"We sometimes need the knowledge that we are not completely alone, that there is someone out there who we can talk to about the stresses, the conflicts and the feeling side of some of the decisions we're making," says Deirdre Jersey, owner of a Raleigh, NC, public relations firm, Public Images. She has an on-call arrangement with a coach.

As many Female business owners and top executives know, there is, quite often, no ready ear. There is no colleague on your own level (and certainly no subordinate) with whom you can comfortably discuss personality conflicts with an employee or stress over a situation you may not have handled well.

And "talking through things is important to most women," Jersey says.

"Stylistically, (women and men) are worlds apart," says Maxine Hartley, a Manhattan consultant who specializes in women's issues. "The decision reached by a man and a woman might be quite similar, but the process of getting there is often very different."

And that's OK, says Joyce Jordan, a Raleigh, NC, clinical social worker who serves as counselor-on-call to for several female clients. These women "tend to be among my healthiest clients," she says. They talk about everything from the "emotionality factor" in "making unpleasant personnel decisions" to coming to terms with competition with other women, she says.

The hire-a-consultant phenomenon is almost exclusively a Female thing.

"Most men in (executive) positions believe they should know how to handle themselves in all situations," says Jordan, so the concept doesn't readily occur to them.

"They're still stuck in the old models," says Leslie Smith, spokeswoman for the National Association for Female Executives. "They cannot show they're vulnerable."

Women seeking conversation on demand are finding a variety of options.

Some management consultants offer executives a service known as "business coaching." For a fee, the consultants listen and offer advice on all manner of personnel and interpersonal dealings. While they work with both men and Women, most report coaching more Women.

"There is not someone else down the hall for these people to talk to," says Lori Pedelty, head of Capstone Consulting in Chicago. She's now a business coach to many clients she previously assisted through strategic planning, reorganizations and other such projects.

Unlike therapists or counselors, business coaches offer specific business advice. But they also are frequently called upon "when the manager simply needs someone to confide in," says Pedelty.

Pedelty and her clients have talked about how to smooth out a relationship with an employee after a big blowup; how to undo a promotion after the employee turned out to be woefully unsuited; how to prepare the staff of a small company for the imminent retirement of the CEO; and how to be a more effective leader and communicator. "These are all thorny problems that require the professional expertise I can provide, as well as compassion and sympathy for the turmoil the client is going through."

Pat Ewert, CEO of Joseph Electronics, a $10 million firm in Niles, Ill., Has had a business coach arrangement with Pedelty for several months. Ewert ways it's vital to have an adviser "who has some distance form the company…is non-judgmental and who has my best interests at heart." And, she says, the relationship has contributed mightily to her personal growth.

Some might wonder if this is yet another fast-tracker fad, like hiring personal fitness trainers in the late '80s. Most observers think not.

There are many reasons this trend is emerging now, they say. First, Women in top positions are no longer mimicking successful men; they're growing more comfortable with their distinctive differences, including what for many is a need to talk out issues.

Furthermore, "we haven't been in high positions all that long," says Hartley, and so women are seeking a kind of continuing education.

Also, says Pedelty, most Women have a stronger need than men to see a career as something that contributes to their happiness and fulfillment.

Finally, there's the personal/professional conundrum. "It is still primarily the burden of a woman to deal with the balance of work and family," says Pedelty, and that can require periodic examination, prioritizing and venting.

"Women have unique needs, and those needs are not going to go away," says Pedelty. "Women will continue to look for ways to refine their strengths, and this in one way of doing that."