Compare Life Coaching to Consulting

(And why it is vital that you understand the differences)

Are you confused about how life coaching relates to consulting?

Many people mistakenly assume that the life coaching process and the consulting process are, at least similar, if not the same or equal.

Yet, the two processes are Very, VERY DIFFERENT.

Why is it important to understand how the two processes are different from each other?

It is vital that you understand the differences so that you will be able to maximize the results you attain from either process. The processes are so different, that a person will get poor results, if any, from either process, if mistakenly treated as the other.

The key is to understand which process is best suited for which purpose and what the right conditions are to achieve the best results.

Unfortunately, too many people treat life coaching like consulting (and visa versa). Trying to get consulting results from the coaching process or visa versa, will undoubtedly produce very dissatisfying outcomes. Both the consulting and life coaching process offer exceptional results and rewards, when used under the right conditions for the right purpose.

Life Coaching and Consulting are as different as Football and Golf.
(In fact, the two processes are entirely the opposite of each other!)

Description of the Consulting Process With a Well Known Consultant Example.
(e.g. An attorney)

Consultants work on problems for their clients.
Attorneys work on legal problems for their clients.

Consultants are expected to provide credentials to prove their knowledge and expertise.
Attorneys are expected to show they graduated from law school and have passed the Bar Exam for the States in which they are licensed to practice.

Consultants are recognized experts in their chosen field.
Attorneys are recognized as experts in the field of law.

Consultants sell their expert advice.
Attorneys will sell their legal advice. Attorneys advise clients.

Consultants have a superior position to the client, at least in their area of expertise.
Attorneys take the power and superior position with their clients, at least, in the area of law.

Consultants also perform tasks on behalf of their clients.
Attorneys perform most, if not all legal tasks for their clients. They file lawsuits, create and file legal briefs, represent their clients to their opponents and the court, and the list goes on.

Consultants work on problems or tasks that do not involve the personal growth of their clients.
Legal problems rarely involve the personal growth or improvement of clients, and if they do, most attorneys only focus on the legal aspects.

Consulting clients have little, if any, control over the RESULTS of consulting.
Clients must accept the results or outcome they get from legal actions.

Consulting clients have little, if any, control over the consulting process.
Clients are limited in what they can and want to tell their attorneys. Clients can exercise some control over the legal consulting process, but not much. Clients can have some say so over whether to file and/or withdraw a lawsuit, give settlement conditions, direct attorneys to send intimidating letters, or direct attorneys to file for custody.

Consulting clients and consultants are not expected to develop personal bonds, and rarely do.
Most attorneys and clients keep their personal lives and legal issues very separate. Attorneys normally try to avoid dealing with the personal lives of their clients unless they have to, and then they refer them to others for help.

Consultants share the limelight and credit (and frequently control both) when successful outcomes occur (and even when unsuccessful ones happen).
Attorneys almost always take the limelight and credit during and after the legal process. They like being the star. Does Johnny Cochran come to mind?

Description of the Life Coaching Process Using the Same Consulting Criteria.

Life Coaches assist their clients to achieve their coach-able goals.
Clients set their goals and the reason they hire a coach is to accomplish their goals.

Life Coaches have few, if any, credentials to prove that they are experts.
Instead, coaches can provide experience and the successes of former clients. Actually experiencing personal coaching with a coach offers the best evaluation method for a client.

Life Coaches are not experts nor do they profess to be.
Coaches assist their clients to become the worlds leading experts on themselves.

Life Coaches do NOT provide expert advice.
Coaches encourage their clients to find the answers that have virtually been there all along.

Life Coaches are Equal Partners with their clients.
Coaches are like a copilot sitting in the passenger seat of an automobile traveling to the same destination (the accomplishment of their clients goals). Coaches do not exhibit a superior position.

Life coaching clients will improve and grow as a person as they achieve their coaching goals.
The goals that are best suited for the coaching process require clients to grow and improve as a person to accomplish them. Life coaching clients reduce their stress, increase their energy, make better decisions, increase their life balance, increase their peace of mind, and focus more on what is really important to them, BECAUSE of participating in the coaching process.

Life Coaches perform NO tasks on behalf of their clients!!.
Coaching clients perform all of the action steps to achieve their goals. (Coaching clients always drive the car in this analogy)

Life coaching clients have TOTAL control over the coaching process.
Both the clients and their coaches must discover the path to success together. Clients will control and follow the path of discovery that reveals their inner passions, desires, values and priorities. The coaching process will not be constrained by a written agenda or organized steps. Instead, the coaching process provides a free forum to discover where the client is and then develop the best path for individual clients to achieve their specific goals.

Life coaching clients develop a strong personal bond and trusting relationship with their life coach.
The very personal nature of the life coaching process requires clients and their coaches to develop a very strong mutually trusting, mutually respectful and mutually focused partnership.

Life coaching clients have virtually TOTAL control over the RESULTS they reap from coaching.
Life coaching clients set the goals they want to achieve through coaching. The purpose of hiring a coach is to achieve their goals. Their coaches concentrate on the goals being achieved. The achievement of the predetermined goals produces the RESULTS desired, and much more.

Life Coaches avoid the limelight and credit.
Life coaching clients receive all of the fame and adulation that goes with participating in the coaching process. Coaches avoid the limelight or taking any credit. Plus, the coaching process is very confidential and private, and unless the client says something, no one will even know a person has a life coach.

Conclusion!

The more you understand how both processes work, the more you will be able to select the process that best suits your objectives. The more you allow each process to operate as it was designed, the greater the rewards you will receive from using the process. The more you interfere with each process, the more you will reduce the benefits you receive. As you can see, you will want to be sure that the consultant you hire performs solely as a consultant to accomplish your consultant goals that the consulting process was designed to do achieve.

You will also want to be sure that the life coach you engage performs solely as a life coach to assist you to accomplish your chosen coach-able goals that the life coaching process was designed to achieve. Should your life coach begin to act like a consultant (Hint-you feel your coach is superior to you, your coach gives you advice, tells you what you should do or should not do, offers to do the work for you, judges you, criticizes you, and/or competes with you for the center of attention) you will want to terminate the relationship as a life coach partnership. You will also discover that the new consultant relationship that occurs will virtually assure that you will not achieve your coach-able goals.

Don't miss the difference! Consultants consult. Life coaches coach. You DO NOT want to let a person act as both a life coach and consultant within the same relationship with you. This will lead to undesirable results for both processes.Don't miss the difference!

Life Coaching Versus Consulting News