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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Is Your Authentic Self: A Clark Kent or A Superman?

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Your Authentic Self, A Clark Kent or a Superman

Do you remember watching Clark Kent jump into a phone booth and then emerge as Superman?  Kal-El was Clark’s real name, but because he was an alien and thought he would not be accepted, and at risk, if he allowed others to see who he really was…   He adopted an alter-ego to protect himself.

When we watch him on the silver screen we wait in anticipation for him to jump into that phone booth and emerge as his authentic self!

Bringing passion, strength, justice and intense awe to everyone that he come in contact with!

After reading a recent post by Terri Klass emphasizing the need for leaders to take off their masks, a previous co-worker came to mind. 

She had been hurt many times throughout her life, so much like Kal-El, she had come to the conclusion that she needed an alter-ego to protect herself.  (She just reversed the process…)  Instead of jumping into the phone booth to unleash her greatest gifts she would jump into her phone booth before she came to work to cover them up.  When she got to work she struggled to understand why she could not connect with her peers.

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Understanding Change: What goes down, will go up again!

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“Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”  Dorothy

We are definitely not in Kansas!  We are across the ocean in a dry and dusty land that we asked not to move to.  After months of planning and more months of being apart we have had one month in the same place.  We are convinced that we are here for a reason and determined to turn that unwanted change into an adventure!  This is an update on our expat journey:

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Veterans: Willing To Exchange Our Lives For YOUR Freedom

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A Veteran, whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve, is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America, for an amount up to and including his or her own life. Unknown

This Saturday is Armed Forces Day.  In honor of the men and women that have written a blank check for their lives in exchange for our freedom I asked several friends to help us understand their choice…  Adonis Phillips, Joseph Pullen, David Groce and LaDine Roth Cravotta are Veterans, Cathy Herring is a mother of a Veteran.

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Throw Yourself!

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I discovered this quote this morning…

“The only way that we can live, is if we grow. The only way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open. Do it. Throw yourself!” ― C. JoyBell C.

It beautifully emphasizes the heart of a message I shared in the Lead Change Blog last week….  

“I recently spoke with a friend that has an extraordinary gift, and an opportunity to use that gift at a much higher level.

  • If she chooses to pursue that opportunity she has to push through whispers of doubt that her mind is already generating about all that she is not.
  • She must push through her own comfort zone and perhaps the comfort zones of her friends and her family.
  • And then, she will have to risk being vulnerable to the people that will decide if her gift is what they need right now….”

Click here to read the full post!

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The Impact of a Mother ~ From a Variety of Perspectives

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I am not a mother.  However, as Mother’s Day approached this year, I thought of multiple conversations I’ve had with mothers over the past few years.

  • Conversations with new mothers that are in the midst of raising little children and have no time for themselves.
  • Conversations with stay at home mothers that feel like they are frequently treated as if they are less intelligent, less creative, or have less to contribute to our world because they don’t have a full-time job outside of the home.
  • Conversations with mothers in blended families, as they work to be peacemakers that are consistent, fair and explainable in all they do.
  • Conversations with mothers that are a guiding light when their families go through trememdous change.
  • Conversations with mothers that haverecently lost a child.
  • Conversations with mothers that are raising children with cognitive challenges, health issues, mental health challenges…

As I think about the mothers and grandmothers I admire, these traits float to the top: