Re:How to mentor software engineers
by lowbloodsugar on Tuesday January 04, 2022 @02:40PM
(#29799147)
mentor: a trusted counselor or guide [1]
coach: one who instructs or trains [2]
When there's some doubt about meaning, I find it useful to wonder how other people might interpret the words I say, and I have found that a dictionary is a good way for communities and societies to agree on what those words mean. I do not say this to be snarky. I used to be surprised to learn that some words I thought I knew had a different, if related, meaning. Now, if say I was presented with an article that I wanted to comment on its use of words, I will look up those words first to see if perhaps I am the one that is out of touch with my peers.
I am a mentor, a mentee, and have had life coaches and sports coaches. While I have paid life coaches, i.e I am setting goals, that's very different than a coach within a corporation: perhaps the distinction for coach is "Who is paying the coach?" A mentor, however, is very much a counselor / guide, even though they are paid by the company. Another distinction is that coaches are, to some extent, accountable. They are paid to achieve a result. Mentors just don't have the responsibility.
coach: one who instructs or trains [2]
When there's some doubt about meaning, I find it useful to wonder how other people might interpret the words I say, and I have found that a dictionary is a good way for communities and societies to agree on what those words mean. I do not say this to be snarky. I used to be surprised to learn that some words I thought I knew had a different, if related, meaning. Now, if say I was presented with an article that I wanted to comment on its use of words, I will look up those words first to see if perhaps I am the one that is out of touch with my peers.
I am a mentor, a mentee, and have had life coaches and sports coaches. While I have paid life coaches, i.e I am setting goals, that's very different than a coach within a corporation: perhaps the distinction for coach is "Who is paying the coach?" A mentor, however, is very much a counselor / guide, even though they are paid by the company. Another distinction is that coaches are, to some extent, accountable. They are paid to achieve a result. Mentors just don't have the responsibility.
[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mentor
[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coach