Coaching and Mentoring for Leadership Development in Civil Society

This praxis paper of 45 pages attempts to demystify the concepts and practices of coaching and mentoring within civil society organisations. Authors Deans and Oakley describe the practices of coaching and mentoring as capacity-building tools, especially in the area of leadership development, according to the following perceived differences: "Coaching tends
to be viewed as more task-oriented, skills-focused, directed and time-bound, whereas mentoring is more focused on open-ended personal development." Using a variety of coaching and mentoring models, this document focuses on putting the concepts into practice in cross-cultural situations, analysing examples from civil society for ingredients of good quality coaching and mentoring practices tied to factors for achieving success.

Deans and Oakley discuss a geographical split from which has emerged the "sponsorship" model and the "developmental" model, the former being more hierarchical than the latter in that the coach/mentor is fostering success-oriented behaviours for upward mobility. The latter stems from more horizontal relationships and fosters multiple personal goals. The following are performance and solution-focused approaches which literature in the field offers as models: GROW and STEER, which are task oriented and derived from the sports world, and OSKAR, a solution-focused model. Holistic and people-centred approaches can also be found in popular literature from the field.



Case studies are used to raise critical questions, the first being: who initiates the mentoring/coaching request? Within that discussion, the authors point to strategic practicalities, such as, North-South, insider - outsider, or hierarchical contextual dynamics that a coach/mentor must take into account. Also strategic for a coach/mentor is the question of underlying purpose in the organisation, because the mentorship/coaching intent might be focused towards cultivating leadership for organisational change, addressing perceived personal weakness in management, or increasing organisational gender balance. The approach to the coaching/mentoring task can yield different impacts on the individual, including building leadership capacity, improving communication style, strengthening organisational and prioritisation skills, and enriching human resource skills, among many. Organisational impacts, though primarily anecdotal in their documentation, can result through the following possible coach/mentoring outcomes: improved styles of leadership, management, and communication; structural decision-making changes; changes related to time management and planning; and functional understanding of internal staff politics. On a cautionary note, the authors suggest the importance of differentiating between coach/mentoring and technical advice, so that one is not substituted when the other is requested.

According to Deans and Oakley, there is emerging consensus about a number of key ingredients of good quality coaching/mentoring style and practice:

• Involve a learning agreement
• Include purposeful conversations
• Include what is holistic and empowering
• Create trusting relationships and a safe space
• Adapt to the context
• Be flexible in style and approach
• Encourage experimenting and observing
• Respond to culture and diversity
• Use resources effectively
• Use effective questioning and listening.

In conclusion, Dean and Oakley emphasise that, when there is motivation to change and resource allocation to support it, well-facilitated coaching/mentoring can be effective in international cross-cultural settings to make a significant contribution to organisational leadership development and capacity-building.