Great article Julie.

To throw in another complication - mentoring is often mentioned alongside coaching by leaders; the two being thought of as one and the same.

My thoughts are that coaching is a time bound activity where the coach asks questions to challenge the clients thinking and enable them to arrive at their own solutions to meet their goals.  Coaches provide support and encouragement.

Mentoring is an open ended relationship where the Mentor shares their knowledge, experience and skill in a particular area to help the individual they are working with.

Looking forward to other peoples thoughts and definitions...