At the Fork in the Road: How Coaching and Life Planning Took Different Paths

By Jean-Luc Bourdon

Yogi Berra famously said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” It’s a clever remark but also serves as a metaphor for innovation. When we reach a point where the current path no longer seems right, we have two options: take the fork and launch in a new direction or go back and repave the road we’re familiar with.

In the 1980s and 1990s, two pioneers in financial planning faced that same fork. Both recognized that traditional financial planning, built around data gathering and projections, didn’t fully address the human aspect of money. Clients needed more than just a plan; they needed meaningful lives worth striving for.

One man took the fork and helped launch a new global profession. The other repaved the road and built a deeper, more human version of financial advice.

Thomas Leonard: Taking the Fork

Thomas Leonard started as a financial planner. He saw that spreadsheets, cash flows, and net-worth statements only partially answered the real questions clients had. What they needed wasn’t just asset allocation—it was alignment. They wanted to clarify their priorities, act confidently, and intentionally design their lives.

Leonard saw that the tools for this didn’t exist within the traditional planning framework. So he created them.

He founded Coach University in 1992 to train others in the methods he was developing, and soon after, he helped create the International Coach Federation (ICF), which became the world’s largest professional coaching organization. What began as an insight in a financial planning practice grew into an entirely new field: life coaching, now a university-taught discipline with graduate programs, ethics codes, and research centers worldwide.

Leonard came to a fork in the road, and he took it.

George Kinder: Repaving the Road

Around the same time, another financial planner, George Kinder, came to the same realization: money conversations without meaning felt incomplete. But instead of leaving the road, he repaved it.

Kinder developed the EVOKE® process and the Registered Life Planner (RLP®) credential through his Kinder Institute of Life Planning. His system trains financial advisors to facilitate deep discovery conversations—exploring clients’ values, life goals, and sense of purpose before designing a financial plan.

Unlike Leonard, Kinder didn’t propel a new academic field and profession; he enhanced an existing one. His methods remain within the structure of financial advice, supported by continuing education and certification renewals. The goal wasn’t to create coaches, but to make better financial advisors who can listen more deeply, connect more personally, and help clients align money with meaning.

Kinder came to the same fork, and repaved the road.

Two Paths, Two Legacies

Leonard’s new path led to an entirely new profession with its own infrastructure, ethics, and educational programs. Kinder’s approach of repaving kept the focus within financial advising, embedding life-centered methods into practice models that still manage investment portfolios and retirement plans.

Both approaches improved the human side of professional advice. But they differ in scope and purpose:

What This Means for Clients

If you’re a client seeking help in clarifying your goals, it’s worth asking which kind of professional best fits your needs.

• If your focus is holistic financial advice for integrating investments and life priorities, then a life planner or financial advisor trained in life planning makes sense. They will help you connect your money with your purpose and build financial systems around what matters most.
• If your focus is broader life change, such as health, relationships, purpose, energy, or career transitions, you may want a dedicated life coach from the coaching profession. They’re not bound to financial issues and can help you develop habits and accountability structures across all areas of life.

In other words:

• Life planners tend to integrate life meaning into financial advice. Their services are often contingent upon investment management.  
• Life coaches tend to expand beyond financial concerns. Their services are paid for on a stand-alone basis.

Both emerged from the same insight—that money is only a means to a meaningful life. They simply reacted differently when facing the same fork.

Closing Reflection

Many of us eventually face our own fork in the road. Some leap forward into uncharted territory, discovering new landscapes. Others repave the road they traveled on, making it smoother and richer for those who follow. Either way, progress occurs when someone determines that the old road no longer feels sufficient.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of any firm or organization. This content is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as personalized financial, tax, accounting, or investment advice. Although the author is a CPA and holds the PFS credential, no professional services are being offered through this article. Readers should consult their own qualified advisors before making decisions based on this information. The content may include information from sources believed to be reliable but is not guaranteed and may be subject to change without notice.

Copyright: © 2025 Jean-Luc Bourdon, Original text, structure, organization, and editorial revisions created by the human author. The author used AI as a drafting tool, but exercised creative control by rewriting, restructuring, and contributing original analysis, tone, and expression. Disclosure in accordance with U.S. Copyright Office guidance on AI-assisted works.