Executive Coaches Are Not Consultants
Know your options when facing a leadership challenge
Yesterday I walked a former boss and old friend through the fundamental difference between executive coaching and management consulting. He’s a longtime CEO and general global-business superstar, yet he held a misconception I find common among CEOs, which is that executive coaching is a type of consulting engagement. When I explained how coaching fundamentally differs from consulting, and that the difference is defining, I saw the light bulb flip on.
It’s a conversation I’ve had more than once lately, granting me some practice in illuminating a topic about which I feel passion. Here’s what I say.
Consulting
A consultant is typically an expert on something very specific, hired by a client company to solve a specific problem. The problem might be incompatible data systems, a physical plant that needs an upgrade, or an issue that requires crisis-response readiness. The project might last a short few weeks, as in the crisis-response example. Or it might last a year or two if the challenge to be addressed is enterprise-level.
The client company pays the consultant, or group of consultants gathered in a firm, to dig in deeply then make recommendations on what needs to be done. Then sometimes…
