The importance of mentoring in engineering leadership — part 1
Throughout my career, I’ve come to appreciate the incredible impact that mentoring can have on professional growth. The guidance, support, and wisdom experienced mentors shared were pivotal in my journey, especially in engineering management. Giving mentorship has also been a key in my career growth to give to and learn from others.
In this series of posts, pulling from my personal experience, I’d like to share the benefits of mentoring.
Mentoring or coaching?
First, let’s clarify the difference between mentoring and coaching since they often get used interchangeably.
Mentoring is a structured and ongoing relationship in which a mentor with expertise and experience in a specific domain voluntarily shares their knowledge, insights, and wisdom with a mentee. For example, in engineering leadership, mentorship could target strategies around career growth.
On the other hand, coaching is typically more focused, structured, and goal-oriented, emphasizing skill improvement and performance enhancement. For example, in engineering leadership, coaching could target the preparation for a conference talk.
Mentoring and coaching are both essential and can be complementary — in the following articles, the focus will be on…
