How do I convince my manager to pay for coaching or mentoring?

Put it in money, not feelings. Name one problem that costs the company real EUR, attach 2 or 3 KPIs with a 3-month review date, and send the cost next to the cost of not fixing it: a mentoring pack is 2,166 EUR, replacing one senior engineer is 40 to 60k EUR. A forwardable email template with this structure is on marian.coach/get-your-company-to-pay-for-mentoring/.

What should a mentoring agreement with my company include?

Four things: a fixed scope (6 sessions over 3 months), KPIs agreed in writing before session 1, a mid-point review at session 3, and a final review with the sponsoring manager at session 6. At marian.coach the company pack is 2,166 EUR per leader, invoiced with PO from ELC Hub s.r.o.

What KPIs can mentoring realistically move in 3 to 6 months?

Pick 2 or 3, not six: regretted attrition to zero, delivery predictability from ~60% to 85%, underperformance cases actioned within 4 weeks, senior time-to-hire down a third, or one stuck structural decision shipped. Most mentees hit their first major milestone in 4 to 6 sessions, per 3,400+ sessions of practice data.

How much does mentoring cost the company?

361 EUR per session in prepaid packs of 6, so 2,166 EUR per leader, without VAT, invoiced with PO. The same public rate individuals pay, no corporate markup. 78% of the mentees at marian.coach run company-sponsored.

What if my manager says no?

Ask which number they disagree with: the cost of the problem or the cost of the fix. Offer the free intro session so they approve against a concrete plan instead of an abstract idea. If it stays no, the self-paid First quarter is 2,166 EUR, splittable into 3 payments of 722 EUR, and the promotion it supports is yours either way.

Get your company to pay for your mentor.

Your company will spend 40 to 80k EUR replacing the leader who burns out. It will hesitate at 2,166 EUR for the thing that prevents it. That is not a budget problem. It is a framing problem, and it takes one email to fix: the math, 2 or 3 KPIs, a review date.

Below: the formula, three worked examples, and the email, ready to forward.

Managers approve numbers, not feelings

"I'd grow a lot" gets you a pat on the back. A number with a review date gets you a PO. The value of mentoring over 6 months adds up from four lines:

Mentoring value over 6 months =

money saved // attrition prevented, mis-hires avoided, firefighting hours cut
+ cost of delay avoided // roadmap items shipping on time, not a quarter late
+ missed opportunity recovered // the initiative nobody had bandwidth to lead
+ roadmap slippage avoided // commitments that hold, planned vs shipped

Rule for the ask: count only the lines you can defend in front of a CFO, then halve the total. If the result still beats 2,166 EUR by 9x, and it will, send it.

Three worked examples

Engineering Manager, team of 8

Fully loaded team cost around 800k EUR a year. One senior engineer has a foot out the door, delivery predictability sits near 60%.

KPIs for the engagement: regretted attrition zero, planned-vs-shipped from 60% to 85%, the one open underperformance case actioned within 4 weeks.

The math, counting only the retention line: replacing that senior engineer costs 40 to 60k EUR in recruiter fees, ramp-up, and lost delivery. The pack costs 2,166 EUR.One prevented departure pays for the mentoring 18 times over.

Director, 3 teams, 24 engineers

A reorg decision has been stuck for two quarters. The flagship feature, with roughly 300k EUR of annual revenue attached, is slipping with it.

KPIs: reorg decided and shipped within 6 weeks, the feature back on the committed date, both open senior roles closed.

The math, counting only cost of delay: shipping one quarter earlier on a 300k EUR revenue line is worth about 75k EUR. Halve it for CFO skepticism: 37k against 2,166.Still 21x.

Staff Engineer

A build-vs-buy platform decision with 100k+ EUR a year riding on it, and influence that stops at the team boundary.

KPIs: the decision doc written, defended, and accepted; one cross-team initiative led end to end; the promotion case documented.

The math: one platform choice gone wrong recurs every year at six figures. And if the company loses you over a stalled promotion, replacing a staff engineer runs 6 to 9 months of salary. Either line alone beats the pack price by an order of magnitude.

What to ask for, exactly

Not "a coaching budget." A fixed, reviewable engagement:

Scope: 6 sessions over 3 months. Company pack, 361 EUR per session, 2,166 EUR total, without VAT, invoiced with PO from ELC Hub s.r.o. Zero procurement drama.
KPIs on paper before session 1. Pick 2 or 3 from the list below, agree them with your manager.
Mid-point review at session 3, final review with your manager at session 6.
Risk reversal: the intro session is free, and any session you rate under 7/10 is not charged.

KPIs that mentoring moves in 3 to 6 months, from 3,400+ sessions with 300+ leaders:

Zero regretted attrition on the team through the engagement.
Delivery predictability, planned vs shipped, from your current number to 85%.
Every underperformance case actioned within 4 weeks, not parked for two quarters.
Open senior roles filled and ramped, time-to-hire down by a third.
One stuck structural decision shipped: the reorg, the platform choice, the tech-debt budget.
Your own next-level case documented and on your manager’s desk.

78% of the mentees here run company-sponsored. This is what the L&D budget exists for. The numbers behind the milestone claims are public in the mentoring statistics.

The email. Copy, fill the brackets, send.

Subject: Budget ask: leadership mentoring, 2,166 EUR, measured in 90 days

Hi [manager name],

I want to fix [the one problem: delivery predictability / senior attrition risk / my transition into the new role] faster than trial-and-error will.

The ask: a 6-session mentoring pack with Marian Kamenistak (marian.coach), 2,166 EUR total, invoiced with PO. He scaled engineering at Mews from 8 to 80 teams through Series C and has run 3,400+ mentoring sessions with 300+ leaders in 17 countries.

What you get for it, agreed up front and reviewed with you at the 3-month mark:

1. [KPI 1, e.g. delivery predictability from 60% to 85%]
2. [KPI 2, e.g. zero regretted attrition on the team]
3. [KPI 3, e.g. both open senior roles filled and ramped]

Napkin math: replacing one senior engineer costs 40 to 60k EUR. This costs 2,166. If it prevents one departure or one quarter of roadmap slip, it has paid for itself 18 times over.

Risk is low: the intro session is free, any session rated under 7/10 is not charged, and we review at the halfway point. Pricing is public at marian.coach/pricing/.

Can I get a yes by Friday?

[Your name]

If the answer is yes

Book the free intro session: 30 minutes, your situation, and a concrete plan your manager can approve. If the answer is "maybe", forward them the pricing page and the cost breakdown. Still weighing mentor against coach? That comparison is here.