Author Archives

Chery Gegelman

President, Giana Consulting

Chery Gegelman is an adventurer that loves to learn. ...Deep conversations, books, travel, and daily living are all food for growth.

As a speaker, facilitator and workshop leader she creates energizing environments that reflect God's grace, tear down walls, help people to consider new perspectives, and inspire change.

Chery is the Founder of Giana Consulting and Conversation Safari's, listed as a Great Leadership Speaker by Inc., writes a recognized leadership blog and has co-authored two leadership books.

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Pop, Soda, Coke… Right Word = Getting Heard

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When my husband and I were first married we moved three states away from where we had grown up.

And quickly learned that the carbonated beverages we had been consuming for our entire lives were not called POP.

  • In this place they were called SODA!
  • A few years later we moved south and learned that no matter what flavor of carbonated beverage we wanted to consume we needed to order a COKE – and then name our flavor of choice.

As we’ve continued to move I’ve kept a mental list of others…

  • When you throw something away do you CHUCK it or CHUNK it?
  • When you hold onto something have you KEPT it or KEP it?
  • Do you have a kitchen COUNTER or a kitchen BENCH?
  • Does your car have a HOOD or a BONNET? A TRUNK or a BOOT?
  • Do you cook with CORIANDER or with CILANTRO?
  • When you are talking about a friend that is not your spouse… Are they your FRIEND or your MATE?
  • When you go to the store… Do you use a shopping CART or a shopping BUGGY or a TROLLEY?

As fun as the game is – does it really matter what you call it?

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Continuous Improvement: Cures The Two-Year Itch

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Several years ago I had a long but fun job interview. In that interview I was honest with my prospective employer about my strengths, my passions and my need to be challenged.

I pointed to my historical pattern of two years of achieving in a role, before I got bored and needed to learn something new and needed to make a greater difference. (Which usually meant I moved on…)

The interviewer smiled and nodded and shared that he had the same problem. …Until he came to work in this company…

He had my attention.

I had his attention.

And I got the job.

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CRISIS!!! The Impact of a Leader’s Response

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This is part II in a series to examine how a Leader’s response to a crisis impacts the people and the organizations they lead.  

Crises are more than LARGE-SCALE natural disasters and acts of hate.

Crises actually occur daily:

  • As economies, regulations, technology and consumer needs CHANGE
  • When dishonest leaders are in charge
  • With an unexpected diagnosis
  • The death of a loved-one
  • The loss of a job
  • The betrayal of a spouse
  • The negative choices of a family member
  • _________________________ (What else would you add?)

[Tweet “Crises can fuel creativity, develop synergy and produce life-giving results.”]

OR

[Tweet “Crises can implode trust, destroy lives and delay progress –  For YEARS to come.”]

Below are several stories and lessons from others…

 DOUBT & FEAR

“Around 1990 the executive team where I was working for an insurance company called department meetings to announce they were looking for a buyer for the company.

As much as I liked the men who led the company, they didn’t handle their communication effectively. Their presentation caused instant animosity, distrust, and speculation.

In the end the company wasn’t sold for many years. But the damage done way back then is still felt by employees today who were working there back then.”  ~Jane Anderson

The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.  H. P. Lovecraft

THE IMPACT OF TRUTH

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Have you personally witnessed leadership in a crisis?

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Current events and a class I’m taking have me thinking about how people lead in a crisis.

So I reached out to my network and asked:

  • Have you personally witnessed great leadership in a crisis?
  • If so what did you see, feel and experience?

The answers I got back were fascinating.

  • One person told a story of a life and death experience.
  • Everyone else shared a work-related experience that impacted them emotionally and sometimes physically.

Think about that for a minute…

In the face of horrific current events in our world – work related crises impact so many more lives!

And just in case you are tempted to dismiss work-related experiences as something that could be called a crisis, check out how Webster defines the word:    noun cri·sis \ˈkrī-səs\: plural cri·ses  \ˈkrī-ˌsēz\:

  • An emotionally significant event or radical change of status in a person’s life
  • The decisive moment
  • An unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending; especially : one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome

Before I share their stories, I’d love to hear your stories as well.  Please share!  

 

  • [Tweet “Have you personally witnessed positive or negative leadership during a crisis?”]
  • If so what did you see, feel and experience?

Leadership meand understanding others

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Is forgiveness an overlooked leadership skill?

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If you’re like me – You believe in the faith-based and health-based reasons to practice forgiveness.

But have you ever considered that forgiveness might be an important leadership skill?

In the book Picking Cotton, two people share their true story:

  • They are both 23.
  • She’s white, a senior in college with a 4.0 and looking forward to starting her career, marrying her boyfriend and having a family.
  • He is a person of color, working, and has a history of making some unwise choices.

One night she is at home alone and a man breaks into her apartment and rapes her.Picking Cotton

She is able to escape and eventually identifies this man as her rapist.

He insists that she is mistaken.

She is convinced that her memory is correct and makes a strong witness for the prosecution.

He is convicted and goes to prison for 11 years. (In spite of the fact that he continually says he is innocent, in spite of the fact that he meets the man in prison that actually committed the crime, and in spite of the fact that his blood type does not match the blood type found at the scene.)