Professional Over-Accommodating

 When people don’t own their value, they tend to over accommodate.

Imagine calling your doctor for an appointment and then the doc saying something like – you are on the north side of town right so there’s a coffee shop that is about half way between us. Why don’t we meet there?

That’s not going to happen. You are going to go to the doctor’s office and at a time that is convenient for the doctor.

Aren’t you the professional, the expert in what you do? Yes, it is nice to accommodate some but we need to know where to draw the line.

Years ago I was putting together a group coaching program and trying to accommodate everyone’s preferences for days and times. It quickly became a logistical quagmire and so not fun that I procrastinated quite a bit. We finally got it scheduled but I had some serious work to do to regain my fun mojo.

That would have been the time for me to ask myself, “Wait, who’s the professional here?” and then pick a few different times that worked well for me and offer them to the group. If they really wanted the coaching and were committed to the value that they would create then they would make it work. And if they weren’t committed enough to make the schedule work then the chances were slim that they would create value in the program.

Are you over accommodating? If so, what would happen if you stopped?