A mentor is there to console you. She’s there to keep you facing the right direction. She’s there to remind you of your goal that you may have forgotten overnight. A mentor is there for you to talk things through with. What worked? What didn’t? A mentor, at the end of the day, is your friend. There’s a bit of a fault to that, I believe.
A trainer, on the other hand, she’s there to keep you moving in the right direction. She’s there to remind you of the step you need to take right now. A trainer is there for you to celebrate your wins with and quickly jump on what’s next. A trainer, at the end of the day, may leave you frustrated and exhausted. There’s a bit of glamour to that, I believe.
The problem I’ve seen is people search for a mentor at work and a trainer outside their organization or they flat-out think they need a mentor when they really need a trainer.
Knowing which you need starts with understanding what a mentor does and what a trainer does. Then you’ve got to decide how accountable you want to be held, how fast you want to learn, and how easy the conversations you want to have.
Certainly there’s no harm in having both, it’s actually better you do.
Stay Positive & Just Don’t Confuse The Two
Photo credit
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