Courses, coaching, mentoring –- they all have
their place in personal development. When is it appropriate
to use one rather than the other?
Mentoring works
well as a cheap and effective option with stable organisations
which have a large pool of older, more experienced managers
willing to offer regular, committed help to their younger,
newer counterparts. Mentors are generally senior enough
and old enough to feel they have nothing to prove.
Mentoring does not
work so well in fast-changing organisations which have
retired their over-50s and where everyone is too stressed
or too insecure to want to help newcomers. "Why
should I pass on what I know to some young upstart?"
said one manager bitterly in an organisation struggling
to start a mentorship scheme against an apparent tide
of apathy and a culture of rampant competition and individualism.
What about the other
two options, courses and coaching? Each has its place.
A Course
might be indicated when you:
learn better from the stimulus of
other people
are at the beginning of your career
have minimal managerial responsibilities
are working to short-term deadlines
haven't yet been on any management
courses
need to meet other people from other
organisations
want to put a whole team through
a training event so that everyone is starting
from the same place
Coaching
might be indicated when you:
learn best from concentrated one-to-one
attention
are in mid or late career
have major responsibilities: for
people, money and direction
are working to a 2–10 year
time horizon
have done the courses, but there
are still areas for development
find the same old problems keep coming
around
want someone to bounce ideas off
on a regular basis
are too senior to admit your management
training has been neglected
TOP