Leadership coach LaVonn Steiner said she's excited about taking her leadership coaching to a whole new level.

Steiner has been offering one-on-one leadership coaching through Excel Leadership Inc., which she founded in 1987.

"I enjoy going to work every day," she said. "I am doing what I was put on Earth to do."

Steiner has done and continues to do face-to-face leadership coaching; this, however, is expensive, she said. Making leadership training available to individuals on a budget and businesses with limited training budgets was the impetus behind the new tele-classes that Steiner is offering in cooperation with New Zealander Robyn Pearce, her co-author of the book "Getting A Grip on Leadership."

This format allows people who are far away, or in rural areas such as North Dakota, to take advantage of Steiner and Pearce's coaching on time management and leadership.

"All the individual needs is a phone,"she said. "There are no geographical barriers. You don't have to travel. This allows people to increase their value in the workplace, to be recession-proof.

"This saves time and money, opens it to the masses,"she said, "so that people who want it have access to it."

Steiner and Pearce recently conducted their first online seminar, "Find More Time." They issued the invitation for the seminar through their database and 200 people signed up, from England, Africa, New Zealand, Australia and the U.S., Steiner said.

The classes can cross time zones and hemispheres because sessions which begin at 7 p.m. Central time in the U.S. translate to noon New Zealand time, she said: "The synergy is great."

The next offering will be a series of four online seminars, available for $30 for one (60 minutes long) or all four for $99, she said. The seminar will be available in realtime or by download.

The four programs Steiner and Pearce have developed for tele-classes so far include:Work-life balance, delegating, paper and e-mail management and top secrets of managers and leaders.

The classes under development will be targeted to businesses or to individuals looking for work success, she said.

"Professional development is a way to keep key people," she said. "I'm very excited. It bothered me that coaching is exclusively for top managers."

The online format allows people to submit their problems and questions and offer feedback. Both she and Pearce are available for follow-up questions after the seminars, she said. One-on-one coaching may at some point also be offered online, she said.

Pearce, the author of five books, is an international leadership trainer whose expertise is in time management; Steiner focuses on leadership and performance, she said.

Clients in their 20s and 30s are concerned about improving their careers, their managerial success and increasing their value, she said. Her face-to-face clients from ages 35 to 60 are wanting to get to the next level or searching for "something more," she said.

Lots of people are in transition - whether newly promoted or between jobs, she said. They struggle with issues of time, having too few people, managing younger colleagues or former peers. Self-employed people want to find balance between work and business, she said.

Coaching has benefits beyond the workplace, she said; many skills are transportable for parenting as well.

For more information, visit www.excelleadership.com, call 800-255-8404 or e-mail lavonn@excelleadership.com.