Cathy Liska 
Blog series by Joann Evans
Joann Evans holds a B.S. in microbiology and chemistry. She is also a certified Paralegal. She has 20 years’ experience in quality assurance, control and engineering in fields such as pharmaceutical, medical device, IVD, biotech and blood banking. This blog series is her journey through being coached and then earning her coaching certification.
Next I attended coaching certification webinar number 4 for communication. This was perhaps the most challenging webinar thus far. The reason it was so challenging is that you really must be aware of what you say and how you say it because it affects you and others. While I am not the worst, I am also not the best at strategically modifying questions and sentences in the moment. This is an area where I can use all the practice I can get and frankly what drove me to learn coaching.
When I am at work I have had to tailor how I say things. We were taught to ask more questions when working to influence. Then, common courtesy demands in the workplace that we don’t use profanity so that goes without saying. We honor the golden rule and treat others as we would have them treat us but is this correct thinking? Is it more correct to treat someone based on who they are vs. how I might like to be? Now that’s a different approach! This module really will take a while to master so practice is very important. While I may not have the opportunity as of yet to coach someone, I sure can practice using the skills taught. So, this coach training class was about really listening, being clear and respectful, tailoring how you ask questions, and clarifying what was said.
