Coaching and Mentoring Courses: People Development and Professional Growth
Coaching and mentoring training to develop active listening skills, powerful questions, transformative feedback and professional growth support. Learn ICF methodologies, GROW model, development conversations and techniques to unlock collaborators' potential.
What you'll learn in Coaching and Mentoring courses
Coaching and mentoring are complementary approaches for talent development: coaching helps person find their own solutions through questions and reflection (non-directive approach), mentoring shares experience and guides through advice (directive approach). Gallup shows that manager-coaches increase engagement up to 60%. Our paths cover coaching skills, effective mentoring, development conversations, transformative feedback, GROW model, powerful questions, level 3 active listening.
You'll learn to conduct effective coaching conversations with GROW model (Goal-Reality-Options-Will), develop deep active listening (level 3: capture unspoken, emotions, patterns), ask powerful questions that stimulate reflection and insights (open, expansive, generative questions), provide transformative feedback that inspires action (not criticism but empowerment), manage structured mentoring programs (matching, objectives, frequency, measurement), apply ICF core coaching principles (International Coaching Federation): presence, listening, awareness, action design. Focus on coaching vs consulting vs therapy: coaching is future-oriented, goals, action (not solving past problems or pathologies).
Who this training path is for
- Managers and team leaders: integrate coaching skills into daily team management
- HR and talent developers: support collaborators' growth with development conversations
- Aspiring professional coaches: obtain ICF certification and start coaching practice
- Internal mentors: guide juniors and high potentials effectively
- Senior professionals: give back experience supporting new generations' growth
Benefits of Coaching and Mentoring training
Accelerated talent development
Coaching and mentoring accelerate collaborators' professional growth up to 70%, reducing learning times and increasing autonomy.
Superior engagement and retention
Collaborators receiving coaching/mentoring have 60% higher engagement and 50% more likely to stay in company.
Continuous learning culture
Coaching approach creates culture of curiosity, reflection and continuous improvement that permeates entire organization.
How to choose the most suitable format for your team
Each format is designed to adapt to different coaching and mentoring skill development needs and business contexts.
In-person course → ideal for:
- ICF coaching certifications requiring supervised practice hours with live feedback
- Intensive role-plays of coaching conversations with actors and immediate debriefing
- Corporate mentoring programs with mentor-mentee matching and in-person kick-off
- Advanced workshops on powerful questions and deep listening with triad practice
Online course → ideal for:
- Coaching skills and GROW model fundamentals accessible with schedule flexibility
- Geographically dispersed managers wanting to integrate coaching into management
- ICF ACC certifications with accredited online core competencies hours
- Mentor training for cross-geographic virtual mentoring programs
Blended course → ideal for:
- ICF coaching theory online + real session supervision practice in-person
- GROW and powerful questions e-learning + live workshop for difficult conversations
- Video platform with coaching models + group sessions for peer-to-peer practice
- PCC certification: asynchronous online hours + intensive retreat competency assessment
Frequently asked questions about Coaching and Mentoring
What's the difference between coaching and mentoring?
Coaching is a non-directive approach: the coach helps the person (coachee) find their own solutions through powerful questions, active listening, and guided reflection. The coach doesn't provide direct advice but facilitates personal insight, focusing on the future and goals. Mentoring, on the other hand, is a more directive approach: the mentor shares their own experience, knowledge, and advice to guide the mentee on their journey. The focus is on career development and knowledge transfer. A useful analogy: coaching is like a midwife who helps bring out what's already inside, while mentoring is like an expert guide who shows the path. In practice, the two approaches often integrate: an effective mentor uses coaching skills to empower, while a coach may occasionally share relevant experiences.
What is the GROW model and how to use it?
GROW is the world's most widespread coaching framework, developed by John Whitmore. It structures the coaching conversation in 4 sequential phases: 1) Goal - define the specific objective of the session ("What do you want to achieve today?"), 2) Reality - explore the current situation objectively ("What's happening now?"), 3) Options - generate possible actions and solutions ("What options do you have?"), 4) Will/Way forward - commit to concrete action ("What exactly will you do? When?"). The key to success is that the coach should ask 80% questions and do 20% listening, absolutely avoiding providing ready-made solutions. Variants include GROW + T (Topic) and OSKAR (solution-focused).
What are powerful questions in coaching?
Powerful questions are questions that stimulate deep reflection, generate insights, and open new perspectives. They have specific characteristics: they are open (requiring more than yes/no), short (avoiding multiple concatenated questions), future-oriented ("What do you want?" instead of "Why didn't you?"), neutral (without implicit judgments), and generative (creating possibilities rather than limiting them). Effective examples include: "What would make you truly proud?", "If everything were possible, what would you do?", "What haven't you considered yet?", "How would you know you've succeeded?". Avoid: closed questions, excessive use of "why" (which can be defensive), and questions that disguise advice ("Have you thought of...?").
How to structure an effective corporate mentoring program?
An effective mentoring program requires clear structure and governance. The essential elements are: defining clear objectives (high potential development, onboarding, diversity, succession planning), creating smart matching between mentor and mentee based on values affinity, skills complementarity, and mutual availability, providing mentor training on coaching skills, active listening, and constructive feedback, establishing precise guidelines on meeting frequency (typically monthly), program duration (6-12 months), confidentiality, and mutual expectations, implementing consistent monitoring with intermediate check-ins and satisfaction surveys, and finally including celebration moments to recognize mentors' commitment and share successes. Errors to absolutely avoid are forced matching, lack of adequate training, and absence of follow-up.
Can managers do coaching or do we need professional coaches?
Both have value in different contexts. Manager-coaches (managers who integrate coaching skills into daily management) are particularly useful for daily development conversations, constructive feedback, collaborative problem solving, and team empowerment. However, they have limitations: possible conflicts of interest related to performance evaluation and difficulty maintaining total neutrality. External professional coaches, on the other hand, are more suitable for senior leadership development, delicate career transitions, sensitive personal topics, and deep transformational goals. Their main advantage is ensuring total confidentiality, absolute neutrality, and specialized expertise. The ideal solution is a hybrid approach: managers trained in coaching skills for daily support and external coaches for critical or strategic situations. Companies like Google and Microsoft train all their managers in coaching skills.
What coaching certifications exist and which to choose?
The ICF (International Coaching Federation) represents the global reference standard. It offers three certification levels: ACC (Associate Certified Coach, entry level with 60 hours of training + 100 hours of practice), PCC (Professional Certified Coach, 125 hours of training + 500 hours of practice), and MCC (Master Certified Coach, the highest recognized level). Valid alternatives exist such as EMCC (European Mentoring and Coaching Council) and AC (Association for Coaching). For managers who want to integrate coaching skills into their role, practical courses without formal certification are often sufficient. For professional coaches who want to practice the profession, ICF ACC certification is the minimum recommended for market credibility. The choice depends on your objective (integrate into current role vs become a professional coach), available time and money investment, and necessary geographic recognition. ICF remains the most recognized globally.