MENTORING AND COACHING - EFFICIENT INSTRUMENTS FOR THE YOUNG OFFICERS' PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The article studies how mentoring and coaching improve the capability of a military organization to thrive for talent in today's competitive environment. It tackles the definitions of mentoring and coaching, their roles and functions, and their differences. The article mentions the benefits and issues of the organizational management which include established systems for leadership succession, employees' professional growth, productivity, talent recruitment and retention. The article suggests that mentoring based on a symbiotic relationship among the mentor, mentee and the organization has potentials for success. It is also mentioned that coaching and mentoring are not the same thing. Mentoring is a two-way mutually beneficial learning situation where the mentor provides advice, shares knowledge and experiences, and teaches using a low pressure, self-discovery approach. The mentor is both a source of information/knowledge and a Socratic questioner. In the case of a coach the one who learns works for him and the concerns of coach are disciple`s performance, ability to adapt to change, and enrolling his support in the vision/direction for their work unit. Both coaching and mentoring are an approach to management and a set of skills to nurture staff and deliver results. They are, fundamentally, learning and development activities that share similar roots despite lively debate among academics and practitioners.