Are you being mentored or are you a mentor?

Good Question John.

Well, coaching is great but it is always good for a PM to know in what areas he requires improvement and seeking coaching if required so coaching and being coached can go both in parallel in my opinion.

From my point of view just a few years ago, the use of the terms Coach and Mentor seemed to be reserved for specialized technicians, human resources departments or consulting companies in the sector.

In our days, the meaning of these words has become vulgarized, and it is common for them to appear in traditional and digital media.

In addition, it generates the diffused sense that both practices are analogous and that everyone can put them into practice.

Yes being mentored or having a coach is an amazing and rewarding experience, also sharing our knowledge with our team members, but can we say that we are real mentors or coach? Do we have the tools to do it great?

While I don't have a mentor in project management, I do have a network, including this community, that I reach out for guidance and feedback.

I am a project management mentor at my company.

Very relevant question John. Mentoring is like polishing of the diamond. Diamond will sparkle and its value increases only when it is cut. Similarly a mentor and coach enhances the value of the individual. Ideally mentoring should start right from school . But somehow it does not happen most of the time. If it starts at least when one starts working, it would be great. In to days world mentoring and reverse mentoring are both essential . I have been lucky to have been mentored and am mentoring many of my students and continue to do so over the years . It is a simply wonderful.

I have this community and I just joined the local PMI chapter. I wouldn't mind having a mentor in project management though.

Great question! Yes, I am mentoring with multiple people. I have always taken the perspective that I want to learn more each day and want to continue to grow in my role. I believe that anyone, at any level, can benefit from a solid mentor.

John:
Project Managers should aspire to lead and help grow others leaders. PM should act as mentors, coaches and sponsors as they move up the career ladder.

Thank you for sharing such an important and sensitive topic. In my humble opinion one cannot consider self sufficient, meaning without mentor-ship. Why? Simply because throughout one's life receives training or schooling. On the other hand one uses schooling as baseline and then create its own path. However, human nature tends to rely on feedback to tweak and polish anything needed to deliver the best possible results. At the end one can consider being mentored as a tool for improvement and then provide mentor-ship to those who needs it. Once again thank you for sharing.

Excellent topic. I think a Project Manager or any type of leader should have a mentor because there may be areas he/she may not see for improvement; but a trusted advisor / mentor can assist them in growing. The Project Manager should be mentoring his/her team members to assist them in growing as well. This is what leaders do.

It's not clearly so binary. It can ebb & flow too. Right now, this community is my mentor. I also hope that my contributions here have helped others, and from that respect, maybe I can be considered a mentor too. As Rami stated, the two can run together and are certainly related.