The Coach Maturity Research Group’s studies are unequivocal – as coaches become more experienced and more mature, they pay less attention to process and techniques and much more to drawing on their own experience and wisdom. In effect, they are becoming more and more like mentors. Interviews with mature coaches around the world show that they integrate the mechanics of coaching with the being of mentoring. They still avoid giving advice (that has historically never been part of mentoring anyway), but they give context and narrative that support the quality of the other person’s thinking. They use their experience and especially their own mistakes as a valuable contribution to a curious dialogue.
In an increasingly overcrowded coaching market, there is high competition amongst coaches, most of whom have accreditation in some form. To stand out from the crowd, coaches need to focus more on who they are and on the value of the lifetime of experience they have gained.
Becoming an accredited professional mentor has all the status of an accredited coach – and more. The EMCC standards recognise that mentors need additional skills above those of a coach. In particular, they need to know how to access and use their experience in a non-directive way and how to be an effective role model. There are also additional boundary issues the mentor must be able to recognise and manage.
As the market for coaches comes under increasing threat from oversupply, competition from AI and “commoditisation” (dominance of coach provision by a few platforms that push down coach fees), a pragmatic and effect defence is to rebrand to add greater value to clients. Becoming a professional mentor is an obvious choice.
CCMI’s Professional Mentoring Academy is a unique resource aimed at both experienced coaches and at retiring executives. To find out more about our latest course, please click here.
© David Clutterbuck 2025