Here’s the dilemma I often hear.

“I am very spiritual and feel deeply connected to my work and my clients and while I really enjoy working within a “coach like” framework, there’s a part of me that is really practical, straight-shooting and has a lot of hard core business ideas and strategies I know will help my clients get results. I get stuck not knowing which way to lean. I don’t know if I should be more like a coach or more like a consultant or teacher?”

So, the question is, are you a coach, a teacher, a mentor or a consultant?

The answer is, pick one if you must but if you’re all four then be all four.

I am a firm believer that there is a time and place for everything and people are dynamic, moody, magnetic, influential, loving, and directive at different times in their day, depending upon what they are doing and with whom they are interacting. In order to best serve my clients I have to respond the best way I can to where they happen to be in any given moment. I do not believe that how you do one thing is how you do everything. That sounds like some sort of adage people have been throwing around because it sounds good but they have no idea what it really means. And I do not work with all of my clients in the same way.

Sometimes my clients need much more coaching, listening, and support and when that happens I take them where they are. Clients who have worked with me a long time know that I am just as likely to cry with them when something really difficult has happened in their life or they have a huge breakthrough as I am to give them a loving but swift kick in the pants when they are making excuses or not acting. Some of my clients never go to the deeper side of their emotions and they come to me because they know I am very down to earth and practical and I will call it like I see it and challenge them in a way that will inspire and support them to act.

The fact is if we are feeling a tug, if there is a little uncertainty about how you’re “supposed to be”, then you’re simply not being who you can’t help but be. There is a way to seamlessly combine your knowledge and expertise (the more practical and tangible aspects of your work) with the less tangible aspects of your work (connecting with them on a deeper more spiritual level) so that you feel in alignment and they get what they need. There IS room for both.

So, the next time you start wondering on what side you’re supposed to fall, remember that nobody says you have to pick. You can be a “practical passionate” and deliver even better results by simply going with your flow.