Janets brilliant career was about to sink. If the constant river of negative complaints to Human Resources didnt subside, she would soon be floated out of her job and her career beached.

To prevent Janets pending disaster, her superiors hired coach Bill Tidd for her. Bill is the director of the Saint Lukes Health System Employee Assistance Program and the new Performance Plus leadership coaching program in Kansas City, MO.

My job as coach, says Bill Tidd, is to take people from where they are to where they want to be. The Harvard Business Review in November 2004 states that coaching is like the wild west of yesteryear; this frontier is chaotic, largely unexplored and fraught with risk. However, the feature article went on to say that the coaching process is immensely promising for leaders.

Corporate America is catching on to the value of a trusted person who can serve as coach. Coaching moves leaders and everyday folks alike from the best they can do at the moment to the point of success they desire. Examples abound. Sandra Wimpelberg, internal executive coach for the American Baptist Churches of the Central Region credits personal coaching with turning her life and ministry right side up. Coaching is an exciting journey of discovery and tapping into potential that I didnt know was there, states Wimpelberg.

Even President Bush has been encouraged to get a coach. Jim Hoagland, Washington Post columnist, on September 29, 2005 says the President is in need of a blunt friend.

None of us know all there is to know about ourselves, let alone what to do or not to do to stop blocking ourselves from getting where we want to be. Left on our own, we tend to keep doing the same things wondering why we dont get results we want. The coach is that blunt friend who calls you back to reality and makes the difference in your journey to success. Writers have editors, athletes have coaches, CEOs have stock holders and Boards of Directors. Alone, we only go so far in the world of success. Do you need a coach?

So, what happened to Janet? Coach Bill asked her to take the Kolbe A Index, an assessment tool which gave Janet feedback about her functional capacities at work. She was lacking in her focus on implementation of projects she and her team had put into motion. Before the last plan was in place and carried out, Janet would be issuing directives to pushing her team to initiate more new programs. Her team was overloaded, confused and frustrated. Janet was not able to understand their concerns, thinking the team was slacking off. In turn, her co-workers complained repeatedly to Human Resources about Susans poor leadership

With this understanding, Coach Bill worked to strengthen Janets leadership style. He helped her devise a plan to enable Susan to work with her team to finish what they had started before taking on the next challenge. Janet worked the coaching plan. She regained trust and respect from her team and gave them the leadership they needed. She also saved her career.

A coach can help brilliant careers stay afloat and moving. All you have to do is hire a good one, then use them for all they are worth.