Coaching and Mentoring in Later Life

Coaching is still a relatively new, emerging discipline in South Africa and mentoring in Learnerships has become a very strong focus in the drive to empower young people and develop their careers.  Mentoring therefore presents numerous opportunities to us in later life.

The term "coach" or "mentor" is used to describe all types of coaching/mentoring that may be taking place, both inside and outside the work environment.
In fact, a coach is a personal navigator for the journey of life, and coaching is a professional, collaborative and outcomes-driven method of learning that develops individuals and raises self-awareness so that he / she can achieve specific goals and perform at a more effective level.

A great benefit of mentoring is that both the mentor and mentee learn through the process.

Who can be a Mentor?

A mentor can be anyone who is interested and motivated to help a peer or colleague through a period of transition in their life. A mentee is anyone needing support from another person to be a sounding board so that they can come to a point of clarity and realisation of how to overcome challenges in their life and work situations.

Most important, a mentor needs to possess certain qualities, which genuinely indicate they can provide value to another. These include: enthusiasm, commitment, willingness, approachability, being resourceful and well being informed / connected, confidentiality and trustworthiness - paramount within the mentoring relationship as everything discussed is done so in confidence.

In South Africa

The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) Western Cape Chairman Ghaliep Essop said young people could rise beyond their poor backgrounds to run successful businesses.  According to the NYDA, over 5 000 young entrepreneurs across the country have accessed mentoring offered by local mentors and over  500 seasoned professionals and entrepreneurs have volunteered to assist young business people.  The NYDA highlighted that over 50 group-mentoring sessions had been held countrywide, covering key challenges affecting small businesses, such as access to funding, business leadership and staff development. 

Skills-universe is an outstanding resource in that it is an online social network that is intended to assist those working in the broad areas of training, HR, education, organised labour and skills development. It is intended to be a platform for networking, asking questions, giving advice and sharing best practice.  More specifically, the Skills-universe Coaching and Mentoring Forum has loads of information on the subject

The Businesswomen's Association is the largest and most prominent association of business and professional women in South Africa, and the voice of women in business and through strategic partnerships with sponsors, non-profit organisations, leading companies, business schools and international associations, it provides ongoing opportunities to advance the interests of women in business.  Members include entrepreneurs, professionals and senior decision makers and the BWA Mentoring Committee initiates and co-ordinates mentoring projects.

Careerjet is an employment search engine where you can search for various roles including those involved with Coaching and Mentoring.   

Launched in April 2006, Coaches and Mentors of South Africa (COMENSA)  is an inclusive, umbrella professional association for individual and corporate providers, buyers and trainers of coaching and mentoring services.