Getting to Know Our Team—Sheryl Chatham

As PeopleSense Consulting continues to grow, we thought it would be great for our community to get to know each of our team members. If you’ve ever come to us with a critical question about managing or engaging employees, it’s likely Sheryl provided a practical and effective solution to help you reach your organizational goals. Witty and passionate, she’s an incredible asset to our team. Read on to find out more about her life, her work, and a few surprising side notes.

 

RE: What is your favorite animal?

SC: If I could only have one—dog. Second (close first) would be a horse.

 

RE: Do you have a favorite book or quote?

SC: There truly are too many authors, but one very important book is The Four Agreements. I speak with many of my clients regarding the information in that book.

As for a quote, the one I share most often is actually from a personal acquaintance: “Our lives move in the direction of our most dominant thoughts.”

 

RE: Who is someone you admire or who has been an inspiration in your life?

SC: Probably my most admired person is my mother.  She did some incredible things, raising six kids who all became successful in their own right, by herself in the 40s until I graduated HS in 1971, having never had a job…till she did.

The inspiration in my life has come from the people I’ve learned from, those I worked with who were good examples and showed me what excellence and integrity look like. On a personal level, it’s been the women in my life who I respected and helped shape me.

 

RE: What do you like most about the work we do?

SC: The insight and full awareness that people gain about themselves and others. I think most of us have an internal desire to grow, but what do we use as the ‘measuring stick’?  To improve or stretch an innate behavior, we have to BEGIN with an understanding, objectively, of who we actually are. Once we have that, we can devise a plan. But without that, we’re shooting arrows in the dark. Our work provides the ‘measuring stick.’

 

RE: What advice would you give to a new manager?

SC: Employees working at their top level, in ANY position, are those who are in a role that matches who they are naturally and are supported by a manager who objectively knows who they are and how to best support them. When you have self-awareness and a strong understanding of who your team members are, then you can really be successful. This is where I find utilizing assessments to be extremely helpful.

 

RE: Little known fact about me:

SC: I LOVE with a passion the work PeopleSense Consulting does and all of our clients. That said, if I could blink my eye and live my soul flying passion, I would play a French Horn in a Broadway pit orchestra. My first production would be “Phantom of the Opera.”

 

RE: Anything you’d like to add?

SC: Knowledge is powerful—gaining an objective awareness of who we are and who others are can instantly change our perspective, our cultures, and our lives….especially at work!

 

Hope you enjoyed learning about Sheryl’s biggest passions. Want to say hello or ask a question? You can email her here.