Mentoring & Coaching
Mentoring in the Auxiliary
If you're considering stepping into a mentoring role, know this: you already have what it takes. It's about showing up, listening well, and sharing what you've learned along the way.
As a mentor, you play a vital part in welcoming new members and helping others grow into their full potential. Sharing your experience is more than just helpful—it’s leadership in action.
Passing on your knowledge and know-how builds a stronger, more connected Auxiliary. It's a way to invest in the future by shaping our next generation of leaders.
- The Coast Guard recognizes mentoring as one of its top leadership strengths—it's baked right into the "Leading Others" competency. That says a lot about the value you bring.
- When you mentor, you're helping someone unlock their strengths, build confidence, and navigate their career path. You’re also encouraging self-leadership—because the best mentors empower, not just advise.
- The world’s always changing, and mentoring helps members adapt, stay motivated, and bounce back from setbacks.
- No matter your office or how long you’ve served, your story and experience can guide someone else. And chances are, you'll grow in the process too.
- As mentees improve, the whole team gets stronger. Mentoring creates ripple effects—better performance, closer bonds, and a more resilient Auxiliary.
- Since 1991, the Coast Guard’s mentoring program has been proving its worth: mentors make a real difference in job satisfaction, retention, and helping others achieve their goals.
Coaching in the Auxiliary
Although coaching and mentoring often get grouped together, they’re actually different in how they support growth. Mentoring is more of a long-term, relationship-driven process where a member with experience shares advice and insights to help guide their mentee’s journey. Think of it as tapping into someone’s wisdom to help find your own path. Coaching, on the other hand, is more structured and focused. It’s about developing specific skills and applying them in real situations, with a clear beginning, middle, and end to the process. While coaching in the Training Directorate generally pertains to leadership coaching, keep in mind that coaching in other directorates may be tailored to specific competencies when needed.
The Auxiliary Coaching Guide (click here) is designed to give Auxiliary members a framework for a program of leadership coaching by helping them:
Become familiar with the key ideas on which coaching is built
Learn more about how coaching is different from mentoring (and why that matters)
Understand how coaching isn’t the same as counseling
Walk through how peer coaching works, step by step
Learn how to guide commitment conversations and follow-ups with confidence
Know what to do when someone delays or misses a coaching check-in
Recognizing that all members of the Auxiliary are leaders, note that the guide refers to the person being coached as a “Leader.”