Coaching Company vs. Consulting Company – What Are the Differences?
People often ask me to explain the differences between Slater Success as a consulting firm vs. a coaching company. Am I a coach or a consultant? My answer is YES to both.
The distinction is that developing the strategy is the consulting piece while implementing it is the coaching element. A strategic plan needs to be paired with clear, actionable goals and subsequent regular check-ins.
When we collaborate with a company on its strategic plans, we dive into consulting on succession plans and fostering long-term growth together. It's all about understanding what's happening and seeing how our strategic planning can make a meaningful difference.
Coaching, on the other hand, is all about motivating people to take action. After helping to provide a strategic plan in the consulting phase, we can find that the program may not have progressed much, if at all, when checking in three or six months later.
However, if you consistently provide coaching on executing that plan, you're sure to see significant progress.
Here's an example. I did a two-and-a-half-day strategic planning session for the leadership team of a longtime client two years ago. One of the strategic plan decisions was hiring a COO, freeing leadership to grow the business. The COO’s roles and responsibilities would include handling the operations and many of the back-end activities. As part of the package they paid for, we had two check-in calls during the first 30 days.
When I checked in, I discovered they were so busy that nobody did anything. Then there were the obstacles that came into play:
“Wow, that means we're going to release control.”
“What if they're good? What if we train them up, and they leave?”
What if they're not good, then what?
During the second follow-up call, there still hadn’t been any progress. I said, “Okay, everyone, I'm going to add one more call to our agreement, and we'll schedule it in about three weeks. I'll provide you with the contact information for a recruiter who specializes in virtual CEOs. It's a national virtual law firm with seven offices.”
Three weeks after I gave them the recruiter referral, they still hadn't done anything. We then extended the contract another six months for implementation.
That's an exact example of the difference between consulting and coaching and how they mesh together. The consulting component effectively shapes the strategic and succession planning, as well as the foundational strategy that supports both. We achieve our goals collaboratively as a team, and I'm fully engaged during the consulting phase. The coaching component focuses on helping people fully understand and take ownership of the strategy and then consistently implement it.
Remaining involved in evaluating what works and what doesn't truly nurtures the needed accountability to make the strategic plan successful.
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