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If you are at a crossroads in your career, if you are struggling with building a great team, if you are wondering whether to pursue that new job or even about going out on your own, you may want to consider partnering with a coach. A professional coach works with clients to overcome both internal and external obstacles to success. Leaders at all levels of their career can benefit from coaching for a variety of reasons.

So how can a professional coach help? Working with a coach can provide:

Clarity. A coach will work with you to define your strengths and your career goals. A coach will ask you the questions that will bring out your passions so you can establish your priorities. Together you can talk through ideas so you can determine whether they are worthwhile to pursue.

Planning. Together with your coach you will determine the best approach to reaching your career goals. Ultimately the game plan will be yours to develop and yours to pursue, but your coach will be there to guide you toward your goals.

Confidence. Too often we are our own worst enemy. We psyche ourselves out. We get stuck on the what ifs. Your coach will work with you to set aside those inner criticisms and gain the confidence to face your challenges. Your coach will support you while you work to maximize your true potential.

Accountability. Your coach will not hold you accountable, but by working with a coach you will hold yourself accountable to the items discussed in your coaching sessions. You will be so much more likely to achieve your long term goals if you hold yourself accountable to each step in the process.

A coach is similar to a personal fitness trainer. A personal trainer pushes clients like you to achieve the highest level of physical performance. The benefit of a trainer is that he or she will push you harder than you would on your own and will not let you give up on yourself. You are likely to achieve your fitness goals faster with the help of a personal trainer.

A professional coach focuses on helping you achieve a career that builds on your strengths. A coach will challenge you, support you, encourage you and guide you towards achieving your professional goals. Is it time for you to consider coaching?

Most of us have the same resume. It consists of a list of jobs we have held in the past with a few bullet points telling the reader about the responsibilities for each role. While this has been standard practice for creating a resume, it does not necessarily show us in the best light.

Think about this for a moment. Does your resume highlight your strengths or your experiences?

Showing a potential employer your strengths is a great way to compete in today's labor market. This will also help to ensure that you are leveraging those strengths in your next role or position, which in turn, gives you continued motivation for success.

Take a look at your resume for a moment. Does it say, anywhere, where you are naturally talented? For example, let's say that you work in a strategic environment and your best asset is being able to see the big picture and create vision. Does your resume reflect that?

A Customer Service Manager might love helping to solve problems for other people. A school teacher might feel strongest when empowering the future generation. The chef might feel her best when she creates a unique combination of flavors. The salesperson might feel the most satisfaction not just for generating a sale, but for making a seamless match between a buyer and the right product for that buyer's needs. These are all examples of strengths which should be included on a resume. This is what a future employer wants to know about you before meeting with you in person. This is also how to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack.

Do not wait until you go to a personal interview to reveal your strengths. In today's competitive market, you may not get to the interview if your resume is not generating a compelling story to the perspective employer.

Here are some things to consider. Which tasks in your current or previous roles have made you feel the most excited and energized? Which tasks felt like the most fun? Which ones did you look forward to tackling? Why did they make you feel this way? The likelihood is that these tasks allowed you to play to your strengths, those activities which you have power and passion around. They probably made you feel challenged in the way that you prefer to be challenged, so in turn, they felt effortless. Your resume should reflect these strengths.

Now it is time to go take another look at your resume. How can you modify it to ensure that your strengths are really coming through? Employers do not just want to know what you have already done. They want to know what you can do for them now and into the future. So make sure that you are sharing your strengths with potential employers. Both of you will benefit.