Coaching a winning business team business coaches go for results. (Education).

Just as marketing or finance professionals have many different tools available to meet their objectives, business leaders can also use different creative approaches to educate themselves and their employees.

One recent approach gaining steam is the field of business coaching. Unlike traditional management consultants who observe and then submit written reports, business coaches function more like coaches of sports teams or Olympic athletes, working closely with clients to help them become more productive in the way they run their businesses.

At the Professional Coaches and Mentors Association's seventh annual conference in Long Beach last month, more than 200 business coaches explored topics such as emotional intelligence, tolerance for turbulence, and assuring corporate profitability. Among the participants were coaches with specialties ranging from career development to the merging of cultures during corporate acquisitions.

How does coaching work? The logistics organizer for the conference, Phil Gross, a Seal Beach-based coach and "evocateur," (coining a word from "evoke" and "provocateur") makes a point of not just giving advice to a client. Rather, he asks a client to "tell me your dream and I'll help you manifest it." Most people, says Gross, are stymied by something, but don't know what that is. And whether the client is a Rodeo Drive jeweler or a city official, a coach's job is to identify and demystify the obstacle so it will not prove a hindrance.

A Coach for Every Arena

Coaches say leaders in any field can benefit from coaching. Demian Lichtenstein, for example, is a top Hollywood writer-director-producer who has done several hundred music videos with artists such as Sting and Eric Clapton. His first film was the $500,000 independent feature "Lowball" in 1997. But after working with coach Beth Weisenberger he was next able to jump to directing the $50 million film "3000 Miles to Graceland" (released in 2001) with Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell. On his next film, he plans to bring in Weisenberger and Hany Rosenberg -- both now with Laguna Beach executive coaching firm The Rosenberg Group -- for an initial 12-hour coaching session with the entire cast and crew.

Since Lichtenstein believes in the value of coaching and in balancing the spiritual, physical, emotional, business and creative areas of his life, he has coaches to help him attain breakthroughs in each area. His weightlifting coach, for example, recently helped him bench-press 305 pounds. His business coaching, says Lichtenstein, focuses on "not what I do, but who I am as a person. If I'm being a jerk, my likelihood of success is very limited compared to being a passionate, committed man of my word. An extraordinary leader creates a different outcome."

Last month Lichtenstein invited a writer into his offices to observe a business coaching session with Gross. He put things on hold to take a phone call about a feature film he is developing with the NHRA called "Dragster." After trimming the budget from $48 million to $42 million, he returned to the matter at hand: preparing for a "pitch" meeting the following week at a major studio. In answering a few of his coach's pointed questions about the upcoming meeting, Lichtenstein was able to dispel any lingering doubts he had about how the presentation would go.

Not About 'Fixing a Difficult Employee'

Frumi Barr is a business advisor/leadership coach whose Newport Beach-based firm serves rapid-growth companies generating $5 million to $25 million annual revenue. Barr, who co-chaired the PCMA conference, says clients value her 25+ years of entrepreneurial experience; she ran several companies before becoming a leadership coach. Coaching "is not about 'fixing' a difficult employee," says Barr. Instead, she works directly with owners and top executives of her client firms. "What's the most important thing on your plate?" she will ask. Depending on the client's needs, Barr will then focus on issues ranging from funding strategies to effective employee communication to partner conflict resolution.

Barr's clients include companies in the fields of premium incentives, barter exchange, dental technology, solar panel manufacturing, and many high tech companies. She typically helps clients be aware and clear about the direction they're going, then helps them sustain momentum. One client is James Chandler, the COO of Spectrum Communications, an advertising and media company. Chandler is impressed by the fact that her business acumen ranges from listening skills to a working knowledge of EBITDA.

Coaches themselves also use the expertise of other business coaches. Jill Pelter's Newport Beach-based Leadership Resource Group coaches clients ranging from an insurance company to a large foods manufacturer to a city fire department. When her company was still in the startup phase, she herself called on a coach for help in "identifying some short- and long-term goals along with specific action steps." Pelter credits Barr's coaching sessions with helping her reach specific milestones, such as creating a website, marketing materials, and an expanded contact list.

Without coaching, "I'd still be telling myself 'I'll get to it.'"

Dr. Stephen Johnson, a psychotherapist for 30 years, has practices in Beverly Hills and Woodland Hills. As the founder of the Men's Center of Los Angeles, he also helps men deal with their identity and purpose in a changing society. In addition, Johnson has been writing a book drawing on his experience in bringing out the best qualities in men. Unfortunately, though, Johnson suffered from an acute case of writer's block in finishing the book. "As a therapist," he explained, "I sometimes get so busy doing for others that I forget to do for myself."

So Johnson brought in a business coach to help him achieve a breakthrough. First, Gross asked him to put down on paper how he was feeling about the writing project. Johnson's three-page letter revealed his hesitation about the extra time required not only to write but to publicize the finished work. Then the coach helped him see a way to find enough time to accomplish the task. Had he not used coaching, says Johnson, "I'd still be telling myself 'I'll get to it,' without any real commitment. Instead, I had to be clear about what I want to do. Coaching helped me clarify the issues."

Another Los Angeles therapist accustomed to helping others found she too needed coaching when an executive client repeatedly called her "honey." After a business coaching session, she went to negotiate with him, saying, "Here are the conditions and boundaries it will take to work with me ..." When she left, he shook her hand.

Professional business coaches emphasize that session content is held in confidence, releasing information only with explicit permission. They also say results for their clients can be gradual, but can sometimes happen quickly. Johnson's book is now on track. And Lichtenstein, properly prepared and focused, made an effective presentation at the studio, and is now readying his pitch for the other major studios.

Bill Hoversten is a freelance news and features writer. He can be reached at [e-mail]