Unlocking Business Success: The Power of Combining Business Coaching and Consulting Strategies
Don’t hire a business coach or consultant until you’ve done some soul-searching (and research!) about what you need. You may figure it out along the way, but you’re better off having an idea of what you want to achieve before you look to hire someone.
If you’re unsure about what you want, you’ll get mixed results, no matter who you work with - coach or consultant - how good they are, or their past clients’ results.
Descriptions of coaching and consulting, according to the International Coaching Federation (ICF) are below:
ICF defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. Coaching is a client-driven process… With coaching, the assumption is that individuals or teams are capable of generating their own solutions, with the coach supplying supportive, discovery-based approaches and frameworks.
Consulting: Individuals or organizations retain consultants for their expertise. While consulting approaches vary widely, the assumption is the consultant will diagnose problems and prescribe and, sometimes implement solutions.
There are some key differences between coaching and consulting:
Focus. Business Coaching focuses on the personal and professional development of the individual or team. Through a process of exploration, the client generates their own solutions with the support of the coach.
Consulting is focused on solving specific business problems or challenges, and providing expert advice. The consultant often provides the solutions and method of implementation, and may support the implementation process, or implement the solutions themselves.
Approach. Business Coaching is collaborative and involves working with the coachee to improve their leadership, communication and decision-making skills, and developing individual abilities.
Consulting tends to be more directive and involves providing analysis, solutions and recommendations to the client.
Timeframe. Business Coaching is an ongoing process with regular meetings over an extended period of time.
Consulting is typically a project-based engagement with a specific timeline and deliverables.
Outcomes. Business Coaching outcomes are generally focused on personal and professional growth, leadership skills, and larger strategic objectives.
Consulting aims to achieve specific business objectives, or to solve particular problems or challenges.
While there are fundamental differences, there are benefits to working with a professional who can combine these two valuable services into one packaged offering.
In our experience, the two can be kept very separate; however, our clients get the best results from a combination of coaching and consulting.
Project-Based Consulting
We worked with a physician who was preparing to open a multi-modality practice where she would be the consulting physician. She engaged us for project-based consulting to open her integrative wellness center.
She had already handled the legal and accounting details, secured a lease, and was beginning the build-out of the space. We worked with her for six months to establish the business model, set the operational flow, and get clear about the pricing structure for elective and ancillary services. We also engaged a medical marketing expert to build a patient base.
This was a fast-paced, challenging and exciting project. As the expert in the role of consultant, I took the lead on research initiatives, making introductions in the community, and was integral to the hiring process. It was incredibly gratifying to support this client from concept to grand opening and beyond.
One of the limitations of a consulting-only relationship is the lack of time and a framework for coaching through challenges or if the client gets stuck when they need to make quick, clear-headed strategic decisions.
The consultant has very specific guardrails, and due to time and other constraints, must stay in their lane. This presents major challenges if the client is lacking clarity or has a tendency toward analysis paralysis.
Business and Executive Coaching
Early in my coaching career, I shied away from giving direct advice or solutions to my clients, even when they would get stuck on a business problem. This presented a dilemma because being a practice owner requires clarity, agility, and quick decision-making. Since I have extensive consulting experience, I started to incorporate opportunities for my clients to ask for solutions to their pressing business issues.
The results were remarkable. My clients implemented the solutions I provided while continuing to work on their personal and professional growth. They reached and exceeded their business and professional goals, often way ahead of schedule, and we attribute this to their dedication to their own growth, and to getting support with specific business challenges.
Coaching + Consulting
Most of our clients now work with us for combined coaching and consulting. One of our clients owns a regenerative medicine practice, and engaged us to work with them and their team to refine operations and patient service. We started with a full-day VIP strategy session to determine their strengths, main business objectives, and to define the scope of work.
We approached consulting in a collaborative manner to ensure the solutions we provided were tailored to fit their specific needs. Deliverables included business operations manuals, scripts for reception, and administrative training manuals.
I coached the owner on communication skills, streamlining aspects of his role to conserve time and energy, and on raising awareness to the signs of burnout so he could head it off at the pass. I coached the head nurse, who is also the practice manager, on developing her leadership and communication skills, and delegating tasks that didn’t belong on her plate.
Over the course of 18 months, what had been a disorganized practice with inconsistent revenues became a calm, spa-like environment with happy staff and patients-turned-repeat-customers, who became their main source of referrals.
The combination of coaching and consulting will support you in strengthening your leadership skills, and can accelerate the pace to reach or surpass your goals.
If you’re uncertain about how to reach your goals, we recommend you speak with several experts to determine fit, and gain the clarity you need to become an agile and exquisitely fulfilled practice leader.
I would be honored to be one of the experts you speak with to see if working with a coach and consultant is right for you.
We provide a proven, impeccably designed method to help you scale your practice while preserving your most precious assets: your time and energy.
Click here to schedule your complimentary 45 minute Practice Assessment Strategy Session.