Conflict Mediation and Training were Steps on My Journey to Coaching

Coach training has much in common with mediation training and other soft skills training: the training provides information with the goal of truly empowering others to decide what they want to do with what they learned.

Because I was a mom and a military spouse, I moved in to working for myself for the flexibility.  One day my husband shared a write-up on mediation and mediation training.  The idea of learning techniques for supporting people to take charge of their own decisions was exciting.  I became certified in conflict mediation.  The impact of empowering people to figure out how they want to handle their conflicts is incredible and mediation works.

Eventually I became a trainer and travelled all around the country.  During this time I learned how much sense it made for people to learn about effective communication techniques.  The classes I gave on management, team building, and what was called coaching gave me an opportunity to pull all my experiences together and truly solidify my own knowledge.  During this time people asked me if I was willing to coach them.  I really did not know what they meant.  After being asked multiple times and having people suggest I become a coach, I figured it was time to learn more about this ‘coaching‘ thing.  As a result, my research refocused my thinking on how much sense coaching makes and how coaching is a natural extension of my previous learning and experiences.  The next step was obvious — I attended coaching certification and started coaching.