Missing Something?
It was a most irritating morning the other day that brought back memories of a few past
clients. Humorous as it might seem in hindsight, the situations that unfolded for me were
not for what I signed up. Yet with all things considered, due to experiences, I was utterly
prepared for every instance.
At 8:30 in the morning I extended a courtesy call to a client I was to meet an hour later.
The call was received well and my client confirmed that he would be there. With
confidence I started toward my appointed destination in my trusty pony car.
Arriving with time to spare, I surveyed the place for my client and concluded that he had
not yet arrived himself. Requesting a table, they seated me and I went on to review my
appointment file again in preparation.
I was not too concerned about my filling a few moments with some catchup activities. I
knew from the few notations in the file that this client’s coaching sessions starting an
average of 10 minutes late. It was something that I had come to expect with him and I
planned my appointment times to be set accordingly. I thought to myself then that
patterns can be assuring. The references in his file confirmed a recently missed
appointment, a missed call and appointment times starting characteristically late - all
with his apologies, of course.
I waited for quite a spell before deciding to give my client a call. Although being late was
usual for him, the hour was slipping dangerously close to my departure time if I were to
be respectful to both this and my next appointment.
Making the call, a surprised client greeted me who sounded like I had jarred him back into
this time zone. He let me know that after my confirmation call he had received a group of
e-mails that required his immediate attention. Apologizing, he said that he was only five
minutes away and that he would be right over.
I noted the time. He arrived 12 minutes later. It was now 30 minutes past the appointment time and I figured it was time to talk about time management issues.
I thanked him for coming over. He apologized again for being late and proceeded to
change the subject. Not taking his lead, I choose to do my job as the coaching
professional that he was paying me to be. I asked him if he realized the impact of his
actions. Looking startled that I would approach the topic again, he asked me what I
meant.
I said that the cost of non performance was not immediately obvious to him. To him, all
he saw was that he was late. He didn’t see that his actions over the last few weeks with
concern to his commitments to me had a cost not only to him, but me and my other
clients. I asked him if he were open to hearing the gory details. He said yes.
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Do you find this concept "provoking?" Care to read more? Want to take action that will "provoke your success?" This and fifty-seven more chapters designed to provoke your success can be found here.
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Coach John S. Nagy is CEO and Lead Business Coach for Coaching for Success. Inc., a Business Coaching Service specifically designed for top level decision makers dedicated to peak performance in all facets of their activities. He's hired to focus them continuously in activities that bring higher returns on their resource use. His programs are for the seriously committed. This means having his clients work "ON" their businesses, not just "IN" it. He's a published author and a multi-degree professional with a nationwide client base. Coach Nagy can be reached through his E-mail address at his website at http://www.coach.net and by calling 813-949-0718.
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Copyright © 1999-2007 John S. Nagy
