What Kind of a Coach Do You Need?
Coaches will tell you they're as unique as snowflakes. Maybe that's so, but it's also helpful--and pretty easy--to boil them down into four distinct personality types. The challenge is to find the one who best suits your own personality and goals.

The Informal Coach: The Friend
What they promise:
Best friends provide a shoulder to cry on, listen to your problems, help you put things in context, and work with you to create strategies for change.
The reason to use one:
You're overwhelmed with your workload and constantly struggling to catch up. You have trouble negotiating interpersonal relationships with staff and often feel isolated from your employees and executive team.
The traps:
Not taking responsibility. A best friend may help you find more excuses than solutions, so if you walk away from coaching sessions always feeling that you're perfect and your problems are everyone else's fault, you probably need to think about finding a new coach who will do a better job of holding you responsible.

The Motivator: The Guru
What they promise:
More than an expert on running a business, the motivator can be a psychologist with a powerful philosophy on management, leadership, and motivation. In some cases, he or she will arrive with books, DVDs, and seminars they'll encourage you to use.
The reason to have one:
You're fine with technical and financial matters, but need a purpose, a motivation to do the difficult things, as well as a psychological structure for making decisions.
The traps:
Losing perspective. It's easy to get caught up in the cult of personality that most motivators cultivate. Keep your direction, retain your scepticism, take away what's valuable, and ignore the rest.

The Number Cruncher: The Accountant
What they promise :
Number crunchers go deep into your business, performing quantitative analyses, putting processes under a microscope, and working with you to create by-the-numbers metrics to measure performance and achieve your goals.
The reason to use one:
Interpersonal issues are not the problem; understanding the basics of running your business is. Matters like finance and accounting lead to panic attacks.
The traps:
Becoming an emotionless robot. Not every challenge can be reduced to a number. Make sure you use the number cruncher in matters where metrics are helpful and don't apply spreadsheet lessons to the softer side of managing.

The Drill Instructor: The Sargent
What they promise :
A drill instructor will correct your bad habits by getting in your face, establishing strict schedules, and forcing you to stick to them. Expect lots of tough, tough love. Many are former military personnel and athletes.
The reason to use one:
You have goals and objectives, but lack motivation and have trouble sticking to timetables and following through.
The traps:
Rebellion. Believe it or not, many executives and entrepreneurs really don't like being bossed around--even when they need it and they're paying someone to do it. If you find yourself acting up against the idea, fix it or look for a coach that will take a less hard-core approach.

Brad Johnson
The Traveler Magazine
London