In today's business world, more and more people are either self employed entrepreneurs or 'intrapreneurs' in a corporate setting. Much of the mentoring that existed in earlier decades simply does not exist in the business environment of today'at least not in a formal way. Many business people today are hiring their own personal coach (life coach) to assist them in navigating through the rapids of today's business world. In fact, many companies now offer coaching as a 'perk' to attract the highest quality employees who want to achieve excellence in all areas of their life.

The term mentor is derived from Homer's Odyssey. In Greek mythology, Mentor was a loyal friend and trusted adviser to Odysseus, the king of Ithaca. While Odysseus was away fighting the Trojan War, he entrusted Mentor to guide Odysseus' son Telemachus in growing up to be a man. Mentor became his teacher, counselor, confidante, and protector for many years. Today the term mentoring is synonymous with the process of guiding and teaching others to learn how to gracefully move through life and all its challenges.

Mentoring today is present in some work environments wherein the younger professional is taught the ways of the older and wiser. But more and more businesspersons are hiring their own coach to help them excel in the work place and perhaps more importantly to excel in life!

Coaching is not consulting where a person is given methods and solutions to a problem. Coaching is a co creative partnership where the coach helps bring out the brilliance of the coachee and together they chart a course for the person to develop fully as a human being and be more successful in their chosen career in the process.

As a Life Coach, I work with people from a paradigm of possibility, rather than a paradigm of problems. Coaching is not about problem solving. It is about designing a future and creating a life that is fulfilling and purposeful in all areas. Although there is much popularity in the media about executive coaching and business coaching, I believe that all coaching is life coaching. We are more than our jobs and a well-rounded, well-balanced person is more likely to also be a better worker. A Life Coach, just as Mentor did with Telemachus, is available to focus on any and all areas of a person's life. My goal in coaching is to help the client answer the question, 'What do you want?' and then followed by 'What do you really want?' This question forms the basis of regular coaching sessions, either in person or by phone and the client works on action steps or 'fieldwork' that helps create sustainable results over time in the areas of their life they want to improve.

Life coaching is like an operating system such as Windows ' that is always on in the background even though it may not be visible. My clients may want to focus on job related objectives and their work role, but we always do so within the context of Total Life Coaching ', a system I teach that examines ones life in terms of balance and purposeful living. Perhaps one of the biggest gifts you can give yourself this year is the gift of hiring a coach, a modern day mentor to assist you in living the life of your dreams.

Co-Author Therapist As Life Coach: Transforming Your Practice (W.W. Norton Professional books, 2002)