Understanding the Differences

Consulting	Executive Coaching	Therapy
Present/Future	Future Oriented	Past/Present
Is paid to come up with answers	Is paid to tap the best solutions in clients’ brains	Is paid to focus on past issues to diagnose current behavior
Asks management questions so consultant can create structure, clarify goals, action plan and success metrics	Asks powerful questions so client can co-create structure of coaching plan and set performance and developmental goals.	Typically not goal-oriented nor highly-structured.
Strives for objectivity: Consultants’ brains do most of the thinking	Strives to generate client reflection and insights: Clients’ brains do most of the thinking.	Explores past subjective experiences. Client reflects primarily on the past and present.
Is primarily accountable for delivering insights, ideas and plans to meet terms of engagement	Is accountable for eliciting ideas, insights and motivation from the client and holds the client accountable for achievement of goals	Explores past, subjective experience for causation and understanding of current behaviors. Typically not goal-oriented.
Applies expert analysis	Elicits clients’ expertise, ideas, options and solutions	Applies expert analysis to treat dysfunction
Is hired to do the thinking for you	Is hired to improve your thinking	Is hired to understand the origins of your thoughts
Delivers business solutions	Facilitates holistic solutions to improve performance, work/life balance, degree of engagement and quality of life.	Facilitates awareness and diagnosis of clinical dysfunction for on-going treatment and management
Based on professional business ethics	Based on International Coach Federation core competencies and ethical guidelines	Based on medical ethics