Do I Need a Coach, a Mentor, a Trainer or a Consultant?

Do I Need a Coach, a Mentor, a Trainer or a Consultant?

A coach, a trainer, a mentor and a consultant walk into a conference. How do I tell them apart and who do I hire to help my business? 

Good question! Let's start by examining the difference between these four functions and skillsets. 

Coach

A coach doesn't need to know all the specifics of what you do or be an expert in your area of business in order to help you. What they do need to do is tell you what you don't want to hear but need to hear in order to move your business forward. 

Mentor

A mentor is someone who is doing or has done what you are trying to do. A good mentor leads by example. They can tell and show you exactly how they approached a situation or what they did to achieve a goal. 

Trainer

A trainer tells you what to do. Training is about skill building. It focuses on scripts, dialogs and how to's. It's then up to you to take what you have learned and put it into action. 

Consultant

A good consultant combines the talents of a coach, mentor and trainer plus they do actual work in your business. Consultants identify projects with you and do some of the heavy lifting of getting those projects done. Consulting is about executing and delivering as a member of your extended team. 

So who do you need to help you move your business to the next level?

Getting clear on that question will help you find and hire the right person at the right time. 

Andrew Knight

Problem Solver | Formulator of Strategy | Vandalist Strategic Marketing

5y

Wendy Forsythe and if it is not already confusing enough, we are then relying on the practioner to accurately represent their service offering with the appropriate classification (which of course most won't)! (And I think the LinkedIn algo is in full swing Tara L. Christianson because every time you look sideways it is showing up in my feed! Or is it because Pete owns LinkedIn now?)

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Great job as always friend, mentor, boss, speaker, consultant, trainer, coach, check all of the above and a bag of chips :-) Wendy Forsythe rocks the real estate world!

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