Testimonial John Geiman
Testimonial
I am John Geiman and I was an Associate Vice President at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) with over 38 years of service before I retired. I was responsible for a billion dollar budget and played a major role in implementing new Human Resources, Payroll, and Financial PeopleSoft software at the campus. The major challenge I faced during my tenure was putting up this new software system for over 5,000 employees, and hundreds of millions in operating expenses. Several campuses were implementing new systems and they had major problems getting them to work.
I employed Terri to help me with preparing my management team and the entire Division of Budget and Finance for the major changes that were about to take place over the next several years. The challenges that we faced were many. The major ones were:
- The staff had used the same old systems for over 20 years,
- many of the staff did not like change,
- they would spend hours arguing over what went wrong, and
- they did not know how to work as a team to get things done.
We needed a more productive way to accomplish our goals and I employed Terri to accomplish that task.
First she trained our management team in the Magic of Conflict program. Then she did team building and leadership development to provide a solid basis for the next steps. She provided a Train-the-Trainer program for some of our staff so they could design and deliver high-quality training programs to our customers.
Once we were all on the same page we went on to Phase Two and she trained the entire Division in the Enlightened Leadership (EL) Program. The principles of EL helped to provide a positive framework to tackle the challenges we faced. The simple principles of “What” as the key to effective questions; DNA - Decide, Notice, and Acknowledge to get more of what you want; Resetting the Zero; Forward Focus: and Putting People First were all part of a cultural change that she helped to accomplish.
The impact of having all of these tools was tremendous when we implemented the PeopleSoft software at UMB. The transition to a new HR/Payroll/Finance System went very smooth. We used all of these tools and concentrated on goals and moving forward. The training Terri did with our Division over the years paid off tenfold in helping UMB have one of the best implementations of any campus. We accomplished our goals faster, easier and with a lot less stress.
Finally Terri provided executive coaching to me when I first became an Associate Vice President. Her powerful insight helped me navigate through a lot of stressful situations with both upper management and staff. I could go on but I will conclude by saying that Terri has a pleasant, easygoing, and friendly way of coaching and providing training.
Now that I am retired I still use the tools that she taught me over the years. Terri has made a big difference in my life and for that I will always be truly grateful.
John Geiman
Associate Vice President (Retired)
University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB)
