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Is best practice executive coaching really excellent coaching with moments of mentoring where appropriate?
This was the focus of an EMCC webinar led by Nigel Cumberland today, as part of the EMCC GPS series.
For me, ultimately, it’s about not relying on those mentoring moments as my core coaching practice. If I do weave in moments of mentoring, they are contracted, intentional, self-aware (and systemically aware), framed as an invitation, and, if suitable, followed up.
Even then, I’m cautious about it. Moments of mentoring in executive coaching can shift the power dynamic, undermine the coachee’s agency, and create a particular impression about who is the “expert” in the room.
In my experience, somatic coaching is where moments of mentoring can be especially useful—particularly when coaching to increase well-being, support neurodiversity, or decrease the risk of burnout.
But not the storytelling kind of mentoring. Instead, the mentoring I find most effective in these contexts is experiencing a somatic tool together. Why is this mentoring? Because each time you offer it, you’re offering it with the tone of expertise and vulnerability—saying, in essence:
“I have tried and used this; I trust in it. And I’ve also felt the vulnerability of using it without knowing exactly where it will lead.. of being a beginner.”
That’s the experience you’re sharing, rather than a story.
This idea of vulnerability in mentoring was highlighted during a speaker session at the EMCC Cyprus conference. (I can’t recall the speaker’s name—does anyone know? Please remind me!)
In the end, choosing whether to include moments of mentoring in executive or other forms of coaching is a professional choice with impact. It needs to be carefully thought through, ensuring it doesn’t become an impulsive step-in, when what might be more beneficial is allowing the coachee a real moment of reflection.
Done well, and very occasionally in this way, a moment of mentoring in coaching, can be beneficial for coachees.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this—do you have any views on balancing coaching and mentoring in executive coaching? How do you approach those moments when mentoring might be beneficial?