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192 Retaining Top Employees

OK, now that we’ve outlined the benefits of mentoring (and,
by extension, coaching and buddy programs), in the rest of this
chapter we’ll consider the characteristics of each type of pro-
gram and the differences among them.

Definitions and Vocabulary
Although the art and science of mentoring and coaching have
been developing over many centuries (or perhaps because of
it), neither area has a formally accepted vocabulary. Indeed, so
loose and varied are the definitions of “mentoring” and “coach-
ing” that the two activities are constantly confused. In particular,
the terminology surrounding mentoring has been subject to var-
ious uses.
Over the last 10 years or so, the business community has
become obsessed with the concept of leadership—what it
means, how it’s practiced, and how to be better at it. Included in
that obsessive analysis is a growing fascination with the topic of
mentoring. There are many reasons for this—the elusive idea of
somehow “duplicating” success (mentoring as cloning), a pre-
occupation with successful people and their habits (mentoring
as lifestyle), and the theory of management as a science (men-
toring as an experiment).
There has been an accompanying rapid growth in the num-
ber of organizations using mentoring as a managerial, cultural,
or development tool. Most of these organizations have designed
mentoring programs, using their own vocabulary and definitions
of mentoring. As a result, there are hundreds of differing defini-
tions of the terms and phrases used in association with mentor-
ing—not least the definition of “mentoring” itself.
The terms “mentoring” and “coaching” are sometimes used
interchangeably; at other times great distinctions are made
between the two. One organization’s or one manager’s definition
of coaching may exactly match another’s definition of mentor-
ing and what’s known as mentoring in Company A will be
known as coaching in Company B.
In this chapter we will clearly distinguish between mentoring