“I need you to be lazy,” the Coach said.

Driving through the neighborhoods of manicured lawns, the Client had peered only at the road right in front of him. His attitude, regarding the interior of the car, the nearby traffic, or the amount of gas in his tank, was not lazy. He was not glancing at the palm trees that bordered the lawns. He did not take shortcuts. He did not wander off of his chosen path in a lazy manner. The four-hour drive had made his imagination work harder than the engine, leaving him wondering if he would find any real answers in the conversation ahead. The leather on the driver's seat was comfortable, but he was not. Because he was never, ever lazy.

Intent on his destination, he turned. But only when the GPS said so. He knew, deep down, that the navigation would reroute if he made a wrong move. But he didn't want to risk it.

On the drive, the Client was preoccupied with two objectives: getting somewhere and leaving the past behind. The first half of his plan was going well. Gripping the wheel tightly, he found himself on a broad residential boulevard. He had reached the Coach's street.

He still managed to drive past the address. He was lost in thought. Recalculating, he got there.

“Welcome,” the Coach had said, and opened the front door. The Client and Coach exchanged greetings and walked through the house. They passed through two French doors and entered a large outdoor patio.

The Coach sat cross-legged on the Client's right. Underneath the ceiling fans, the two men had planted themselves at a right angle to each other, on overstuffed neutral-colored chairs. These were the kind of outdoor seats where you could spend an hour or two and not notice the time passing.

Beyond the open doors on the patio, the lush green backyard gave way to some slight rolling hills in the distance. Three brightly colored noodles bobbed against the side of the pool. A large rock formation, sort of like an elaborate four-foot-high kitchen backsplash, snaked around part of the backyard. The rock formation provided a small waterfall for the pool. Elegant tin roofs from neighboring houses floated above tightly trimmed hedges. Further to the south, the gray shadow of office buildings and construction cranes punctuated the landscape. Austin's skyline sat on the horizon like fingers on a hand.

The Client had been “coached” before. Mostly accountability stuff and goal-setting junk that lived somewhere between grit, willpower, and getting over yourself. The corporate coaching felt like having another manager in his life, with weekly meetings designed to help him to be all that he could be. He wasn't sure if it was a punishment or opportunity. Often it felt like both. He didn't want to sign up for that ride again.

Lazy seemed like a terrible idea.

He already saw himself as a mistake that needed to be corrected. A plan that failed because he failed to plan. Even when things went right, he could have and should have done more. He had risen in his career by being hard on himself. That pressure gave him an edge, kept him sharp, made him want more than the next guy. Nobody had ever told him to be lazy.

The suggestion was a loud fart in an elevator. He didn't appreciate the context, the source, or the repercussions. He looked down at the sweat clinging to the outside of his iced tea glass. His lips tightened and his teeth clenched. He looked at the Coach.

Back at headquarters, the Client's division was in the toilet. He had separated himself from the office by over 200 miles, but he carried blame and regret with him everywhere he went. He anguished over every detail, haunted by negative results. His business development job focused on acquisitions and growth. But the company hadn't even invested in any interesting technology in the last two years. He was, in his mind, completely ineffective.

He wanted control. Control and confidence. So he could do what needed to be done. He wanted out of the death spiral that had gripped his organization. He wanted freedom. Options. A new perspective. Not a lazy one.

He was here to make a change. Find a fresh start. The numbers weren't working. But, by God, he was. Even now, far from his office, he was still unable to leave work behind.

The division was tanking. He wanted to quit his job. He needed answers.

Lazy wasn't one of them.

He needed to fix a broken situation. He didn't need to sit here trying to fix a broken man.

He stared at the condensation on the glass of tea. He was going to resign in the next few months, if he could get this Coach to help him to find the courage to do so.

He didn't know he would be fired in five days.

Coaching was a fool's errand, he reasoned. Not today, not with this guy, not with me. No way.

Another error needed to be corrected.

Lazy? No, thank you.

The Client stood up. “I've made a mistake,” he said. “I'm … I'm not doing this right now.”

The Client turned, stepped around the chairs, and walked back into the house. The front door opened and closed. The Client was gone.