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Garvey, B., Stokes, P. and Megginson, D. 2018, Coaching and mentoring : theory and practice, 3rd edn, Sage, Los Angeles.

4 AN INTRODUCTION TO COACHING AND MENTORING

INTRODUCTION

There is lively debate among academics and practitioners alike as to the meaning of the terms 'mentoring' and 'coaching'. This debate is fuelled and further confused by:

• variations in the application of mentoring • and coaching

• the wide range of contexts in which coach- • ing and mentoring activities take place

the perceptions of various stakeholders as to the purpose of these conversations commercial, ethical and practical consid- erations .

In the mentoring and coaching literature, there are many descriptions and definitions. These differences raise a key question for those interested in definition: are mentoring and coaching distinctive and separate activities or are they essentially similar in nature?

In the coaching and mentoring worlds, there are examples of distinct 'camps' and in some cases these camps are almost tribal (see Gibb and Hill, 2006) in their disdain for one another. In the book Making Coaching Work (2005b: 15-17), Clutterbuck and Megginson present a range of quotes listed as 'coaches on coaching', 'mentors on mentoring', 'mentors on coaching' and 'coaches on mentor- ing'. It seems as though each writer positions their own particular understanding of either coaching or mentoring as distinctive and different, and although this practice seems to be changing there are still some misunderstandings between those who are for coaching and those who are for mentoring.

There is an explanation for the discrepancies and the crude positioning of different view- points and this chapter seeks to develop this explanation through an examination of a range of literature on mentoring and coaching.

METHODOLOGY

We base this chapter on extensive and rigorous literature searches and applied discourse analy- sis techniques to aid our interpretations. These include close scrutiny of texts by taking into account, as far as is possible, the contexts and prevailing discourses extant at the time in which the written accounts were made. We do not seek a justified or 'proved' position here but present a descriptive account of our findings from a range of discourse positions.

Overall, it seems that the meanings of both coaching and mentoring have changed over time in use and that, while there has been, as the comments above suggest, some positioning, branding and differentiation in both historical and more recent writings, there also appears to be both a merging of the meanings of coaching and mentoring and a polarisation of the various discourses which inform the writings. In this chapter, we employ Western's (2012) analysis of coaching and mentoring discourses.

WHAT ARE DISCOURSES?

One way to think about discourses is through the idea of narratives. Bruner (1990) argued that 'folk wisdoms' or stories _play a vital role in shaping human understanding of any social

THE MEANING OF COACHING AND MENTORING 5

phenomenon. As a social constructivist researcher, Bruner (1990: 32-3) suggests that the mean- ings drawn from th ese 'folk wisdoms' and narratives are central to human psychology: 'The central concept of human psychology is meaning and the process and transactions involved with the construction of meaning.'

Bruner states that it is the surrounding culture and external environment, not biological fac- tors, that shape human lives and minds. People do this by imposing the patterns inherent in their culture's symbolic systems, 'its language and discourse modes, the forms of logical and narrative explication, and the patterns of mutually dependent communal life' (1990: 33). Therefore, with social phenomena such as mentoring and coaching it is necessary to interpret language, symbols and myths in the environment in which they are displayed in order to explicate meaning: 'we shall be able to interpret meanings and meaning-making in a principled manner only in the degree to which we are able to specify the structure and coherence of the larger contexts in which specific meanings are created and transmitted' (1990: 64). Bruner believes that 'folk wisdom' is communi- cated through narrative and that 'we take meaning from our historical pasts which gave shape to our culture and we distribute meaning through interpersonal dialogue' (1990: 77). Bruner's views, we believe, relate very strongly to coaching and mentoring in that, as this chapter shows, both are social constructions subject to social communication processes and therefore both are surrounded and shaped by stories. However, Bruner does not use the terms coaching and mentoring in his writings.

Another way to understand discourses is that they are ways of talking about human expe- riences . They are not just talk but, as Webster (1980: 206) puts it, 'Language is the primary motor of a culture'. Language is also tied to power positions (see Layder, 1994) and therefore the language which makes up a discourse shapes behaviour. Hatch and Cunliffe (2013) argue that power 'is exercised through practices that arise in discourse to regulate what will be perceived as normal' (p. 43). Kroger and Wood (1998) would agree when they argue that discourses are about meanings and people organize around shared meanings; they state, 'language is taken to be not simply a tool for description and a medium of communication (the conventional view), but as a social practice, as a way of doing things' (Wood and Kroger, 2000: 4).

In relation to coaching and mentoring, Western (2012) argues that there are, currently, four main discourses. These are:

• Soul Guide • Managerial • Psy Expert • Network Coaching.

Western (2012) suggests that these discourses are found in a wi_de range of contexts- for exam- ple, coaching and mentoring sessions, the academic and practitioner literature - and that they can be observed in websites, blogs, training courses and conferences.

WESTERN'S (2012) DISCOURSES

Soul Guide

According to Western (2012), this discourse is found in a range of social and historical settings. It is about working on the 'interior aspects of the self' (p. 132). It is concerned

6 AN INTRODUCTION TO COACHING AND MENTORING

with emotions (. .. ) spiritual concerns, identity and relationships, the unconscious, the conscience, the human spirit, values and beliefs and the human and existential concerns such as how to live with meaning, what is the good life for this individual and how to journey towards it and how to face loss and ultimately how to face death. (Western, 2012: 132)

Psy Expert

Garvey (2011) argues that the psychology discourse is one which is found in both mentor- ing and coaching but treated differently in each. Within coaching, it is a dominant discourse. Psychologists now calling themselves 'coaching psychologists' are deeply influencing practice and are the main group calling for professionalization. Western (2012: 158) notes that 'there is a growing movement in coaching towards psychology'. He argues that the Psy Expert discourse is a product of modernity where the scientific or objectivist mindset dominates (see below on mindsets). As Zeus and Skiffington (2002: 10) state, 'Coaching like therapy is clearly a psy- chological process.' The approach taken within the Psy Expert discourse has a strong focus on performance (in its many guises) and emphasizes changes in behaviour and the improvement of skills.

Within mentoring, this discourse manifests very differently. Garvey (2011) argues that psy- chology is employed mostly within mentoring to theory build.

Managerial

Much coaching and mentoring activity takes place within organizational settings . Garvey and Williamson (2002) argue that a dominating discourse in organizations is managerial. This is a reductionist discourse which values simplicity, practicality and objectivity. Garvey and Williamson (2002) refer to it as the 'rational pragmatic' discourse .

Western (2012) argues that this discourse is absorbed by a coach (or mentor) so that his or her 'thinking and practice of coaching become infused and underpinned by the logic of mana- gerialism' (p . 178). He argues that this is changing as new business models develop and that managerialism, whilst bringing gains, also creates difficulties, the main one being the obses- sive desire to measure. Western (2012: 187) argues that if the Soul Guide and the Psy Expert discourses work with the ' inner self and outer self', the Managerial discourse is more about the 'person-in-role' and is concerned with performance within that role.

Network coaching

In Chapter 8, we argue that coaching and mentoring are not necessarily one-to-one relation- ships any longer and that a learning and developmentally aware learner may have a network of supportive, challenging and development relationships. This idea of a network has been dis- cussed previously in the mentoring literature- for example, Scandura et al. (1996); Garvey and

THE MEANING OF COACHING AND MENTORING 7

Aired (2001); Higgins and Kram (2001); Chandler and Kram (2005); and Bozionelos and Wang

(2006). Western (2012) argues that this is the new and emerging form of coaching. The network

refers to the complex web of relationships and connections an individual may have within our

new and emerging interconne cted and interdependent world. He states that 'Much of coach-

ing (like much of management thinking) is in denial, repeating what we know, and looking for

simplistic solutions rather than face complexity and change' (Western, 2012: 194).

This position recognizes that an individual in an organization is in a 'system' and this notion

is spawning new business forms . These forms mostly employ technology and the business focus

strives to make a social contribution that is sustainable and ethical. Western (2012) argues that

this requires a new type of leadership which is distributed throughout the system. The network

coach or mentor enables leadership to happen across the system by helping to make and extend

social connections and highlighting social influence.

In the next section of this chapter, we track the history of mentoring and coaching and apply

Western's (2012) discourses to our findings.

THE HISTORICAL DISCOURSE ON MENTORING

Homer

The first mention of mentoring in literature was about 3000 years ago. The original mentor

was a friend and adviser of Telemachus, Odysseus's son, in Homer's epic poem The Odyssey (see

Lattimore, 1965 for a modern translation) . The Indo-European root 'men' means 'to think' and

in ancient Greek the word 'mentor' means adviser. So, mentor is an adviser of thought.

Within Homer, there are many confusing and contradictory events. Some writers have drawn

selectively on them in order to make a point; for example, the violence of the original story

is often glossed over (see Garvey and Megginson, 2004) and not incorporated into the mod-

ern interpretation; the social norms and context of the day are inadequately explored and

some (Harquail and Blake, 1993; Colley, 2002) raise the confusing gender issues found in the

original story. Others (see, for example, Whitmore, 2002) suggest that the Odyssey implies a

directive approach to mentoring, but other interpretations (see Anderson and Lucasse Shannon,

1988/1995; Brounstein, 2000; Garvey, 1994b; Gibb and Megginson, 1993; Starr, 2014; Tickle,

1993) position mentoring within a developmental, almost Soul Guide discourse (Western, 2012)

which emphasizes the caring, supportive, experiential learning, challenge, nondirective and

wisdom within the mentoring process. However, these interpretations of the ancient poem are

made in the context of today to suit the modern discourse of a Soul Guide learning and devel-

opment orientation. They bear little resemblance to the context of the narrative of the ancient

time. Garvey (2016) refers to this way of interpreting the old poem as the 'old as the hills'

argument which aims to give historical credibility to mentoring. However, taking into account

the context of the times, an alternative reading of mentoring activity in Homer is perhaps less

appealing to modern readers.

The story tells us that Odysseus's palace was besieged by suitors vying for Queen Penelope's

attention with the intent of marriage and the acquisition of Odysseus's wealth and power.

8 AN INTRODUCTION TO COACHING AND MENTORING

Colley (2002) interprets this as Mentor's failure. He left the royal household in chaos (Colley, 2002) and Roberts (1999: 19) suggests that Mentor was not the 'counsellor, teacher, nurturer, protector, advisor and role model' as presented in much modern literature on mentoring; in fact, he was 'little more than an old friend of King Odysseus ( .. . ) quite simply, Homer's Mentor did not mentor'.

Zeus, being concerned for the strategic importance of the kingdom of Ithaca, sent his daugh- ter, Athene, to recover the situation. As goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare, she took Mentor's form to take control of the situation.

Ancient Greek society was based on the subjugation of women through dominance. It was a society riven with hierarchy, paternalism, macho violence and control, and Colley (2002) claims that Athene was born from Zeus's head and therefore she was the 'embodiment of male rationality' (Colley, 2002: 4). In the context of ancient Greece, this rationality assumed the social norms of male dominance and aggression. Certainly, Athene was not the typical ancient Greek passive woman . She performed key tasks of ' advising, role modelling, advocating, rais- ing the young man's self-esteem' (p. 4), devoid of the emotional attachment associated with a woman in ancient Greece, and, at the end of the story, with its violence, vengefulness and bloody aggression, she plays her part in protecting Odysseus and Telemachus from harm - not the nondirective and supportive mentor presented by Gibb and Megginson (1993).

What we have, using this alternative interpretation, is a managerial discourse at work. Zeus recognized Ithaca's strategic significance and needed it to be maintained through the leadership development of Telemachus. He sent his best asset, Athene, to do this job of work and salvage the failing situation. Athene, being goddess of wisdom (arguably, male wisdom) and strategy, was the ideal choice. While development did happen successfully in the original story, the pur- pose to which the development was put, i.e. the violent restoration of the kingdom and brutal murder of the suitors and the woman in the court, is, to the modern way of thinking, simply wrong. So, where is the version of Mentor that not only demonstrates successful learning and development but also has a virtuous purpose? The answer may sit in eighteenth-century Europe.

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY WRITINGS ON MENTORING Fenelon (1651-1715), Archbishop of Cambrai and, later, tutor to Louis XIV's heir, in his seminal work Les Aventures de Telemaque (see Riley, 1994 for a modern translation), developed the men- taring theme of The Odyssey. It is a case history of human development and demonstrates that life's events are potential learning experiences. Fenelon shows us that the activity of observing others provides both positive and negative learning opportunities. He suggests that prearranged or chance happenings, if fully explored with the support and guidance of a mentor, provide opportunities for the learner to acquire a high-level understanding of 'the ways of the world' very quickly. This is perhaps the 'Soul Guide' version of mentoring that writers are seeking to find in Homer.

Eighteenth-century France viewed Fenelon's work as a political manifesto presenting an ideal political system based on the paradox of a monarchy-led republic. There was a clear focus on the development and education of leaders - something with which both mentoring and

THE MEANING OF COACHING AND MENTORING 9

coaching are associated today. Fenelon implied that leadership could be developed through

guided experience. Louis XIV saw this as a challenge to the divine right of kings and Fenelon

was banished to Cambrai without financial support. However, his book became a bestseller in

France and England . Les Aventures de TeJemaque appears again in France in Rousseau's educational treatise Emile

(1762). Rousseau, probably the founder of the notion of 'experiential learning', was profoundly

influenced by Fenelon's ideas on development. He focused on dialogue as an important element

in learning and clearly stated that the ideal class size for education was one-to-one! In his book

Emile, Telemachus becomes a model, perhaps a metaphor for learning, growth and social devel-

opment. The central character, Emile, is given a copy of Les Aventures de Telemaque as a guide to

his developmental journey.

In Fenelon we discover, through the narrative, descriptions of the benefits, characteristics and

skills of mentoring. The references following these statements are taken from contemporary lit-

erature. The first reference is from the coaching literature and the second is from the mentoring

literature. These serve to suggest that there are links to Fenelon's work in the current under-

standing of both mentoring and coaching.

These include:

• Mentors use reflective questions (Hallett, • 1997; Garvey and Aired, 2000). Mentors support and help to remove the • 'fear of failure' by building confidence (Ellinger et al., 2005; Megginson et al., 2006) . •

• A mentor is assertive and calm in the face of adversity (Bozionelos and Bozionelos, 2010; Wenson, 2010). •

• A mentor is confident and self-aware (Nelson and Quick, 1985; Byrne, 2005).

• A mentor has charismatic leadership abilities (Godshalk and Sosik, 2000; Goldsmith, 2006).

Role modelling goes on in mentoring (Robertson, 2005; Fracaro, 2006). Mentoring involves experiential learn- ing (Kellar et al., 1995; Salimbene et al., 2005). A mentor is inspirational (Nankivell and Shoolbred, 1997; Vermaak and Weggeman, 1999). Trust is essential (Connor, 1994; Bluckert, 2005).

Further early writings on mentoring can be found in the work of Louis Antonine de Caraccioli

(1723-1803) . As Engstrom (2005) noted, Caraccioli wrote Le veritable mentor ou L'education de

la noblesse in 1759 and it was translated into English in 1760 to become The Tnte Mentor, or an

Essay on the Education of Young People in Fashion. This work describes mentoring mainly from the

perspective of the mentor. Caraccioli acknowledges the influence of Fenelon's work on his own.

Caraccioli writes: 'we stand in need of academics to form the heart at the same time that they

enrich the mind' (1760: vii). Caraccioli is also interested in the therapeutic effects of mentoring

conversations when he says 'Melancholy, so common a complaint with the most voluptuous,

has no effect on the man who possesses reflection' (vs 35, 88). This is a very interesting pre-

modern psychology, talking therapy observation and perhaps it offers a hint of some Psy Expert

with Soul Guide discourse (Western, 2012) entering into the mentoring world.

10 AN INTRODUCTION TO COACHING AND MENTORING

The term 'Mentor' was used in the English language in 1750 (Oxford Reference Online, 2006a) by Lord Chesterfield (published 1838) in a letter to his son (8 March 1750, letter number CVII) to describe a developmental process:

These are resolutions which you must form, and steadily execute for yourself, whenever you lose the friendly care and assistance of your Mentor. In the meantime, make a greedy use of him; exhaust him, if you can, of all his knowledge; and get the prophet's mantle from him, before he is taken away himself.

Later, Lord Byron (1788-1824) used the term 'Mentor' in his poems Tile Curse of Minerva- 'to that Mentor bends' (Byron, 1821) and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage- 'Stern Mentor urg'd from high to yonder tide' (Byron, 1829), a reference to Homer where Mentor encourages Telemachus to jump from a cliff into the sea to escape his enemies, and in The Island Byron refers to the sea as 'the only mentor of his youth' (Byron, 1843). It is interesting to note Byron's three descriptions of mentor as 'bending', 'stern' and 'unique', as well as Chesterfield's 'friendly'.

Two volumes of the publication TI1e Female Mentor appear in 1793 with a third volume in 1796. These works are recordings of conversations about topics of interest among a group of women referred to as 'the society' . The author, Honoria , identifies and describes the character- istics of the female mentor, not as the substance of the book but rather as a commentary and series of asides made throughout the volumes. The introduction to Volume 1 gives the reader the purpose of the books : 'If the following conversations should afford you some amusement, and if you should think them calculated to lead the youthful and unbiased mind in the ways of virtue, I shall feel highly gratified' (Vol. 1: i). The mentor, Amanda, thanked Fenelon in the introduction for 'showing us the way'. His approach to education and life seemed to have been a model for 'the society'. There are resonances here with Western's (2012) Soul Guide discourse.

The discussions in the books are broad and draw on, for example, the philosophy of ancient Egypt, Christianity, Greek civilization and ideas on nature. There are also a number of discus- sions about famous women as positive role models, for example 'Anne Boleyn, Queen Consort of Henry Eighth' and a chapter 'On Learned Ladies'.

Caraccioli's mentoring model

We have linked Caraccioli's model of mentoring to modern literature using the same approach as outlined for the Fenelon contribution above.ln Caraccioli, a mentor:

• expresses wisdom (Bluckert, 2005; Garvey • et al., 1996)

• has self-knowledge leading to the enhanced knowledge of others (Byrne, • 2005; Nelson and Quick, 1985)

• builds rapport and establishes trust (Giglio et al., 1998; Tabbron et al., 1997) •

• is empathetic and inspirational (Giglio et al., 1998; Hansford and Ehrich, 2006)

is sought out rather than seeks pupils (mentees/coachees) (Garvey and Galloway, 2002; ]ones et al., 2006) has a sense of goodness based on deep religious values (no reference found in modern coaching literature; Lantos, 1999) understands the cultural climate of the pupil (coachee/mentee) Gohnson et al., 1999; Lloyd and Rosinski, 2005)

•

•

•

THE MEANING OF COACHING AND MENTORING 11

prefers the positive and distinguishing • truth from falsehood (Garvey et al., 1996; Murray, 2004) • acts from the principle of conscience and not self-interest (no direct reference could be found in modern coaching literature • to this quality of the coach - the closest is 'person centredness' found in Appelbaum et al., 1994; Bluckert, 2005) • does not deal with trifles (Garvey et al., 1996; Giglio et al., 1998)

draws on experiences (Kellar et al., 1995; Salimbene et al., 2005) helps to direct attention and assists in making decisions (Brunner, 1998; Pegg, 1999) encourages varied reading and discuss- ing of literature (not mentioned in either discourse) develops (Barnett, 1999).

and encourages reflection 1995; Ellinger and Bostrom,

Caraccioli provides a staged and progressive mentoring process model:

• observation, leading to ... • correction, leading to .. . • toleration, leading to .. . • friendship, leading to .. . • reprimands, leading to .. . • awareness.

Caraccioli's model aims to develop 'awareness' as the main outcome of mentoring and it offers four versions of mentoring within the same model: (1) Byron's 'bending' mentor who is 'tolerant'; (2) his 'stern mentor' who 'reprimands' and 'corrects'; (3) the 'friendly mentor' in Lord Chesterfield's letter to his son, who offers 'friendship'; and (4) an implied 'uniqueness' as alluded to in Byron.

Making allowances for historical changes in the meanings of words, this model also reso- nates with modern discourses on mentoring and coaching. For example, 'observation' can be an aspect of managerialist performance coaching and 'toleration' could be linked to a Soul Guide listening and acceptance, 'reprimand' with challenge, 'correction' with skills coaching, while 'friendship' is often discussed in mentoring literature and 'awareness' is discussed within both mentoring and coaching and may be part of the Soul Guide discourse outlined by Western (2012). And these dyadic relationships tend to be unique.

Caraccioli contributes two further concepts. The first is what we now call 'supervision'. Caraccioli's view is that a mentor needs an experienced and successful mentor as a guide. The second is a description of the phases of life:

• the torrid, which is our youth • the temperate (the state of manhood)

• the frigid or old age where our imagination falters and our passions and desires subside.

Modern discourses on mentoring also refer to 'life cycles' and stages or phases of the relation- ship (see, for example, Kram, 1983; Alred et al., 1997) and 'these relate to elements of Western's (2012) Soul Guide discourse.

The Honoria model of mentorinq

In The Female Mentor or Select Conversations by Honoria (1793/6), we find further and similar descriptions of a female mentor, Amanda. Honoria was Amanda's daughter and she writes:

12 AN INTRODUCTION TO COACHING AND MENTORING

'she [Amanda] endeavoured to instil instruction into our tender minds by relating either moral or religious tales, and by entering into a course of reading, which while it inculcated a lesson, was calculated to engage our attention' (Vol. I, p. 6). The Female Mentor is an account of group mentoring. The group, started by Amanda, was originally for her own children but word soon spread and the society developed to include other people's children and, later, adults. The soci- ety met fortnightly and was intended to support young women entering the world. Mentoring here is therefore associated with transition. Deep religious values underpin Amanda's work, and these volumes show that the female mentor had many of the qualities described by Fenelon and Caraccioli. The main approach for acquiring these qualities is through dialogue and role model- ling. Linking to Western (2012), there is much here represented by the Soul Guide discourse.

THE BEGINNINGS OF COACHING In the modern coaching literature, Hughes (2003) suggests that the term coaching has its origins in ancient Greece with links to Socratic dialogue. De Haan (2008b: 1) also holds that coaching originates from ancient Greece: 'It is important to realize here that inspiring coaching conversa- tions have been passed down from classical times.' His book has many classical images within it as if to reinforce the link. Brunner (1998: 516) also makes this link when he asks the question, 'Would coaching thus be the modern version of the Socratic dialogue?' However, as this sec- tion demonstrates, the link to classical times is probably part of the 'old as the hills' discourse (Garvey, 2016) and is therefore associative rather than factual.

Starting with Socratic dialogue, Krohn (1998) argues that there are four indispensable compo- nents within Socratic dialogue.

The concrete

By keeping with concrete experience, it becomes possible to gain insight by linking any state- ment with personal experience. In this way, the dialogue concerns the whole person.

Full understanding between participants This involves more than simple verbal agreement. All parties to the dialogue need to be clear about the meaning of what has just been said by testing it. against their own concrete experi- ence. Limiting beliefs need to be made conscious in order for them to be transcended.

Adherence to a subsidiary question until it is answered For a dialogue to achieve adherence, each participant in the dialogue needs to be committed to their work and develop self-confidence in the power of reason. This means: to be persistent in

THE MEANING OF COACHING AND MENTORING 13

the face of challenge, and calm and humble enough to accept a different course in the dialogue in order to return to the subsidiary question. It is about honouring digressions while being persistent.

Striving for consensus

This requires honesty, trust and faith in the examination of the thoughts of both self and others. These are the conditions of consensus and it is the striving that is important, not necessarily the consensus itself.

Clearly, there are many resonances in this explanation of Socratic dialogue with modern writ- ings on both coaching and mentoring. However, there are no translations of Plato that we looked at that used the term 'coaching' or 'mentoring' and therefore modern writers like Brunner (1998), Hughes (2003) and de Haan (2008b) have made associative and not direct links to Socrates. Additionally, Socratic dialogue was about groups of people and not pairs as in coaching, and some (Goldman, 1984; Kimball, 1986; Stone, 1988) argue that the Socratic method is reduc- tionist, a negative, competitive and corrosive methodology based on elimination; it creates and fosters cynicism rather than positive action. As a further challenge to Socratic dialogue, Nietzsche (1974: 206) states, 'One hears only those questions for which one is able to find answers', suggest- ing that the Socratic method does not account for the emotional or illogical behaviour of people.

Brunner (1998: 516), however, does offer an in~ightful comment on the meaning of coaching when he states: 'coaching takes many forms, from technical counselling to the psychological domination that flirts with suggestion, for this is a domain devoid of any fixed deontology'. According to Brunner, then, coaching has multiple meanings and is subject to contextual vari- ation. History supports this view.

The Oxford Reference Online (2006b) states that the earliest uses of the term 'coaching' in the English language can be traced to 1849 in Thackeray's novel Pendennis. This probable first use of the term is in fact a pun. Some university students are travelling back to university in a horse- drawn coach:

'I'm coaching there,' said the other, with a nod. 'What?' asked Pen, and in a tone of such wonder, that Foke burst out laughing, and said, 'He was blowed if he didn't think Pen was such a flat as not to know what coaching meant.' 'I'm come down with a coach from Oxford. A tutor, don't you see, old boy? He's coaching me, and some other men, for the little go.' (pp. 38-9)

Following this publication, the term 'coaching' seems to have been associated with supporting university students and academic attainment, for example F. Smedley (1866: 240-1) writes:

Besides the regular college tutor, I secured the assistance of what. in the slang of the day, we irrev· erently termed 'coach', which vehicle for the conveyance of heavy learning (from himself to his pupils), consisted of a gentleman, who but few years older than those whom he taught, possessed more practical knowledge, and a greater aptitude for the highest scientific research, than it had ever before been my fate to meet with combined in one individual. Under his able tuition I advanced rapidly, and reading men began to look upon me somewhat as a formidable rival.

14 AN INTRODUCTION TO COACHING AND MENTORING

It is not clear why the term was regarded as irreverent, however it is interesting that Smedley

also uses and extends the pun of 'coach', but here is a direct historical link to rapid perf ormance

improvement and academic attainment through coaching which is a feature of both the Psy

Expert and Managerial discourse today.

During the nineteenth century, the term coaching was used extensively in associatio n with

the development of boating and rowing skills as well as to enhance performance in the se activi-

ties. For example, in 1867 the Evening Standard, on 14 February, reported on 'the crew being

coached by Mr. F. Willan and Mr. G. Morrison, from the former gentleman's steamboa t.' And in

1885 the Manchester Guardian, on 28 March, reported: 'A thoroughly clever coach was able to

advise them from first to last. Under his careful tuition the crew have improved stead ily.' Also

associated with boating in 1889 the Daily News, on 29 January, commented on the Oxfo rd and

Cambridge Boat Race: 'The President superintended the coaching from horseback.'

Additionally, another nineteenth-century link to sport (cricket) can be found in Ha rrison's

(1887) The Choice of Books and Other Literary Pieces: 'To call in professional"coaches" to tea ch the

defence of the wicket.'

Presumably referring to life skills, in 1887 Sir R.H. Roberts, in In the Shires (viii, 128), w rote:

'These young ladies, although ably coached by their mother ... '.

There is comment in the 1866 edition of the London Review, on 18 August (180/1) (in O xford

Refermce Online, 2006b), which says: 'The coach and the coachee can soothe their cons ciences

by the reflection .' This is a very interesting reference for two reasons. First, it is probably the

first recorded use of the term 'coachee' to describe the focus of the coach's activity. Se cond, the

emphasis on reflection contrasts with the rather more didactic stance of the previous citations

associated with coaching. This places this version of coaching within the Soul Guide d iscourse.

As far as we can discover, there are no works predating the nineteenth century dev oted to

exploring or describing the meaning and practice of coaching. We therefore conc lude that

coaching, relative to mentoring, is a more recent term .

PULLING THE THREADS TOGETHER

-@- Case Study 1.1 Janet is a senior executive in a large business. She volunteered to take pa rt in the organization's

mentoring scheme and attended a one -day workshop. The workshop covered t he purpose of t he

scheme, who it was aimed at and the basic skills necessary to fac ilitate a purposeful conversa-

tion . The scheme was aimed at developing leaders of the future and was part of the compa ny's

succession planning. Janet went on the company's men toring list and a few weeks later she was

approached by Gurbinder. Gurbinder was a manager in the company who had been identified

through the assessment centre as having high potential. They met every six weeks for about

one·and-a·hal f hours and disc ussed a range of issues - Gurbinder's ambitions, issues abo ut his

team, performance and relationship issues and his work-life balance. They got on very well.

THE MEANING OF COACHING AND MENTORING 15

Gurbinder said: 'We developed an excellent relationship and I felt able to discuss many things about my work and life with Janet. She was a good listener, she asked helpful questions and she helped me to find my own way to develop my leadership skills. Recently, I was confi- dent enough to apply for a new position in the business. Janet helped me with my application and she even gave me a mock interview when I was shortlisted. While it was me that got the job, it was great to have been supported by my mentor- I learned a lot and now I feel able to lead my new team. Thanks, Janet!'

Janet said, 'Gurbinder was great to work with. He accepted my challenging questions and worked on aspects of his behaviour towards others. I am very confident that he has a great future ahead of him.'

The history of mentoring is very long. The core mentoring model, as described in the past and illustrated in Case Study 1.1, is one of a more mature and experienced individual engaging in a relationship with a younger and less experienced person. In the early accounts, the central purpose of mentoring is to assist the learner to integrate as a fully functioning person within the society they inhabit. In Case Study 1.1, ]anet maintained this tradition by assisting Gurbinder to learn about himself, other people and the business. This remains one of the purposes (though not the only one) of modern mentoring. However, the mentor in current times may be a peer.

--@- Reflective Question With reference to Case Study 1.1, how would you position this example in relation to Western's discourses?

In the historical writings on both coaching and mentoring, specific knowledge and skills are transferred from one to the other but with the intention of fostering independence. There is some confusion here in some of the modern literature. A typical example is in Rosinski (2003: 5), where he states:

Although leaders can act as coaches, I have found that this role is often confused with mentoring. Coaches act as facilitators. Mentors give advice and expert recommendations. Coaches listen, ask questions, and enable coachees to discover for themselves what is right for them. Mentors talk about their own personal experience, assuming this is relevant for the mentees.

Later, he presents the issue of knowledge transfer in coaching and says:

In my view coaches are also responsible for transferring knowledge. Coaches don't simply help resolve coachees' issues. They actually share their knowledge so that coachees can become better coaches. For example, the coach will briefly explain his frame of reference. (2003: 245)

16 AN INTRODUCTION TO COACHING AND MENTORING

In the first comment, 'mentor' is perhaps characterized as the 'stern mentor' giving advice or perhaps the 'reprimand' and 'corrective' model put forward by Caraccioli, with the coach represented as the 'friendly facilitator ' . In the later comment, Rosinski presents the coach as a 'giver of advice' or, in his words, the 'knowledge transferer', but Rosinski reduces its signifi- cance by using the word 'briefly' almost as if 'briefly' makes the advice-giving less important. Further, it is difficult in our minds to distinguish between 'personal experience' and 'frame of reference'.

This example shows how modern writers on mentoring and coaching draw selectively on cer- tain, albeit subliminal, dominant discourses and present them as versions of the truth. Bruner's (1990) point, made earlier in this chapter, about the importance of the social context to illu- minate meaning seems to hold true . A coaching writer has a particular story to tell, as does a mentoring writer. Sadly, this is often at the expense of one over the other.

Feneton, Caraccioli and Honoria offer similar, comprehensive and complementary descrip- tions of mentoring qualities, processes and skills and these attributes feature in modern writings on both mentoring and coaching. Many of the characteristics of mentor outlined in these texts are desirable in current coaching practice.

Clearly, as shown in Case Studies 1.1 and 1.2 (below), coaching and mentoring share common skills but it is noteworthy that the training for Janet to become a mentor was a one-day work- shop, whereas David spent two years training to be a coach. Megginson et al. (2006), Klasen and Clutterbuck (2002) and Alien et al. (2006a, b) state that training mentors for the role is essential; however, as Beech and Brockbank (1999) state, mentors are often senior people in organizations and they see themselves as experienced. As Garvey and Westlander (2013: 252) suggest, this can lead to a sense 'that "they know best" or are the "knowledge holders" by virtue of being senior'. Therefore, they may feel that they do not need any training. In coaching, the International Coach Federation (ICF) has an hours-based model of coach training (www.coachfederation.org/ includes/media/docs/credentialing-requirements-chart-march-2012.pdf), with impressive num- bers of hours advocated (see Chapter 14). The subject of training is raised again in Chapters 3, 4, 11, 12 and 13 .

-@-- Case Study 1.2 --------------- David is a professional executive coach. He spent two years studying for a Master's degree in coaching. One of his recent assignments was with Janet, a senior executive in a large busi- ness. Janet had recently take n on a new senior role in the business as well as the role of mentor. She asked David to assist her in understanding her new ro le and also took the oppor· I unity to think through the mentoring role with David. David met with Janet around every six weeks for about one·and·a·half hours. David helped Janet think through concerns such as performance issues with her team, dealing wilh difficul meetings and worlt-life balance. They also discussed wl1at was involved in mentoring: Janet was not on ly able to discuss issues with David, she was also able to observe his practice as a coach. She was struck by his ability to listen to what she had to say and then to probe and challenge her thinking. Janet read some books on coaching and mentoring but she found them to be somewhat contradictory. With the

THE MEANING OF COACHING AND MENTORING 17

help of David, she decided to develop her own style and process and this seemed to be helpful for he1· mentee, Gurbinder. David and Janet established a good worldng relationship.

Janet said, 'David listened very well and asked challenging questions. These two activities combined helped me to develop confidence and good practical ways forward for me and my team. Coaching helped to see a bigger picture on organizational issues, mentoring issues and it helped me set the tone for meetings.'

David said, 'Janet tells me that she is placing her team at the centre of her decision making when she is discussing performance with colleagues. By visualizing, she can then consider the impact of the decision being made. Sh e set he rself some very specific targets regarding her personal impact on others and her mentoring skills development.'

-@- Reflective Question With reference to Case Study 1.2, how would you position this example in relation to Western's discourses?

The term coaching, when compared with the term mentoring, seems to have a more recent history in the English language. The nineteenth-century writings on coaching focus on per- formance and attainment, originally in an educational setting but also in sport and life. There is some historical evidence that coaching was also about reflection and the develop- ment of 'life skills'. Similar to the mentor, the coach is the skilled, more experienced or more knowledgeable person.

Coaching is still a dominant practice in sport, and the term is used extensively in business environments. This is either in the form of internal line manager coaches or with the use of exter- nal and paid coaches. These are often positioned as 'executive coaches'. Life coaching is almost exclusively linked to paid practice. Coaching is still associated with performance improvement of a specific kind related to a job role, but it is also increasingly linked to leadership develop- ment, transition and change and generally developing a focus for the future (see Chapter 5). We believe that coaching is adopting the historical descriptions of mentoring.

Mentoring activity is found in all sectors of society and includes both paid and voluntary activities. It is also associated with 'offline' partnerships where the mentor is not the mentee's line manager. The relationship elements are important and terms like friendship in the modern literature are generally viewed as acceptable and natural. Mentoring is more associated with 'voluntarism' than coaching, although we do accept that it would not be possible to compel anyone to be coached (see Chapter 5).

Modern concepts of coaching and mentoring also include explorations of the emotional self which resonate with Caraccioli's call, when writing about mentoring, to educate the 'mind' and the 'heart'. It is possible to detect elements of all four of Western's (2012) discourses within the variety of literature sited above.

18 AN INTRODUCTION TO COACHING AND MENTORING

THE SAME AND DIFFERENT

It would seem then that, in practice, there is much common ground despite claims to the contrary found in modern writings. The Ridler reports of 2011, 2013 and 2016 provide some evidence that both coaching and mentoring are developing shared purposes. (Ridler and Co. is a senior-level executive coaching practice. Ridler and Co. regularly produces a survey-based report which analyses strategic trends in the use of coaching using data from organizational sponsors of coaching.) Ridler (2011) shows, under the heading of 'executive coaching', that coaching is employed to help people in transition and change. This chimes strongly with Levinson et al. (1978) who show that mentoring is also linked to helping people in transition. In Garvey (2012), both terms are employed within a mentoring for leadership programme. Garvey (2011) also argues that often in work settings, both are linked to learning and development and are often associated with performance improvement. Ridler (2011) also shows that coaching can be linked with talent management, as does Garvey (2012). In the Rid/er Survey (2011), a coach may be viewed as a 'sounding board'. This function was identified for mentoring in Clutterbuck (1992). Further, the outcomes of mentoring as articulated by Zey (1989) and Neilson and Eisenbach (2003), and coaching as referred to in Ridler (2011) and de Haan (2008b), are dependent on the quality of the relationship and they all suggest that personal chemistry is an important factor in determining a good-quality relationship.

Yet, despite the seemingly overlapping elements of coaching and mentoring, there persists an alternative viewpoint which seeks to differentiate them. This situation may be explained by considering the issue of 'mindset'.

The idea of 'organizational mindset' is an important one. Senge (1992) describes the concept as 'mental models' and Bettis and Prahalad (1995) call it 'the dominant logic'. They argue that mental models and dominant logic greatly influence both behaviour and thinking process and have the potential to inhibit or enhance learning capabilities. For Senge, 'Mental models are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations or even pictures or images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action' (1992: 8).

According to Burrell and Morgan (1979), there are two opposing mindsets in social science- the 'objectivist' and the 'subjectivist'. The objectivist tradition favours cause and effect and positivistic methodologies and is akin to Western's (2012) Psy Expert and Managerial discourses, whereas the subjectivist tradition views social research from an antipositivist perspective and favours a descriptive framework (see Chapter 2) which is more akin with Western's (2012) Soul Guide and Network Coach discourses.

Arguably, many decision makers, managers and funders who employ mentoring and coaching tend towards the objectivist perspective, consequently seeking cause and effect justifications to support expenditure on mentoring and coaching. This, we believe, has led to the general wide- spread commodification of coaching in particular as those who engage in its practice seek to demonstrate its impact in objectivist terms. Our experience shows that managers of some pub- licly funded schemes are also moving towards this belief (see Colley, 2003). The consequence of this shift is reflected in a change in the discourse, as we saw earlier in this chapter, in a move- ment away from using the language of 'the heart' towards the language of rationality or the 'brain'. Coaching and mentoring may suffer therefore from what Habermas (1974) refers to as

THE MEANING OF COACHING AND MENTORING 19

OPEN CLOSED

PUBLIC PRIVATE

FORMAL INFORMAL

ACTIVE PASSIVE

STABLE UNSTABLE

Figure 1.1 Dimensions framework

'misplaced concreteness'. Here, the social phenomenon is attributed with a hard, solid, rational reality as though it was a product of a factory and, in the case of mentoring and coaching, they are placed in the discourse as 'tools' of production. We also believe that either consciously or unconsciously, modern writers on coaching and mentoring make links to classical times to add credibility and substance to the coaching and mentoring phenomenon. However, there remains a core difference. Mentoring is often a voluntary activity and coaching is often a paid activity. Of course, this is not a definitive position but, as this book unfolds, voluntary versus professional is a developing theme.

Mentoring and coaching draw on different traditions of research. Coaching research, cur- rently at least, tends to focus on outcomes and return-on-investment calculations. Mentoring research tends to look at the functional issues (see Chapter 2).

Schon offers insight into this: 'On the high ground, management problems lend themselves to solution through the application of research-based theory and technique. In the swampy lowland, messy confusing problems defy technical solution' (1987: 3).

Mentoring and coaching, in our view, despite the commodification, are quite firmly in the 'swampy lowlands' and, if there is to be enhanced understanding, we must continue to 'thickly describe' (Geertz, 1974) coaching and mentoring in as many different contexts as possible.

DIMENSIONS

The objectivist tradition favours definition over description, but, by their very nature, defini- tions seek to simplify and condense. In this age of increasing complexity, simplification may have appeal. The range of contexts or domains in which mentoring and coaching are found sug- gests that definition alone cannot adequately reflect the complexity of meaning, and we argue that the meaning of coaching and mentoring is fundamentally determined by the social context.

A way forward is to view mentoring and coaching from a subjectivist tradition and view mentoring and coaching descriptively. The notion of 'dimensions' in mentoring was .first put forward by Garvey (1994a) (see Figure 1.1). By looking at the dimensions of dyadic relationships in context, it is possible to consider their characteristics not as fixed positions but in relation to a moving and changing dynamic over time.

20 AN INTRODUCTION TO COACHING AND MENTORING

The dimensions were first identified as follows :

• The open/closed dimension is about the content. What kind of things will be talked about? This is up for discussion. If it • is open, then anything is on the agenda. If it is closed, the discussion may be focused on specific issues.

• The public/private dimension is about who knows men taring is going on. If the mentoring is in an organization, keep- ing it private may lead to speculation about its purpose and nature. Making it public is good for mentoring and good for the relationship in the organiza- tional context.

• The formal/informal dimension is about • the administration and management of the relationship. In a formal arrange- ment, the mentoring pair may agree meetings in advance, take notes, time- limit the discussion and agree to meet in a regular venue at regular intervals. If it is informal, they will meet on an 'as required

basis' and generally work on a 'go with the flow' basis. The active/passive dimension is about activity. Who does what in the relation- ship? The mentee is the more active in the relationship because they are the one undergoing change and carrying out action plans. The mentor may also agree to take some actions, such as gathering infor- mation for the mentee, and may, indeed, at times, ask the mentee for a meeting. If both feel the mentoring is passive, if not much is happening, it is probably time to review the mentoring relationship. The stable/unstable dimension is about trust and consistency. It is about sticking to the ground rules while being prepared to jointly review them. It is about sticking to the meeting schedule and not chang- ing it (particularly at the last minute). It is about developing momentum to the men- taring process and maintaining it.

The dimensions framework describes the type of coaching or mentoring within a particular set- ting without needing to resort to definitional positioning.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, there can be no 'one best way' in mentoring and coaching and therefore no one definition. Practitioners draw on similar traditions of one-to-one developmental dialogue and position their particular brand according to the environment in which they operate. Both tradi- tions draw on a similar range of skill sets and adapt them according to the nature and form of the dialogue in use within the environmental setting.

The question 'Whose agenda is it?' helps to highlight the similarities and the differences between the terms mentoring and coaching, and we discuss this further in Chapter 7.

Another issue is the dynamic quality of the relationship between the two participants over time. The dimensions framework offers a way of agreeing the nature and form of the relation- ship at the start, reviewing it over time or noticing the changes as they happen. In this way, both the similarities and the differences can be understood descriptively rather than by a positioning or tribal definition.

The meaning of coaching and mentoring is a changing dynamic, with certain elements remaining constant but with others changing, and it is this that explains the confusing array of definitions found in modern discourses and gives support to the four main discourses found in Western (2012).

THE MEANING OF COACHING AND MENTORING 21

To return, then, to the original question : are mentoring and coaching distinctive and separate activities or are they essentially similar in nature?

The above evidence suggests that although the original roots are different, both m entoring and coaching in the modern context selectively draw on a range of the same narratives or, in Bruner's (1990) term, 'folk wisdoms' to describe the activity. However, it seems that coaching and mentoring are essentially similar in nature and both draw on a humanistic philosophy (Parsloe and Leedham, 2009; Whitmore, 2009; Connor and Pokora, 2012; Western, 2012; Cox et al. , 2014; Du Toit, 2014; Garvey et al., 2014).

--@--- Future Direction

We acknowledge and accept that it is very unlikely that there will ever be widespread consensus as to the meaning of coaching and mentoring in any particular context. As Garvey suggests: 'in what· ever the setting the terminology is used, there needs to be a common understanding of meaning within that setting' (2004: 8). This suggests that localized understanding is important and per· haps that is the best that can be done in a social practice that has such variation of purpose, scope and application. However, the terms 'coach mentor' and 'developmental dialogue' seem to be in use fai1·1y commonly in the UK at least and we wonder if this may be another way forward.

---@----Questions

• What discourse of coaching and mentoring do you relate to and how does the discourse you subscribe to influence practice?

• What evidence have you encountered that mentoring and coaching are either similar or different?

• What difference does payment make to the coaching or mentoring relationship?

@ Further Reading For a critical account of the philosophical origins of mentoring, read Chapter 2 in: Clutterbuck, D.A., Kochan, F.K., Lunsford, L.G., Smith, B., Dominguez, N. and Haddock-Millar, J. (eds) (2017) The SAG£ Handbook of Mentoring . London: Sage.

And Chapter 1 in: Gray, D.E., Garvey, B. and Lane, D.A. (2016) A Critical Introduction to Coaching and Mentoring. London: Sage.

For an interesting account of the 'self-help' and therapeutic origins of coaching, read: Wildflower, L. (2013) The Hidden History of Coaching. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.