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  Dr. Debra Davenport
  Executive Professional Mentor™
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MENTORING OR COACHING: Which Is Right for You?

Mentoring, coaching, counseling. What are the differences? Which is right for you? While many services and techniques overlap between these professions, there are also some distinct differences. We’ve prepared this descriptive comparison to assist you in selecting the best service for your particular needs. At DavenportFolio, we’re pleased to provide the full range of Certified Professional Mentoring®, career counseling, and coaching services to meet the individual needs of our valued clients.

The Certified Professional Mentor®

• Establishes a highly directive mentor-client relationship.
• Serves to catapult the client to their highest level of success.
• Provides information, guidance, data, and resources; conducts research on client's behalf.
• Makes personal introductions to key contacts.
• Continually works behind the scenes, identifying and coordinating opportunities for client.
• Is the client's most highly trusted professional development and career adviser.
• Provides strategic, high-level public relations, branding, and personal marketing services.
• Creates “client spotlight” events to enhance credibility and community recognition.
• Enhances client's image and business reputation.
• Enables client to become influential in community and business arenas.
• Provides high level tutelage on such topics as communication, business protocol, professional image development, public speaking, media training, and personal branding strategies.
• Ensures that client develops professional skills in the areas of self-marketing and self-promotion.
• Services provided solely to highly motivated professionals who are serious about their success.

The Certified Professional Mentor® methodology and certification are provided exclusively by Davenport/Folio.

Career Counselor

• Assists client in discovering the right career for their personality, interests, goals, and values.
• Guides and supports client through the self-discovery, decision-making, and career transition processes.
• Conducts appropriate information-gathering and offers insight, feedback, and potential solutions.
• Can provide conjoint counseling for couples, when one or both partners is embarking on a new career.
• Is often trained in specific areas, such as counseling and therapeutic techniques, assessment administration and interpretation, group counseling, psychology, human behavior, and family systems.
• May be required to hold a license and/or be bonded in some states.

Career Coach

• Helps the client plan a strategic plan for short and long-term career success.
• Evaluates client’s current job responsibilities and makes recommendations for maximizing his/her role in the organization.
• Develops résumés and other career marketing materials.
• Provides coaching in the areas of interview skills, job seeking, and salary/benefits negotiation.
• Offers ongoing advice and recommendations to keep client on track and moving forward.
• Holds client accountable for achieving specific career objectives.
• Provides solutions for workplace challenge

Executive Coach

• Assumes the answers lie within the client, and utilizes a Socratic approach to problem-solving.
• Develops client's leadership and human relations skills.
• Identifies the client's "personal history" and asks client to recognize when personal issues affect his or her professional role.
• Assists client in developing and maintaining a healthy life-work balance.
• Assists in processing issues related to professional role within the organization.
• Provides necessary feedback on performance.
• Helps client to clearly identify his or her long-term goals within the organization.
• Serves as a trusted sounding board for discussing professional challenges.
• Provides business and management advice and recommendations.
• Services typically provided to senior level professionals.

Personal or Life Coach

• Focuses on fundamental topics of life purpose, mission, and goal-setting.
• Helps client to identify their personal roadblocks to success.
• Holds client accountable for their behaviors, decisions, and actions.
• Assumes the answers lie within the client, and utilizes a Socratic approach to problem-solving.
• Guides the client to a higher level of personal development.
• Provides opportunities for learning, skills development, and building of core competencies.