Why I’m a Capricorn* about Not Allowing Consults While You’re Driving

Because it’s a traffic hazard, Washington state prohibits talking on a hand held cell phone while driving. Cars newer than mine are designed to make and take calls while both hands stay on the steering wheel. But it’s not just lack of hands-on-wheel /eyes-on-road that are the problem.

It’s mental-attention-not-fully-on-driving that is the bigger issue.

And as far as having a business / marketing consult or coaching session while you are driving, don’t try that with me.

No matter how clever you are, and how fast you think your motor skill reaction time is, it is neurologically impossible to split your attention between talking about the survival of your private therapy practice, and being a careful, defensive driver at the helm of a potentially lethal weapon.

This is a problem that goes beyond safety and liability, to the effectiveness of our business relationship. I have allowed this in the past, but no more.

• When you show up for your scheduled appointment with me while you are driving, you have put me in a position of partial liability for your lack of attention to any unexpected unsafe conditions of the road. I will no longer accept that liability.

• When you are driving, you aren’t fully listening to what you are saying, much less to what I am telling you. Inevitably then, I get email asking me to reiterate something that only partially entered your conscious memory. This is a waste of time for both of us. I will no longer use my time to re-explain in writing what I have carefully said on the phone.

• You are paying for my instruction and advice. Multi-tasking while I’m providing instruction and advice prevents you from fully comprehending and following through. Then you wonder why you aren’t getting any results. This is why – you haven’t done your part because you were driving when I outlined what you should do. That’s damaging to my professional reputation, and I will no longer contribute to that dynamic.

You know you would never dream of allowing your clients to keep a therapy appointment or coaching session with you while they are driving. You’d say it was a sign that they weren’t really invested in the work, or maybe had some disrespect for you as a professional. It is no different in keeping your own business consultation or marketing training appointment with me.

If you know me at all from Facebook or the PT forum, you know I’m usually quite laid back and pretty much the last person you’d expect to be a crusty ole’ rule-bound curmudgeon. But I am a boundary lovin’ Capricorn, and once in a while that part of me rears up.

So don’t take this personally. You aren’t the only person I’ve allowed to do sessions while driving. It’s just that it got crystal clear to me today that it has to stop.

*by the way, Capricorn here is a euphemism for hard-ass.