Coaching has been a necessity for decades and an extremely useful tool for some of the most successful businesses out there. Not only that, but if you’re looking to reach any other type of goal, there are a multitude of opposing coaches for every walk of life.
The art of coaching on a day-to-day basis allows you as an individual to gain professional and personal advice which ultimately guides you on the correct path within your chosen niche.
Mistakes will be halved, as you will be given experiences and knowledge from the people who’ve already been there and done it. Yet, what are the key differences between life and business coaching? Read further to learn more.
What is a Life Coach?
So, what is a life coach? These are coaches who will guide you through walks of life on a more personal level. Whatever it is that you want to improve on, whether that be finances, fitness, etc – a life coach will support you in any scenario.
Sometimes, they will often spot patterns of where you’re going wrong in a situation and give you some well-needed tips to improve in the areas.
For instance, there could be times when you’re extremely overreacting to external factors that you can’t change and will then negatively impact your entire day. A life coach will notice this immediately and help you to correct these patterns – giving you insights into your behaviour on where you can improve.
Or, if you’re struggling with some personal/financial problems, life coaches will help you with your overall well-being to combat these issues. A strong mind can overcome anything and that is what they will instil in you.
What is a Business Coach?
If you look into what a business coach is – they are much more focused on a professional/career outcome than life coaches. With anything regarding business, including finances, mistakes to avoid, money spending issues to avoid, etc – there will be full detailed discussions on the ins and outs of a running business.
Not only will you focus on the problems that you could face, but conversely, the coach and mentor will also hone in on areas where there are positive outcomes to be made.
For example, they may give you some tips on scaling your small business, how to act as the CEO of a company, keeping your business running sustainably for the long term and many more!
Often, the road to achieving success will not be linear – especially if you do it on your own. Consequently, business/career coaching sessions for your work life act as a way to hold you accountable for your goal setting and to lead you in the right direction if you’re heading the wrong way.
Whether the goal is sales, engagement or selling services to potential clients – business coaches will tailor your coaching to that specific goal. The same applies to your niche, employees, marketing spending, etc.
There are a lot of detailed specifics that make your program different to everybody else’s. This is why business coaching is so valued in the space depending on the business coach you employ in your team.
The Key Differences Between Life and Business Coaching
The main difference between life and business coaching is that business coaching is a lot more specific to improving your performance on a professional level in comparison to life coaching, which delves deeper into a multitude of avenues that could be affecting your execution.
Life coaches can be tasked with many opposing jobs depending on what situation their client is in. This style of coaching program takes a very knowledgeable person to break down and dissect.
A person’s life can be extremely complicated, yet, if you’ve been trained to spot patterns within a human’s brain, how they react to certain situations and how to move forward in the correct manner – you wIll have the best chance of giving them the life they deserve.
Putting someone on the right path and essentially ‘controlling their car’ for them insinuates that you will be a huge influence on their life. Therefore, if they have the belief and trust in your capabilities and put it into action, the results can be astounding.
Whereas, if you need business coaching to grow your business – of course, there will be some mindset tips that you will need to alter. However, a lot of the advice you will receive will be extremely focused on the technical aspect of business and how everything works.
Gaining business knowledge and tips from people who have run successful businesses before will give you an advantage as a business owner against your competition.
Leadership is a valuable trait of these business coaches and you will often know about their success before you hire them – therefore, listening to everything they say can sometimes be the best option to take.
Life and business coaches ultimately have their differences in styles of coaching, expertise and understanding of certain situations.
Additionally, the qualifications and experience will be a lot broader in life coaching compared to business coaching. Entrepreneurs will need opposing attention to someone looking to deal with their mental health – so you cannot compare and decide that these two jobs are the same.
Should You Hire a Life or Business Coach?
When your days consist of similar occurrences each day, it can be challenging to know whether you need to improve certain aspects of your life or not. Well… of course, you can improve. It should be a non-negotiable that you try to improve by 1% each day.
Ask yourself this… are you happy with where you’re at right now in terms of life or business? If the answer is no, or you think there are obvious improvements that could be made – it could be worth hiring a life or business coach.
If you lack motivation, discipline and holding yourself accountable as a whole – taking a leap of faith and using your own unique skills partnered with a life/ business coach could be a recipe for success. Search and choose from the many options available today in either field and watch your results skyrocket!
Mark is a multi-award winner in business networking and relationship building. He is passionate about coaching and mentoring business owners and professionals through 1-1 & group coaching, team performance workshops and group mastermind sessions.