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In many workplaces, guidance comes in the form of advice.
A junior team member raises a problem; a more experienced colleague responds with a solution. It’s efficient, well-intentioned, and often effective in the short term.
Yet advice has a hidden side effect: it subtly transfers ownership of the problem away from the person living with it. This is where the distinction between “mentoring” and “coaching” becomes more than semantics.
Mentoring is built on expertise.
A mentor’s value lies in having “been there before” and being able to chart a course for someone else.
When you’re navigating unfamiliar territory, such counsel can be invaluable. However, the risk comes when mentoring becomes the default mode of interaction.
The more often people are told what to do, the less likely they are to think independently, experiment, or develop their own judgement.
Over time, dependence can take root where agency should have grown.
Coaching works in the opposite direction.
It is not about answers but about questions. The coach need not have any technical expertise in the matter at hand; their role is to hold the space, listen deeply, and ask questions that sharpen the other person’s own thinking.
This makes coaching strangely liberating – for both sides. The person receiving the coaching discovers clarity and solutions that were already within reach, while the coach is freed from the exhausting burden of holding all the answers.
But coaching also asks us to resist one of our most natural impulses: the urge to advise.
Michael Bungay Stanier famously calls this reflex the “Advice Monster.” It lurks in the background of every conversation, eager to leap out the moment we sense familiarity with someone else’s problem.
The trouble is, premature advice often solves the wrong problem. We hear half the story, rush to fill in the gaps with our own experience, and miss the deeper issue entirely.
Taming the “Advice Monster” requires a discipline of curiosity.
It means pausing long enough to listen without rehearsing a response, tolerating silence, and asking the kinds of open-ended questions – like “What’s most challenging for you right now?” or “What have you already tried? – that draw someone further into their own reflection.
Paradoxically, the less we step in with answers as coaches, the more that can happen…
People begin to take ownership.
Motivation rises, because few things are more energising than the sense of solving your own puzzle. And the quality of thinking improves, because it is no longer constrained by the perspective of a single voice of authority.
This is not to say that mentoring has no place. At times, advice is not only appropriate but essential.
The key is knowing which hat you are wearing, and being conscious of the trade-off:
In a culture still wired to equate leadership with providing answers, coaching can feel counterintuitive, even indulgent.
Yet in many cases, “asking” instead of “telling” is the more radical and enduring form of leadership. It shifts the centre of gravity away from the leader’s wisdom and toward the team’s collective capacity.
Perhaps that is the real art: not silencing the “Advice Monster” entirely, but learning when to let it speak – and when to simply ask the next question.
Dr Michael Powell is a veterinarian, business thought leader, and Director at Lincoln Institute of Veterinary Business. With more than 25 years of experience in veterinary practice, he is also the former owner of a multiple award-winning ASVA Accredited Hospital of Excellence known for its industry-leading commercial performance. Today, his professional passion lies in safeguarding animal welfare by empowering the veterinary professionals entrusted with their care. A committed advocate for the veterinary profession, Michael has led significant research into veterinarian attrition. In 2019, he completed a multinational study of 1,500 veterinary professionals, followed by the Global Veterinary Sustainability Survey in 2021. These studies revealed the scale, causes, and impacts of premature departure from clinical practice and identified opportunities to address the issue. In 2018, Michael formed and chaired the Veterinary Shortage Think Tank, helping initiate the first coordinated steps in Australasia to recognise and respond to the veterinary workforce crisis. In 2021, he led a world-first Veterinary Sustainability Pilot with Royal Canin involving 127 veterinarians across 25 countries, exploring how non-technical competency training supports resilience and professional fulfilment. Outside of work, Michael enjoys time with his family and dogs, and unwinds surfing, camping, hiking, and exploring the Sunshine Coast.
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