Someone I met today asked me, ‘What’s the difference between coaching and training?’

*Interesting question and great curiosity! I seldom get this kind of intellectual discussion. Was delighted by it!*

Me: Coaching is different from training. Coaching relies on the coachee to do the hard work and find the answers. The coach helps the coachee think. It requires an active involvement from the coachee. Training, on the other hand, is more passive. The trainee sits in the receiving end.

Several exchanges later..

New acquaintance: Oh! Then maybe it depends on the individual. When they don’t know anything, maybe they need training. After a while maybe they need coaching to maximise their performance because they already know the basics. Coaching is just to highlight certain blindspots. Then maybe coaching is more suitable for a more experienced person, whilst training is needed for a novice?

*Wow. I couldn’t have put it any better!*

My 2 cents:

Coaching: Co-creating to find the ways to overcome challenges. Coaches are not experts. They act as mirrors to help coachees reflect and find answers for themselves. The coach helps coachee stay on track, take the necessary actions to achieve the goals. Focus on solutions, the future, actions. Coachees do most of the talking (80%).

Consulting: Consultants are usually an expert in the topics. They tell you what to do.

Training: the trainer talks, transfers knowledge. Trainers do most of the talking.

Mentoring: A more experienced individual giving advice and guidance to the mentee on areas that the mentor is familiar with (e.g. how to manage a business, a team, a career etc)

Psychotherapy: focused on understanding the past. Focused on problems.

Take an assessment to see which is right for you!

Examples