When you are an executive facing a new challenge, one of the hardest questions can be who to ask for support. The more senior you are at your organization, the less you can count on your own manager or leadership to fill the gap.
When it comes to external advisors, executive coaches, therapists, and consultants can all offer help, but they aren’t interchangeable.
“We need people-helpers,” says CHIEF Coach Cheri Bachofer. “We need coaches. We need therapists. We need consultants… They all help us in a myriad different ways.”
The choice comes down to what you really need.
What do coaches, therapists, and consultants have in common?
All of these people-helpers bring their curiosity to your conversations, Bachofer says. And, if they’re doing their jobs well, they create a safe, trusted space where you can think out loud.
The difference, she says, is one of focus.
What does a therapist do?
“Typically, you work with a therapist when things aren’t working right today,” Bachofer says. A therapist “takes you back and has you sorting through, looking through, oftentimes reconciling things that make today work better for you.”
If what’s weighing on you involves your mental health, a licensed therapist is the right person to call. Executive coaching isn’t a substitute.
What does a consultant do?
“A consultant comes in as an expert,” Bachofer says. “You’re working with them for their knowledge.” They’ve done this specific work for years, often every day, and you’re paying for that expertise.
This relationship runs mostly one way: The consultant diagnoses the problem and brings the answer. That’s valuable when you need know-how you don’t have, but it’s a different arrangement from coaching.
What does an executive coach do?
“A coach comes in and meets you right where you are today and directs your focus and attention to the future,” Bachofer says. “How do we take what’s working today and move that forward to close the gaps between where you are now and where it is you want to be?”
When you work with an executive coach, your focus is creating your next steps toward the future you want.
CHIEF Coach Regina Zafonte says a lot of executive coaching is about identity work. She likes her clients to think about the impact they want to achieve. “Once they get clear on where they want to take their business, then we start backward,” she says, to understand the type of leader that future requires them to be.
“Sometimes they have to make some shifts,” Zafonte says, “They have to think more strategically, they have to influence even more. So we start with not only building some of those skills, but also expanding the capacity for them to take on more.” READ MORE
Source: chief.com
People often shrink themselves to fit past expectations, struggling between a natural desire to belong and the need to grow. Fear of being labeled negatively or appearing difficult causes many to remain silent and let demeaning comments slide. However, diminishing oneself shortchanges everyone and signals that poor behavior is acceptable.
If they choose to, business leaders can get all kinds of advice about how to steer their companies from books, conferences, and even magazines like this one. Recently, however, a small but growing cohort of leaders has gone further: They have been willing to open up about the spiritual foundations that guide their actions and outlook.
Every November, I pull out my personality assessments and reread them. I collect them the way some people collect wine: enthusiastically, and with strong opinions about each one. Blame my Enneagram 7 for signing me up for every one, and my ENTJ for arguing with every report.
