Could a work coach save you from burnout?

Google headquarters
The Google logo is seen at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. on September 2, 2011. Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google, says the best advice he ever received was "hire a coach."
AFP/AFP/Getty Images

There was a time when executives and employees on the verge of burnout turned to therapy. Now many of them turn to coaches.

In 2013, American companies spent more than $1 billion on executive coaching. More than 30 universities have added coaching programs to their curriculums.

From Harvard Business Review:

Create a More Connected Minnesota

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.

The growing popularity of executive coaching is a response to compelling needs. Many of the new business practices that so greatly improved productivity in recent decades also introduced contradictions into the relationships between corporations and their top executives. The most bedeviling of these has been a gradual warping of the traditional alignment of companies and their leaders. Developing more fruitful ways for businesses and executives to work together has become a priority and a new source of economic value...

For their part, managers of leaner, faster-moving organizations began to recognize the need for a subtler set of competencies: the communication and relationship skills required to influence and energize employees, adaptability to rapid change, and respect for people of diverse backgrounds. Today, executives expect emotional intelligence from supervisors and colleagues but find it's in scarce supply.

On The Daily Circuit, we discuss what business and life coaches do. How are they changing the way leaders manage?

"While therapy mostly focuses on the past, coaching helps us grow into who we want to become by using our aspirations and key strengths, encouraging habit changes in our daily lives, committing us to action and focusing on the future," wrote Santhosh Babu for Business Today. "Coaching is about an individual expanding his or her awareness and taking action for positive change."

Have you used a business or life coach for work-related issues? How did it influence the way you work? Leave your stories in the comments below.