Consultative Coaching


“Leadership is Something You Do With People, Not At People”  – Ken Blanchard

For many people, consultative coaching may be a new term.  But as a concept, it’s been used for many years and is not a new phenomenon.

Sylva Leduc, and the rest of the Sage Leaders team, have been working with leaders as their “Trusted Thinking Partner” for more than 19 years as we offer creative solutions through consultative coaching.

What is consultative coaching?

It’s a blended solution with part coaching and part consulting.

The combination of coaching and consulting creates more value and accelerates change for our clients.  Using both coaching and consulting services is a strategy that is extremely effective with savvy clients in today’s complex organizations.  A certified coach who is also a consultant is able to operate skillfully in environments of change.

Cheryl C. Belles described in her article “Blending Consulting and Coaching for Real Value”:

Consider this a bell curve.  At one end of the curve is pure consulting, at the other end is pure coaching.  In the middle, for each consultation (or meeting with a client), there exists an optimum blend of coaching and consulting behaviors.”

Click here to read Cheryl Belles’ original 2000 article on Consultative Coaching

A certified coach is aware of the information their client needs so they can be consultative when the situation calls for it.  The key is to choose strategies that provide optimum benefit to the client, be it a coaching or consulting strategy.  Examples may be to allow the client to fully explore a situation before providing information or help the client to understand the entire process, determine where they are now and what they need to do to be successful.  An organization (or team) example is to 1) start with an objective assessment of an organization’s existing methods, systems, and leadership capabilities, then 2) coach the organization through a discovery process to identify what must be changed, why it must be changed and how to change it, and 3) follow through with coaching to implement new management systems and develop required leadership skills  Coaching does not impose a decision on a client as much as it facilitates awareness of the choices they have and the implications of those choices in relation to desired results.

Using a combination of baseline assessments and individualized coaching sessions, clients will identify and address skill gaps, define personal goals, develop action plans, and monitor progress toward those goals.  Consulting may include observing the employee in work situations (job shadowing) and facilitating development of specific work strategies.

Consultative coaching includes the following client groups:

  • Executive
  • Leadership
  • Teams/Group

This combination of coaching and consulting is highly effective for:

  • Fast track/succession planning for high-potential employees
  • Recruiting and retention of the best talent
  • Increasing productivity and as a relief valve for key employees
  • Employee intervention as defined by objectives or shortcomings in performance reviews
  • Identifying and eliminating barriers to reaching objectives
  • Reduction of corporate politics
  • Facilitate and maintain long range and complex initiatives
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