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Business Consulting – From good to better – the value of mentorship, coaching, advisory or consulting

When do you need a coach, mentor, advisor or business consulting? And how do you know which is going to be the most beneficial to you and your business? Pavlo Phitidis unpacked the different options and their value on #TheMoneyShow on 702 and CapeTalk. Listen to the podcast of that discussion:


Mentorship in its pure form is learning from someone by being around them. Pavlo’s belief is that mentorship relationships that work involve a fair exchange: The mentor feels that their effort and time is being valued and that their experience and wisdom is being engaged with, argued, debated and embraced – and critically that they are learning from those engagements too.

Coaching is different. A coach is a skilled sounding board, who helps you think differently, gain perspective, who resolves challenges and helps you to find a path by asking a thousand questions and then reflecting back what you are saying. You talk to them and you hear yourself back.

Coaches hold you accountable to your intentions. They rely on you doing what you said would you do one session to the next and if you don’t – they’ll ask you a thousand questions about why you didn’t!

There’s enormous value in coaching as it forces you to create good habits that work and drive you and your business forward.

How do you know if you need a coach, mentor, consultant or advisor?

You have to understand how you behave and understand what you need support or help with:

  • If you need someone to do things for you, then a consultant is useful.
  • If you are looking for cogent direction with a challenge you’re facing outside of your expertise – it could be a tax issue or a specific transaction, then go to an advisor who specialises in that field.
  • If you’re feeling trapped in your own head, or feel that you feel you’ve hit a ceiling then a coach is for you.
  • If you’re needing to punch above your weight and reach up and out of where you’re currently operating, or to get ahead in a shorter period of time, then surround yourself with people who have advanced themselves to a significant degree and listen, learn and engage – this is mentorship.

If you decide you need a mentor then understand the experience your chosen support has. If you’re running an SME and you find a mentor who has built their career in a corporate environment, their understanding of your daily challenges will be limited.

Who needs a coach?

Pavlo shared the story of Le Bron James, the basketball player with a net worth of $0.5billion, who earns about $100 million a year. He’s in his late 30’s, which is old for a professional basketball player, and yet he outperforms the 20 year olds in his own team and across the league.

How? He spends $1.5m dollars a year on coaches: A shooting coach, a jumping coach, a speed coach, a body coach… he invests in experts to take him from good to the best. Doing well is not good enough. That is what it takes for Le Bron James to be the best.

It’s particularly difficult to see the need for support when things are going well, but that is the difference that a coach, mentor or advisor can make.