Coaching from the Road

This summer I'm in the Seattle area for my family's every-two-years visit. So I'm coaching from the road. Here's a few observations:

Don't use your travel as an excuse. Honor your clients by not making excuses for poor connection or background distractions or postponements.

Schedule your coaching appointments all in a row. Last Thursday I coached 5 people in Asia from 5pm to 11pm with 15 mins between calls. Because they were all one evening, I wasn't distracted the rest of week by appointments, nor did I forget any. This summer I'm basically coaching Tuesday mornings and Thursday evenings. My clients were happy to accommodate my limited schedule.

Pay careful attention to timezones, and set according to the client's timezone. Try inputing all your coaching sessions on your computer's calendar with a timezone attached to the event. The calendar then adjusts the time to your local time. When your local time changes the appointment slides to a new time accordingly. The website www.timeanddate.com can also help.

Check out ahead of time your way of connecting (phone, Skype, etc) and make sure your clients know how you'll connect. Or figure it out once you get to your destination and email your clients if there are any changes.

Transition between other things you're doing and your coaching. Take a few minutes before hand to center yourself, pray, and be fully present. Rather than allowing your travel or new location being a distraction, tap into what the new environment stimulates in you during your coaching and use that.

Enjoy your travel and your coaching!