Coaching busy business owners can be challenging due to frequent interruptions, often from urgent phone calls. Here’s my approach to handle this effectively: Start with Focus: "What is the one significant challenge or obstacle you'd like to address today?" Set a Time Frame: "How much time can you dedicate to this session today, so we can work toward a viable solution?" Minimize Distractions: "To make the most of our time together, are you willing to avoid picking up incoming calls and handle them once our session concludes?" This structured approach helps us both, to maintain focus and achieve meaningful progress.

Interruptions in coaching are natural and can come from three sources: the coach, the client, or 'level 3' intuition. As a coach, if you're distracted, admit it, recalibrate, and regain focus. If your client interrupts the flow, address it directly—intrude with curiosity and invite them to explore the underlying cause. When a session is disrupted by intuition or external cues, trust your gut, share your insight, and guide your client through it. Coaching thrives on relationship, and managing these disruptions with openness strengthens the connection and keeps progress on track.

I’ve found that starting each session with clear agreements on the focus area and behaviours that will enhance the session’s effectiveness is key to keeping the discussion on track. It includes mutually agreeing to call a “time out” if the session veers off course, so we can redirect it back to the key focus. These agreements ensure the coachee is aligned with what will make the session most productive, ultimately serving their best interests. One of the most impactful concepts I’ve learned from my coaching supervisor is “re-contracting.” It involves revisiting and revising the agreements if they no longer serve the session. It allows the session to remain dynamic and responsive to the coachee’s evolving needs, ensuring continued progress.

Establish clear boundaries at the beginning by setting expectations for uninterrupted time, and firmly yet politely address interruptions by redirecting the focus back to the main discussion. Empathic approach prevails throughout the journey!

One thing i find helpful is i take a stock of the discussion so far and check with the client, how does it feel for him/her?. Once the client starts sharing , we focus on the moment and take the discussion ahead from there.