What's The Difference Between Coaching And Consulting?
There's actually a pretty big difference:
A consultant is someone who comes in to advise you and to answer questions on a specific area.
You are bringing the consultant in specifically for their expertise in a given area. You give them all the facts you have, and they analyze those facts combined with other data they know or can uncover, and then they recommend a course of action for you to follow.
For example, you might be restructuring your company and you want to know the best way to do it given your goals. A consultant will assess, analyze and then you hold the consultant accountable to recommend a course of action. Consulting usually focuses on tangible projects and consulting has an important place in the world of business in uncertain circumstances where you need outside expertise.
A coach is usually called in to addresshow someone is being relative to important issues. (e.g., working on social or emotional intelligence, leadership, positivity, being more productive, communication skills, teamwork, reducing defensiveness, becoming a more inspiring manager (or spouse or parent), identifying ways to avoid "overwhelm" or clarifying goals, managing issues that result from being a person who has ADD, etc.)
A coach asks questions, and assumes you have the answers. It's just that you just need to look at matters in a new way, or think from a new perspective about a current issue, to find answers that you perhaps didn't know resided in you all along.
A coach doesn't advise...except when you ask them to (or when they just can't keep something really juicy to themselves and then they'll first ask your permission before offering their opinion.) Even in those rare moments of advising, the coach is unattached to whether you take that advice or not. The coach's point-of-view is only important in that it might serve as a springboard to clarity for you ("No, Coach, it's not that, it's actually more this...")
In the end, decisions are yours to make, as you are the expert in knowing you and what you want. And a huge distinction versus consulting: A coach holds you accountable for action that you agree you want to take on.
The goal of the consultant is to recommend/advise/provide expertise.
The role of the coach is to inspire career or life-changing transformation from within you.
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A consultant is someone who comes in to advise you and to answer questions on a specific area.
You are bringing the consultant in specifically for their expertise in a given area. You give them all the facts you have, and they analyze those facts combined with other data they know or can uncover, and then they recommend a course of action for you to follow.
For example, you might be restructuring your company and you want to know the best way to do it given your goals. A consultant will assess, analyze and then you hold the consultant accountable to recommend a course of action. Consulting usually focuses on tangible projects and consulting has an important place in the world of business in uncertain circumstances where you need outside expertise.
A coach is usually called in to addresshow someone is being relative to important issues. (e.g., working on social or emotional intelligence, leadership, positivity, being more productive, communication skills, teamwork, reducing defensiveness, becoming a more inspiring manager (or spouse or parent), identifying ways to avoid "overwhelm" or clarifying goals, managing issues that result from being a person who has ADD, etc.)
A coach asks questions, and assumes you have the answers. It's just that you just need to look at matters in a new way, or think from a new perspective about a current issue, to find answers that you perhaps didn't know resided in you all along.
A coach doesn't advise...except when you ask them to (or when they just can't keep something really juicy to themselves and then they'll first ask your permission before offering their opinion.) Even in those rare moments of advising, the coach is unattached to whether you take that advice or not. The coach's point-of-view is only important in that it might serve as a springboard to clarity for you ("No, Coach, it's not that, it's actually more this...")
In the end, decisions are yours to make, as you are the expert in knowing you and what you want. And a huge distinction versus consulting: A coach holds you accountable for action that you agree you want to take on.
The goal of the consultant is to recommend/advise/provide expertise.
The role of the coach is to inspire career or life-changing transformation from within you.
Click here to return to
the FAQ Home Page
Ready to talk? Click to contact us.
