You’ve seen the ads. Let me sponsor you. Mentor Available. Now the latest is, coach. What’s the difference?
As always, I like to start with dictionary definitions and take it from there.
Webster’s New World tells you that:
a SPONSOR is one who assumes a certain degree of responsibility for another in any of various ways.
a MENTOR is a wise, loyal advisor.
a COACH is an instructor or trainer as of athletes, actors, or singers.
All worthy definitions.
So often on the Internet, the ads attack us with exaggerations, misconceptions and outright lies. It doesn’t take long to see through the hype and know that the person writing the ad is not a sponsor, a mentor or a coach, but aims at filling his or her own pockets at your expense.
If you got on the phone and talked to the person, you’d probably find that they didn’t even write the ad themselves, but rather took their “sponsor’s” ad and stuck it into an email and whipped it off to an ezine or safe list. C’mon, fess, up haven’t you done this at the beginning? (You don’t have to ‘fess up if you’re still doing it. Just stop!)
How many sponsors have you known who “assume a certain degree of responsibility?”
If you have not yet found the sponsor for you, then why not try to be the sponsor that you would like your sponsor to be? Taking responsibility means, stop sending the hypey ads. Take a really good look at the business you’ve got and decide what you like about it and why it would be good for others. Write from your heart, not from your nervous system which may be worrying about paying the bills.
A mentor? A wise, loyal advisor. Okay, I’ll go along with this one, but I think if I ever see another ad advertising a mentor, I will laugh. How many of us, all novices in a novice medium, the Internet, can claim wisdom? And have you seen anyone loyal to any program on the Net? I’m afraid that although wisdom and loyalty is definitely something to aspire to, it’s escaped our grasp so far. So don’t look for a mentor or try to be one. Sponsorship is quite enough to aim for right now.
But what about the newest craze, coaching? Exactly what are coaches and what is coaching? Here are some definitions garnered from professional coaches.
Coaching is one-one-one guidance and extended support for personal and professional growth and change. -Laura Berman Fortgang http://www.intercoach.com
Coaching is not to be confused with consulting, psychotherapy, training, teaching or mentoring. It is completely unique. The primary role of today’s professionally trained coach is to help someone clarify his (her) business and personal goals, help him craft an action plan that helps move him into action and then holds him accountable each step of the way without pressuring or judging him. – Hilton Johnson http://www.coachtrainer.com
Life Coaching is about a trusting, confidential and supportive relationship that you direct. And working together week-to-week with your Life Coach will help you move forward far faster, and go far further, than you might now imagine. It is also very convenient and affordable. -Steve Mitten http://www.acoach4u.com/
Coaching is about the client, not the coach. So don’t confuse coaching with training. Training implies teaching something you know to another, whereas couching discovers and enhances an already existing skill and helps people find and reach their goals.
Do you need a sponsor, mentor or coach? Do you want to be a sponsor, mentor or coach? In either case, coaching just might be a good place to start.
A good sponsor will ask you to list your short term and long term goals as the first step in your training; a good coach will help you discover them. And a mentor? With a good coach, you won’t need one. You’ll be your own wise advisor.
Gloria Reibin is the owner of Advantage E-Com
http://advantageecom.com
She works with Free Leads for Life Marketing Group, which
offers free Internet Marketing and Network Marketing
training.
http://www.freeleads4life.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/4389
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