Suzanne Giesemann's Navy years
Before becoming a Myrna Associates facilitator, Suzanne Giesemann served
twenty years as a U.S. naval officer. Her leadership skills were honed
at nine duty stations on three continents as she rose through the ranks
to senior management with the rank of Commander. Each new assignment
gave her an opportunity to view current processes with fresh eyes and to
facilitate changing the status quo for the better.
She
discovered her talent for bringing out the best in groups while assigned
as a facilitator of the Navy’s Total Quality Leadership program. Later,
as an Inspector General, she identified problems within organizations
and facilitated constructive solutions. A Masters degree in public
administration earned her a position as a political science instructor
at the U.S. Naval Academy. She was promoted to Deputy Director of the
Humanities Division, where she led five departments in an infrastructure
design effort which improved facilities for years to come.
Her
track record of success earned her a coveted position as Commanding
Officer of a 300-person organization. There, with her executive team,
she revitalized and sharpened the unit’s mission and mission statement.
It was later adopted Navy-wide and led to her unit earning Secretary of
the Navy recognition for excellence.
Never satisfied with the “that’s the way we’ve always done it” approach,
she created an atmosphere of innovation at each of her duty stations.
Because of her exceptional ability to plan for the future, Suzanne was
chosen as an assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations. She was later
hand-selected to be the aide-de-camp to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff.
Join the navy and see the world
Suzanne has had experiences few others have. She helped depose a
dictator in Panama, walked on the Great Wall of China, and lived in a
house with rice paper walls in Japan. She's landed on the deck of an
aircraft carrier, zipped over jungles and deserts in helicopters, met
kings and queens, flew with the President of the United States on Air
Force One, and experienced the Joint Chiefs' response to 9/11 from
inside the Pentagon.
Living the dream
Suzanne learned early on the value of setting goals, writing them down,
and assigning deadlines. This habit has allowed her to achieve not only
her professional goals, but her personal ones, as well.
She
realized a life-long goal of sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe
on their 46-foot sailboat with her husband, Ty, and she is a sponsored
speaker at major boat shows. She is the author of several books, and her
"big hairy audacious goal" is to surpass Danielle Steele as a
best-selling novelist.
Becoming a Myrna Associates facilitator
After retiring from the Navy and sailing across the Atlantic, Suzanne
searched for a way to help organizations succeed through strategic
planning. From her berth in Rome, she reviewed a myriad of
opportunities. Lucky for us she chose Myrna Associates because of our
breakthrough process and proven track-record. Her decision was cemented
when she witnessed first hand the enthusiasm, commitment, and excitement
of CEOs and their executive teams whose organizations are transformed by
the Total Quality PlanningTM process.
Suzanne loves to share her positive attitude with others. Knowing that a
facilitator is one who enables groups to succeed, Suzanne feels blessed
to be enjoying a second career where she can contribute to clients’
success as a member of the Myrna Associates team. As both a participant
and a facilitator of numerous strategic planning meetings in the past,
she is proud to guide others through a process that truly delivers what
it promises.
