Episode Details

What is the actual purpose of a coach, consultant, or advisor?

In this monologue, Jay Doran explores the distinctions between the helping professions and why the right outside perspective can change the trajectory of a leader, founder, or entire organization.

Jay begins with a simple idea: information is opportunity. As organizations grow, information has to move through them. When communication, knowledge, perspective, and feedback stop flowing, organizations develop what Jay describes as "clogged arteries." The role of a great third party is not simply to provide answers. It is to help restore that flow and increase an organization's capacity to think, see, decide, and act.

From there, Jay breaks down the definitions and origins of three roles that are often used interchangeably: the executive coach, the advisor, and the consultant.

A coach, at its root, is a vehicle that moves someone from one place to another. In leadership, an executive coach helps someone move from their current level of effectiveness toward the level required by their responsibilities.

An advisor is "one who helps another see." Rather than making the decision, the advisor improves the decision maker's field of vision by providing perspective, judgment, and insight they may not otherwise have access to.

And consulting, at its foundation, is about thinking with someone rather than thinking for them. Great consulting creates joint deliberation. It helps leaders and organizations analyze their circumstances, recognize opportunities, consider alternatives, and strengthen their ability to think independently.

That distinction leads to one of the central ideas of the episode: good consulting increases a client's capacity to think. Bad consulting creates dependency.

Jay also explains why so much of the value a professional brings into a room is created long before the client conversation begins. Every book read, interview conducted, podcast recorded, problem studied, conversation held, client experience navigated, and hour spent thinking contributes to the perspective that can eventually be brought into another organization's problems.

The episode ultimately provides a deeper explanation of how Jay views Culture Matters itself: as a consulting and advisory firm working alongside founders to help them see opportunities, think more clearly about their organizations, and execute possibilities they may not have previously recognized.

Because sometimes the greatest value of an outside perspective is not telling you what to do.

It is helping you see what you could not see before.