questions he may have, it is the client´s expectation that the consultant will understand the problem, provide all the correct information and take all needed steps to solve the problem. The consultant decides the course of action. It is a delegation process.