Episode 15: The Best Professional Development Isn't Always Legal Education

Transcript

Tara Edwards 0:00

Hello, my name is Tara, and welcome to Sister-in-Law: The Paralegal Journey, a podcast about the careers behind the case files. Whether you work in law, work alongside the legal profession, are thinking about a career in this space, or simply want an honest look at the paralegal journey, you're in the right place. Welcome back to Sister-in-Law: The Paralegal Journey. my last episode, I mentioned that today's episode would be an interview about Judy Simms. However, if you've been following me on LinkedIn, you would have seen that on Friday I had the privilege of serving as a panelist at one of the Alberta Association of Professional Paralegals conference breakout sessions. You would have seen my follow-up post about the what do you do if" question that was asked by one of the attendees. Just in case you missed that LinkedIn post, here's a recap. The moderator and panelists shared our perspectives, although our answers varied slightly based on our individual experiences, that communication is key. And not just communication simply for the sake of communicating, but communication that identifies the issue, explains the impact, proposes solutions, and creates opportunities for collaboration. But what struck me even was the point that the moderator raised. She talked about the value of taking a mediation course or program to help develop workplace skills to improve communication and negotiation. And I reflected on that comment for the last couple of days, and the more I reflected on it, the more I realized how much I agreed with her. Some of the valuable skills that I've developed throughout my did not always come from learning legal courses, and honestly, until the moderator mentioned it, I really didn't think about it. So at the end of the day, the legal profession is built on human interaction. Isn't that what we basically do every day? We work with clients, lawyers, some of us work with we work with opposing counsel, court staff, government agencies, and you know, we work with colleagues. So the better we understand people, the better we become at our jobs. Today I wanna talk to you about four courses that I believe can significantly improve your effectiveness as a paralegal or legal support professional. As you listen to today's episode, I want you to ask yourself, What professional skill can I improve that has nothing to do with legal knowledge but would make me more effective in my career?" The four courses that I'm about to discuss aren't the only options, and they certainly aren't a perfect list. They're simply just courses that have helped me understand people better and because our profession is built on working with people, I believe that they can help make us more effective legal professionals. The first course I would recommend is Alternative Dispute Resolution, or known as ADR. One of the required courses that were part of the course load when I took the paralegal program in Ontario was ADR. At the time, I honestly just simply looked at it as just, "Whatever, I just need to take this course to graduate." But now that I'm kinda looking back, I think it was a very valuable course to have. And one of the concepts that I remember us learning was that disputes have two layers. The first layer consists of issues that are presented at the forefront, and these issues are the issues that people openly discuss and identify as the problem. The second issue consists of underlying issues. These are often a bit more emotional, they're relational, or concept-based concerns that may not immediately be obvious. An example of this would be a workplace conflict that appears to be about deadlines, responsibility, or communication styles, but really the underlying issue could be, the fact that there's a lack of trust, feeling undervalued, fear of criticism, or frustration that has accumulated over time. The challenge of that is people often focus on solving the issue that they can see, while they completely miss the issue driving the conflict. ADR teaches you how to identify interests rather than positions. It teaches active listening, negotiation, conflict resolution, but more importantly, it teaches you how to uncover what is causing a disagreement. As legal professionals, we frequently encounter conflict. While not all of us act as mediators, understanding the principles of dispute resolution can help us navigate difficult conversations, support clients more effectively, and contribute positively to our workplace culture. The second course I would recommend is psychology. Both of my human resource and legal office admin programs, I took psychology and honestly, it was just mainly to understand, how people think I needed to understand a personal issue that I was going through. So I just needed to understand, the brain activity working there. Many people hear the word psychology, and they immediately think about mental health diagnoses or therapy. While, those topics are important, psychology is a bit more broader than that, and it helps us understand how people think, make decisions, process information, respond to stress, and interpret situations. As legal professionals, we interact with people during some of the most stressful periods of our lives. Clients may be experiencing financial hardship, employment disputes, family breakdowns, business conflicts, or litigation. Stress affects decision-making, communication, memory, emotional regulation. Understanding the basic psychological principles can help you recognize when someone's reaction may be driven by fear, uncertainty, anxiety, or frustration. Psychology also helps to better understand your own behavior. It encourages self-awareness, cognitive biases, and how our emotions influence our decision-making. It provides an insight into why misunderstandings occur and how we communicate more effectively. The better we understand human behavior, the more effectively we can serve clients and work with colleagues. If psychology helps us understand individuals, then social psychology helps us understand people in groups. I took this course when my brother made me take it, and that's really honestly 'cause I made him take intro to law, and so it was really only for him to pick what our next elective was going to be, and quite frankly, it was the best decision ever. Not only did we have an amazing teacher, but this area helps to examine how people influence one another and how social environments affects behaviors. I want you to think about your workplace, and that every office has its own culture. Every team develop its own norms, every organization has formal and informal power structures, and every workplace has personalities that influence decision-making. Social psychology helps explain why people may behave differently in groups than they do individually. It helps explain workplace dynamics, conformity, persuasion, leadership, conflict, and collaboration. For legal support professionals, these concepts are incredibly valuable. Understanding group dynamics can help you navigate workplace relationships more effectively, help you identify communication barriers, recognize how organizational culture impacts decision-making, and can help you understand why a proposal that seems so logical may be met with resistance if it challenges existing norms or practices. When we understand the social factors influencing behavior, we become better communicators, stronger team members, and more effective leaders. The final course that I would recommend is effective communication. Now, this may be a must-take, in your own educational program. I know it was for my, paralegal course. If you've already taken it, I would absolutely, recommend that you take it again. I know that I've taken this course a few times throughout my career. Communication is a skill that can always be improved upon. Throughout my career, I have seen incredibly intelligent people struggle because they could not communicate their ideas or how they felt effectively. I've also seen average ideas gain support because they were communicated clearly and respectfully. Communication is far more than speaking. It involves listening, asking questions, understanding your audience, and adapting your message. It also involves recognizing what is being said and what is not being said. You know that expression, read between the lines You having the ability to read between the lines. Strong communication skills help us write better emails, have more productive conversations, provide better client service, and it also helps us address problems before they become a crisis. Effective communication builds trust, and trust is the foundation of every successful professional relationship. The reality is that many workplace problems can be also centered around communication problems. The stronger your communication skills become, the more effective you become in virtually every aspect of your career. Yes, Iris, they absolutely agree with you too. Thank you for your input. That's Iris, one of my princess cats who absolutely has to also have a say in everything. If you've noticed a theme throughout these four courses, it's this: every one of them helps us better understand people, and when we understand people, we become better communicators, better colleagues, and better legal professionals. Instead of thinking to yourself, They should have known, they should have seen the problem, they should have recognized what is happening," ask yourself, Did I communicate the issue clearly? Did I explain the impact? Did I seek to understand the underlying concern? Did I contribute positively to resolving the issue?" These questions shift our focus from blame to accountability, and that shift can make all the difference. At the beginning of today's episode, I asked, What professional skill can I improve that has nothing to do with legal knowledge, but would make me more effective in my career?" Maybe your answer is communication. Maybe it's conflict resolution. Maybe it's understanding human behavior. Maybe it's developing stronger leadership skills. Whatever your answer is, Remember that professional development does not always have to be legal education. Sometimes the courses that have the greatest impact on our careers are the ones that teach us how to better understand ourselves and the people around us. Before we finish today's episode, I want you to do one thing. I want you to spend ten minutes researching one course outside the legal field that could help you become more effective in your career. A course that helps you better understand people, communication, conflict, leadership, or workplace dynamics. Then I want you to ask yourself, What could I learn from this that would make me a better legal professional?" Next week, we'll be discussing a recent CBC article involving a paralegal in Alberta and why the conversation around paralegal regulation is so important. We'll talk about public protection, professional accountability, public confidence, and why regulation matters, not only for paralegals, but for the communities we serve. You won't want to miss this conversation. If this episode resonated with you, I invite you to follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music, and connect with me on LinkedIn. Let me know where you're at in your journey. This is Sister-in-Law: The Paralegal Journey. Welcome to the conversation.