What is The Difference: Sports Coaching vs. Business Coaching vs. Consulting?
Given the growth and market potential of the business coaching category, a frequently asked question is an explanation of the difference between "business coaching" and "business consulting."
While some coaches call themselves consultants, and some consultants call themselves coaches, ActionCOACH has taken the point of view that the best way to explain business coaching is to explore the connection between sports coaches and business coaches.
"There are huge similarities between sports and business," ActionCOACH John Layzell says. "Both an athlete and a business owner are driven and motivated to get their goals. They are very talented and have a single-minded focus to win."
"To really take their game to the next level, however, both need the perspective of a coach, because both types of people are sometimes blind to the obstacles or challenges that are really standing in their way." ActionCOACH Yamini Virani agrees.
"There are a lot of great athletes who never win a championship for a lot of different reasons," she said. "Then there are those great athletes who only win a championship after they get a great coach to lead their team or help them with their game."
"It's the same with business. Great business leaders and CEOs all had mentors and advisors they could rely on to guide them on a path of success. Most small business owners, however, haven't had that opportunity. That's where business coaching can fill a need and a gap of knowledge and information for the business owner they've never had before."
Where similarities end
While there are numerous similarities between sports and business coaches, there are a range of differences between business coaches and consultants.
"The best way to describe the distinctions between a coach and consultant is that a consultant will provide a solution for the client, while a coach will ask the right questions so that clients can discover or find the solution for themselves," ActionCOACH Jennifer Hines says.
"Business coaching presumes owners have the answers. It is a more interactive process that builds from the bottom-up, rather than a consultant model that operates from the top-down."
ActionCOACH Wayne Rutherford agrees.
"The consultant typically presents a series of solutions," he says. "Coached help guide owners to find results through their own thinking processes and problem-solving skills. This allows clients to 'own' results because their actions are ultimately guided by their own reasoning and ability to get the right things done.
"It's also why coaching tends to produce longer-term results. Everything is oriented to goals aligned with an owner's individual values and overall culture within an organization."
Long-term goals versus short-term solutions
In the ActionCOACH model, the primary focus on "Time, Team and Money" exists because over the years, it has found those factors are the main issues the majority of business owners want to improve.
"My mission is to help my clients find their own answers to leverage each of those areas based on our system," Rutherford says. "Sometimes, a consultant will actually do the work, or work on a specific project in an effort to enhance a business. The role of the Business Coach is really to challenge an owner to change the business themselves."
Pushing business owners to focus on long-term improvements is also a major difference between a business coach and a consultant. That vision eventually allows the owner to step outside of the company - something that most consultants don't consider.
"Our approach takes the entire company into consideration," ActionCOACH Josette Goldberg says. "It's taking a big business approach to planning and goal setting and applying it to small business - with the kinds of information resources the big companies have always enjoyed, but that were always too costly or too out-of-reach for most small business owners to use."
She also uses another analogy to explain the difference between a business owner and a consultant.
"I read somewhere once that a consultant will explain why one car is better than another, will teach you how to drive the car, and might even drive the car for you," she says.
"A coach on the other hand will show you why a car is important, help you discover why you have trouble driving it and sit in the passenger's seat next to you while you drive."
