Do What You Love To Be The Leader in You!

Take a deeper dive into the impact that YOU have as a leader in your own life with guest Gayla Guignard, Chief Strategy and Programs Officer for the AG Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.  Join me in an empowering conversation about the topic of servant leadership and how each person is a leader within.  Each of us has a story to share and we have the opportunity to rewrite the story that we live.  Gayla has extensive experiences and roles that have shaped her servant leadership.  She served as the founding director of Indiana’s Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education (CDHHE) preceded by several years as Indiana’s Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EDHI) coordinator.  Gayla served as AG Bell’s Chief Programs Officer from 2003-2007, worked at the Univesity of Tennesse from 1991-2003, a consultant with the National Center on Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM) from 2007-2013.  She is an audiologist, speech-language pathologist, and certified listening and spoken language professional.  Do What YOU LOVE!  

To get into contact with Gayla Guignard please visit

gguignard@agbell.org

ghguignard@gmail.com

For more information about AG Bell visit:  www.agbell.org

For a transcript of this episode, go to:

https://www.3cdigitalmedianetwork.com/empowear-audiology-podcast

For more information about Dr. Carrie Spangler- check out her LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrie-spangler/

For transcripts of this episode- visit the podcast website at: https://empowearaudiology.buzzsprout.com

Transcript

[00:00:00] Announcer: Welcome to episode 39 of empowEAR Audiology with Dr. Carrie Spangler.
[00:00:16] Carrie: Welcome to the empowEAR Audiology podcast, which is part of the 3C Digital Media Network. My name is Dr. Carrie Spangler, and I am your host. I am a passionate audiologist with a lifelong journey of living with hearing challenges in this vibrant hearing world. This podcast is for professionals, parents, individuals, with your own challenges and those who want to be inspired.
[00:00:45] Thank you for listening, and I hope you will subscribe, invite others to listen and leave me a positive review. I also wanted to invite all of you to visit and engage in the conversation on the empowEAR Audiology Facebook group. Transcripts for each episode can be found at www dot three, the number three, C digital media network dot com under the empowEAR podcast tab.
[00:01:19] Now let's get started with today's episode. Welcome to the empowEAR Audiology podcast. My name is Dr. Carrie Spangler, and I am so excited today to introduce my guest Gayla Guignard. And she is the AG Bell Chief Strategy and Programs officer. She has a history. And I'm going to share a little bit about that as the founding director of Indiana Center for deaf and hard of hearing education.
[00:01:47] And she spent several years at the Indiana’s early hearing detection and intervention coordinator data also. So does AG Bell’s chief program officer from 2003- 2007. And she worked with children, families, undergraduate and graduate students at the university of Tennessee from 1991 to 2003. Gayla was a consultant with the national center and hearing assessment and management from 2007 to 2013. Gayla is an audiologist, a speech language pathologist, and a certified listening and spoken language professional.
[00:02:25] She received her bachelor's degree from Purdue university and two master's degrees from the university of Tennessee. So welcome Gayla to the empowEar Audiology podcast. Thank you for joining
[00:02:38] Gayla: us. Thank you, Carrie. And so great to be here with you.
[00:02:43] Carrie: Well, I'm excited to have this conversation today for all of our listeners about leadership and everything that you are so involved in, but before we go down that path, do you want to go back in history about when we met?
[00:02:59] Gayla: Oh, that sounds good. I remember exactly when we met. So. You and I met in 2012 at the ag bell convention that happened in Scottsdale, Arizona. And we met at the hotel. You were with our mutual colleague and friend Cheryl Johnson. And it was so fun. And she said, the two of you want to know each other.
[00:03:23] So we met, but I had known about you because of the great work you were doing in Ohio. Probably, I mean, several years before that. So it was really great to finally get to meet you and over time to get to know you a bit better and a bit better, and just delighted to have this time to spend with you today.
[00:03:42] So thanks
[00:03:43] Carrie: for you to be here today. I always like to ask my guests too who are in the fields. How did you get here? How did you get into speech pathology and audiology?
[00:03:58] Gayla: You know, that's a story that I sometimes think changes because the older I get, the more, when I look back, I realize the different influences on my own life, in, in my decisions and sort of my, my paths.
[00:04:12] And I've had several, but. I when I went to Purdue, I initially went and thought I wanted to be a social worker and, and sort of realized that I wanted to do something that where the training felt more specific. And one thing led to another, and I ended up choosing speech language pathology, and then really got bitten by audiology during my senior year at Purdue and said, I want to do this.
[00:04:43] And so I became an audiologist after I received my first master's degree in audiology at the University of Tennessee. I ended up deciding when I was there that I thought eventually I would want to specialize in teaching children who are deaf or hard of hearing to listen and talk. So I thought that was amazing as well.
[00:05:04] It felt like a really good fit for me. And then I ended up getting a second master's in speech language pathology, because I thought that will help me be better at my job and will help me understand some of the questions that were in my mind. And so that was good, but really I got interested in speech and hearing issues because I had a little sister who stuttered.
[00:05:24] And it was so interesting because when my family got help for her, we were simply told because there are five children in your family and she's the youngest she's stuttering because she can't get a word in edgewise at your family table. And so everybody needs to stop and listen to her and give her an opportunity to have a conversational turn.
[00:05:48] And that's what we did that worked
[00:05:53] Oh, when I, when I saw this as an, as another option in terms of the career field, when I was leaving this, this thought that I was going to be a social worker to, to doing something else. I remember that. And how impactful, just that professional advice was on my family. And I, I really have never looked back.
[00:06:11] I've only been really grateful for the career that I chose.
[00:06:15] Carrie: Yeah, I'm always so interested in how people get involved and there's usually something in their past, like you said, their family that really steers them into our field.
[00:06:25] Gayla: well, and here's another funny story. So I grew up in the, in a small town of 9,000 in the middle of a corn field in Indiana called Greencastle.
[00:06:35] And in Greencastle, Indiana, I was part of a really loving close-knit community. Many of whom were my family members. My mother was one of 17 and I have 76 first cousins between both sides of the family. So I grew up with a lot of brothers and sisters and cousins in, we would put on little productions, like singing, or do a play.
[00:06:58] There wasn't a lot to do when you lived out in the middle of the cornfield. And so we had to be really creative. We talked and talked and talked. Then I, I definitely had the reputation of being the talker. So it also made a lot of sense that I would go into a field where I would help people become more effective at talking.
[00:07:19] So anyway,
[00:07:21] Carrie: oh, I love that. And then you landed. At AG bell as the chief strategy and programs officer, I know you had a lot of things that kind of led up to that place, but can you just share a little bit now about your role there?
[00:07:38] Gayla: Sure. Well, I I've actually been with AG bell twice. I do love that organization and know it really well, obviously, but I first went to AG bell back in 2003 and I, I took that opportunity at that time because I had worked at the university of Tennessee for many years, about 13 years and love the work of teaching children, the joy of teaching children to listen and talk and working.
[00:08:07] In partnership with their families to make that happen and working with graduate students, teaching them how to teach children to listen and talk. I loved it, but I wanted to see if I could impact for good. More children, whose whose families wanted them to listen and talk and more families. And I felt that if I took a position at AG Bell, I would be able to do that.
[00:08:28] And so that's really how I came to AG Bell. The first time I would have stayed, but I had a young daughter with some special needs at that time and we just really needed to be closer to family. And so we moved back to my home state and of Indiana. And then eventually just made our way back to Tennessee.
[00:08:50] And we sorta had this Indiana, Tennessee, DC sort of triangle thing going on, but I love all three and the things that happen in each one. But essentially I came back to AG Bell when there was an opportunity in 2015, because it really is a professional home for me and, and really has my heart in terms of the mission.
[00:09:14] And the impact that AG Bell has on families lives. So. I I've had a lot of experience with systems change and I've had a lot of experience with difficult and hard conversations at a fairly high level in terms of trying to make change happen when people didn't necessarily all want to see the change happen.
[00:09:36] And. And so I think that that has uniquely qualified me for that position, especially the chief strategy officer piece at AG Bell. So, and I didn't mention, you know, you know, I've been with AG Bell back at AG Bell since 2015 and in my. Role part of what I do is work with people all over the world.
[00:09:56] And that has really, really been just enjoyable and fun and a joy for me to see other professionals develop as leaders to make change happen, where they are. That is like one of the most exciting things for me is as much as I love working with children in families, parents I also really, really love working with professionals and helping them to be the leader where they are or showing them have, or giving them advice on how to do that.
[00:10:27] Because that one professional can make the difference in hundreds of lives, you know, over the course of their career
[00:10:36] Carrie: as I see you just knowing you over the last 10 years, I do see you as like a servant leader. And now that you tell your backstory of wanting to go into social work, having 76 cousins who you were around all the time your own daughter, your own sister who had different needs along the way, and then going in and getting your master's in speech and audiology, I have.
[00:11:01] Set you up, I think to be a servant leader with AG Bell, can you, you shared a little bit about your leadership style unbelief, but what else can you share that you think is helpful for others to improve upon their skills and lead in a specific way?
[00:11:20] Gayla: So I I take it as a compliment that you call me as servant leader.
[00:11:24] I would, I would really not want to be any other kind of leader. I thought about this a lot as I was developing my own leadership skills, but also being developed as a leader because it wasn't all up to me. I, I will say first, I believe that there is a leader within everyone. We lead in our own lives, hopefully.
[00:11:45] And I, I can understand when I was doing an internship in Colorado many years ago when I was young in my early twenties. And I, I saw I worked with a younger girl. She was 17, who was kind of constantly being told what to do. And even to the point of being told who she was, and I said to her, Listen, you can't let other people tell you who you are.
[00:12:11] Yes. Your boss sometimes tells you what to do, but nobody can tell you who you are. You get to choose to be who you are. And if you don't want to live your life. Somebody else will live it for you. They'll actually sort of take it over because maybe they liked controlling people. Is that how you want it to be for you?
[00:12:31] And she said, that's not how I want it to be. So I said, you know, then stand up and, you know be counted, you know, as the person who gets to be that driver in your own life. So I do believe there is a leader within, and that most of us don't know it. And that most of us either don't have any one tell us that, or we don't know.
[00:12:55] We don't see a path to, to growing into our leadership and to honing that leadership and to actually leading other people, you know, we don't know how to do that. And so I think that's, to me, I come from a perspective of plenty. I always think there's plenty. I feel like there's plenty of love. I feel like there are plenty of children who were deaf or hard of hearing to go around.
[00:13:23] Plenty of parents. I feel like there is plenty of room for other people to shine. I don't have to be the shining leader all the time. But I, I don't always, I do think that there is probably a dearth of knowledge, so people don't always know how to navigate as a leader to make change happen that they so desperately want to see.
[00:13:47] And so if it's one thing I say to someone or our ongoing conversations, I have I'm delighted to do that because the world needs more leaders because we always need to be changing and growing.
[00:14:01] Carrie: Yeah, I liked what you said about that there’s the leader within all of us. And I think that self-leadership is so important too.
[00:14:11] And just kind of what you said, you know, do you want somebody else to be controlling you or do you want to be controlling yourself and how do we lead within ourselves too? There's plenty. And your point about anybody can be a leader. But I think some people wait to have a title and that doesn't need to be the place for you.
[00:14:34] Like you said, you can lead wherever you're at. And how do you navigate through some of that? I think, This is just my impression to you. I think you're a great storyteller and that you have a lot to share with others. And do you feel like storytelling is a critical piece of being an effective leader, especially being an effective leader for a nonprofit organization, such as AG Bell.
[00:15:06] Gayla: I I do. I think that I love it. Even the there's a, there's a storytelling festival. The national storytelling festival happens here in Tennessee where I live every year. It's happened for years and I still haven't been to it. It's in Jonesborough, Tennessee, but I say to myself, I got to go to that storytelling festival because I, I love storytelling.
[00:15:25] I like telling stories and I like hearing the stories and I think that's true. Of most people. Then when we tell someone who asks us how our day went, I mean, we kind of retell the story of the day, right? And some people can deal with all the details and other people can't and some people say, get to the point, but the reality is that's kind of how we as humans live our lives.
[00:15:51] And sometimes we rewrite the story. Sometimes we need to do that. And it's just a wonderful that we can. 'cause sometimes that's what helps us go on when things happen. But in terms of just storytelling and how you use that in leadership, again, it goes back to people not necessarily feeling empowered.
[00:16:11] To, to have the life they want or to make the changes they want in their career, or to have the changes happen that they want for their child and family. And so I will often, you know, say I remember when I was such and such, so I, I and, and this is kind of how I handle that. And I don't, I try not to give advice to people and say, just do this.
[00:16:37] Or this is what you ought to do, but instead just share that story that had an impact on me. And, and then if I feel like sort of that light's not going off in somebody's eyes, I'll say so. So, you know, what I did with that was this but I think it's really impactful just just yesterday and this isn't in my professional career, but yesterday I was the, the parent representative during some interviews that are happening at the University of Tennessee for a program called The Future program and my daughter's enrolled in the future program.
[00:17:10] And so I was asked to come to. Be with and speak with parents whose children are going through the interviewing process and to be able to answer questions and just sort of tell our story. And I just, I just did, I talked about who I am, who my daughter is. The kinds of things that they could expect from the program.
[00:17:34] I talked about how hard it was when I first put my daughter in her apartment at the age of 26. How hard that wasn't for three weeks, I didn't sleep well because the phone might ring at 12 o'clock or I was wondering if she was okay and really trying to show them that it's okay to be afraid. It's okay.
[00:17:53] To be nervous. And it's really good to go down roads. You've never been down because what might you find on that road that you didn't know existed? And that's certainly what's happened with my daughter and living away from home. Sometimes we as human beings just can't see beyond our own everyday lives.
[00:18:11] We're so busy. Sometimes we're really stressed, but our lives tend to be very small if we let them be small. And, and that's another thing people. Can stay in one place, but because of the internet we have very big lives. You know, we don't travel at all, but we know people from all over the world and that is really, really cool.
[00:18:33] So anyway, the power of a good story changes lives. That's what I believe.
[00:18:39] Carrie: I think as a leader, do you feel that it makes you also vulnerable and real as a person? And do you think that is helpful for others to see that.
[00:18:53] Gayla: I think that there is like a double, there's two sides to leadership. There's one where people sometimes just want you to
[00:19:03] be the leader and lead, and they want to think that you have something they don't have, because that makes them feel sick. That makes them feel more comfortable. And I remember when I left my position in Indiana and was, was coming back to AG Bell, one of the things I said as I was leaving is okay, you all are now in charge of this.
[00:19:22] It's it's, it's your time to shine. You're all leaders, you can do this, you can make it happen. And it was sort of like you know, and it, but it's, it's so true. Right. But that also, when you say to any individual person. Maybe it's time for you to lead. You're also kind of asking the person to step up to a line to do that.
[00:19:42] And you don't not, everybody wants to do that and I think that's, I think that's okay. I mean, we're all individuals, we have different gifts. But I don't think it's okay to not be the leader in your own life. I think that's really important. Because I think we have gifts and talents that we do bring to this world that are really unique and come from the really unique person, the special person that each one of us is.
[00:20:09] And so. You know, if we don't lead ourselves, then those things might not show up. And when those things show up, they impact other people's lives positively too. So, yeah,
[00:20:22] Carrie: I think on the flip side of it, as you mentioned earlier, there's also challenges to being a leader. And what are some of those challenges that you've had along the way and how have you handled that?
[00:20:37] Gayla: It can sometimes be lonely at the top. You know, there's, there's really no other way to put it. And I think there are so many decisions that leaders need to make in that can be very, very challenging because you don't always have all the information you need as the leader. You might want it, but sometimes if you're trying to get all the information, you're really just micromanaging your staff.
[00:21:01] You're you're micromanaging your team. And that's not the way to live either. It's not a great way for them to live. So sometimes, you know, as that leader, you're in that tough position where you have to make decisions on partial information and you have to be brave enough to take the risk, to do that and brave enough to, to be wrong sometimes and to live with.
[00:21:22] Sort of the consequences and the backlash of being wrong. I think that's tough. At some times, and other times it's not tough because the reality is that my mother said, you know, we were made for days like the. And so would, she said that she meant, she means my mother had a lot of leadership in her family.
[00:21:42] She had, there was a lot, there are a lot of leaders, my mother's family, where they have the 17 kids. And it was so funny when she was on her sort of just in her final days of her life, that she had contracted cancer, big surprise to all of us, that she was very coherent and only lived 10 weeks past the diagnosis.
[00:22:01] And she was one of those people you just sort of thought could never be chopped down. Very strong throughout her life. The matriarch of our family love it, very strong, very strong personality. And we were kind of afraid of her because we were smart kids. When we were in tween and our teen years, we were smart to be afraid of her.
[00:22:19] She was a little vicious, but anyway, but my mother said a lot of funny things when she was Final days and weeks. And one of the things she said is you've never been the kind of woman who was willing to sit in the back of the bus, me neither we're just not those kinds of women.
[00:22:41] 'cause. I said what I was in elementary school. I love to ride in the back of the bus and bounce up and down. So, you know, I think her language was a little confused at that point, but her point is that you, you know, you, it's important to. To, to, to recognize that sometimes you have to do the one, you have to be the one that will do those hard things that nobody else wants to do, because it's so important to make the change happen.
[00:23:08] But it is, it is sometimes very challenging when there are competing. Like this is a good decision, but this, this option could be another good decision and this option could result in another good decision. But which one is the best? Those are the kinds of challenges. Sometimes leaders have. Yeah, I think, I think that's it.
[00:23:31] I mean, it's really, I think it's fun to lead efforts, you know, it's fun to create and it's certainly, I think it's really fun to encourage other people because the reality, we all worry about a lot of things that don't come to pass. But, but at the same time, I kind of am a worrier naturally because it's how I process things.
[00:23:53] Like, let me kind of worry on this. You don't think about it. Think about it. Think about, oh, I figured it out. Right. I kind of do that when I'm processing things and trying to figure things out. But at the same time you know, it's, it's most, most of the time we worry about things that will never come to pass.
[00:24:12] And so if we can spend our time. In a different way in instead, make things happen that make the things we want to see, come to pass occur better way to use time and are really relatively short time.
[00:24:30] Carrie: Great. Great advice. And going along with the challenges, what about conflict and how do you handle that in an organization?
[00:24:40] Because I'm sure there's a lot of different opinions and ways that people are thinking and conflict that arises. So how, how do you handle that?
[00:24:52] Gayla: Conflict is so interesting, especially I think for women because so many of us, and I was one of those who was socialized to kind of not deal with conflict to sort of just, you don't talk about it. You know, you sort of. uninvite yourself to that table. You sort of say, I'm going to vote with my feet in walk away.
[00:25:12] You know, that's how many of us, and same for men, it's not just a woman thing, but I definitely was socialized like. There are some things you have to confront, like you have to confront a bully, but otherwise, you know, you just walk away. Because just because that's kind of a hot thing right now and maybe let those embers, you know, let it cool if that fire cool.
[00:25:35] Let it be, get down to that ember stage. But. The reality is that there are just some issues that are going to create conflict and you have to be willing to have the conversations. And it's plural, usually when it's a big conflict to, to understand. The various perspectives and to really come up with a good solution.
[00:25:58] So I think having conflict at that this stage of my career doesn't really bother me very much. Right. Sometimes though I have to push myself to use the time and energy to get some things resolved, because sometimes you can recognize that that some people actually like conflict. And they don't want to resolve the conflict, you know?
[00:26:24] And so sometimes it's, it's not, it's not really going to be worth the time and effort. I hate to say that, but, but other times it really is a matter of, of having conversation, understanding of the person's perspective. And, and being real with each other and then trying to come up with a solution. And sometimes we also find, we just have to agree to disagree.
[00:26:45] But now at this point I really do try to deal with conflict quickly and as, as honestly, but as lovingly as possible,
[00:26:58] Carrie: that's a good way to handle it when you can right?
[00:27:02] Gayla: right.
[00:27:05] Carrie: Several people in your life along the way that you feel have influenced who you are today and what are their characteristics that you bring that bring to you?
[00:27:17] I guess.
[00:27:20] Gayla: I, yes. I mean, I have to tell you I mean, there are many people, first of all, my parents were both leaders, definitely in their work and in their family. And so I saw that strong leadership from a very early age. My grandmother. On my, my mother's mother, the one with the 17 kids and all those grandchildren she was also a leader and it was just in the way she held herself and how she moved.
[00:27:49] And communicated with people, you know, through our community, but also she was a trustee in you know, in a, in one of the local townships and was always willing to use her voice if she thought it could make a difference, but also. In terms of of what she would say and what she wouldn't say.
[00:28:09] And I remember observing that from a very young age. Really had a lot of mutual respect. People respected her and she respected them. I think that was really important. She, she said, and then my mother and turned, told this to her five kids you know, the rest of her life. And it was always, you know, remember.
[00:28:30] You know, no one else is any better than you are, but also remember you are not better than anyone. And I, that really helped me understand the need to live in community and the impact that we have on each other, how important it is to consider other people, because we have five kids, you know, if I got a pack of gum, I cannot have a stick of gum in front of the other kids unless I offered them a stick.
[00:28:56] So if I really wanted to have my gum, as soon as I bought it and got into the car and the other kids were there, I had to share. So that was probably really good. You know, I said taught me about leadership, but many people along the way. My youth group leader Diane Flint, we had several bits. She in particular, Diane, I was in youth group you know, as a middle schooler or a junior high kid, and also in high school to this day, she said, still sends me birthday cards and still and sends my husband and I an anniversary card.
[00:29:29] From my home state of Indiana and I just want a ministry and what a legacy and what a loving, committed, steadfast woman. And so that she's a leader. And so that would be an example of someone, but there've been many leaders that I had through the years. And they've all impacted me one way or the other.
[00:29:46] Those are just my early years.
[00:29:48] Carrie: Yeah, well, that was a very formative years too. So all of those people who are listening that work with young kids and middle school kids, how impactful that can be later on in life when you are your own leader and leading other people. Yeah,
[00:30:04] Gayla: absolutely.
[00:30:06] Carrie: Do you have any advice for our listeners to take steps right now to grow as a leader within themselves?
[00:30:14] Gayla: Well, some people may think this is a little hokey, but I mean, do you pay attention to leadership quotes because they are tidbits of food for thought. And think about those and see if those are something you want to put up and apply. And remember I did read books on leadership and I also read books, read books by leaders.
[00:30:35] I mean, my entire adult life, I've done that. I also think that you know, in my early years, probably my twenties, you know, I was one of those people I did read books that were about sort of, and there were a lot of books at that point kind of like about yourself, discovering your true self, you know, knowing yourself better.
[00:30:55] So I found that really, really informative. It was, I was curious about it, you know, it's so odd That a person would feel like they don't know themselves well, or they could know themselves better because we live with ourselves every day. But the truth is we are even as high schoolers and college students really busy and we might not know how we feel about certain things or, or we may not have had the exposure to things that we needed.
[00:31:20] I know that well, before I came to AG Bell, I, I thought to myself that, how did that person. Actually become a leader in our field of listening and spoken language and in an audiology and speech language pathology. And when I came to AG Bell, the first time, I was more clear about that path to becoming a leader.
[00:31:42] So again, I, it really. Is something that I try to be very intentional about when I see that people want to lead they're in a position where they're going to be forced to lead, to encourage them, that they can do that. And if I see that path for them, I tell them about it and pointed out to them. Get over here, maybe a little bit more of this, a little less of this, but reading books helps knowing yourself.
[00:32:06] Well, I think helps. Again, being the leader within being willing to manage yourself. That sounds a little silly, but it's true. You know, about what you will, and won't say how you will, and won't be what your bottom lines are about what you will and won't do.
[00:32:27] You know staying true to your ethics, knowing those, you know, those, those are all those things. You just about being a, what we kind of consider a good human being is a really good place to start. I think the opposite in terms of you could be a leader. I'm not sure if anyone buddy we'll follow you. If you're this kind of leader, but you can also be the kind of leader who's in charge of something or an organization, and you, you know scare people into following you or you manipulate people into following you because you kind of have a pied Piper type of personality.
[00:33:04] I think it's really important to respect individuals. And I think for who they are. And I think that's one thing I've always really tried to do. I've tried to really show and give people the respect that they are due. And also I think in turn, what has happened is maybe through the years, people have maybe felt that coming from me and felt that, that I was trustworthy.
[00:33:31] And you know, when, when you're considered trustworthy, People were, are more willing to work with you and then you can do really great things together.
[00:33:40] Carrie: Yeah, no, I agree. And thinking of great things as what is your vision as the chief strategy and programs officer for AG Belll? Do you have like a. The strategic objective or leadership objective that you want to see happen under yours?
[00:33:59] Gayla: yours?
[00:33:59] So our CEO, Emilio Alonso-Mendoza is he's his he's very. His big, big ideas, big thoughts in very open-minded. And I really appreciate that about him because he's not one of these people who says, well, why he's like, why not? And that is similar to my perspective in life and especially around listening and spoken language.
[00:34:26] And we, you know, we have been around since 1898 Ag Bell's been around since 1890, Dr. Alexander Graham bell, the same gentleman who invented the telephone as a scientist. Also started our organization and on his grave marker. It says, you know, Alexander Graham bell teacher of the deaf was really the incredible event or that he was, and the Renaissance man that he was and the people he knew in the crowd but what really weren’t crowds, the circles that, you know, he, he lived and worked in were pretty incredible, but his most, most valued professional role was.
[00:35:04] Of teacher of the deaf and he understood his impact. So I think for me, in what I want to see happen for AG Bell is similar to our CEO, wants to have see happen. What are our board and really several of our other leaders who are committee leaders want to see happen. And that is that the opportunity.
[00:35:27] To learn to listen and talk is available all the way across the world. That if this is what families want to see happen for their children, that services can be made available. Qualified professionals can be accessed, hearing technology, a good family support system in place, you know and that the services can be.
[00:35:51] Developed in the systems can be created to support that child to, into becoming a really happy well adjusted so therefore successful adults, and we spend most of our lives as adults. It may not be the most fun, but it can be. So we have a big job. Those of us who work with children. And families have a really big job and it's honored to do it.
[00:36:18] And that is because we impact our words, impact our behaviors, our attitudes, the messages we send really impact those with whom we work. And we know what we're trying to do is raise or grow this little person into a big person who is well adjusted and is happy. Has really, you know, found that leader within, or is on their way to doing that and making really great things happen, you know, for themselves and for others.
[00:36:47] 'cause that's what it's about. It's all about relationships and experiences in this world. Those are the things that we're going to remember at the end of our lives.
[00:36:56] Carrie: Wow. Well, I am so grateful that you have found your amazing servant leadership skills and that you have found your passion from a young age of like thinking about social work and speech pathology and audiology and all of the experiences that you brought along the way to where you're at now, and to be able to impact families and children and professionals and adults who are deaf and hard of hearing in a more global sense.
[00:37:28] Gayla: Yeah, I I'm really honored to do this work. I'm honored to have this conversation with you today. I mean, you know, you're part of the future, the present and the future, because you're a bit younger than I, and so, you know, you're doing the same thing. I mean, you're, you recognize your impact and the potential of the work that you do and how you can impact more and more kids.
[00:37:53] And I just want you to know how appreciated you are. For the role that you have in this, this work too. And in this life, I'm glad to be on the globe at the same time with you.
[00:38:05] Carrie: Right back at you too, I appreciate, I love having other people who to look up to have amazing leadership skills and you know, drop seeds along the way.
[00:38:19] Is there anything I didn't ask you that you wished I would have?
[00:38:28] Gayla: Well, one more thing, probably one more thing. Love what you do. So that would be advice that I would give that's another way to be a leader is love what you do. And if you don't love what you do, do something else, it doesn't mean you have to leave your field. But maybe you need to do something else in the field.
[00:38:45] It doesn't even necessarily mean you need to leave your job. You just need to find the things about your job that you love. But we just, we, we I've said this earlier in the call, we are here for a while and there is a beginning and a middle and an end to what we do, and we all want to look back and feel that.
[00:39:08] we we fulfilled, you know, at least one of our purposes in life through our career. So I would encourage you to, to love what you do. So if there are any students listening out there, you know, and there's a passion that you're feeling from this work, I wanna encourage you to do it. The other thing I want to say goes with this love what you do, but understand in every job.
[00:39:31] whether you're a mom, a dad, cause that's a job too. Whether you are speech language pathologists, audiologists, social worker, educator of children who are deaf or hard of hearing, I think will be most of the people listening to the podcast in every job, there are parts of the job. You're just not going to like, don't spend don't waste time saying I'm not good at such and such, or I don't want to do such and such or
[00:39:59] I kind of feel like I'm not being responsible because I haven't done such and such instead name it. This is something I really don't like to do. So I probably need to do it at a time when I can give it my full attention, or I can do this part, but this is how life is it's. You know, you do have to take some of the things you don't like to do with all the other things that make life good.
[00:40:23] Carrie: That's really good advice because I think you're right. Everybody has something in the job that they dislike. And, but then you have to think about all of the other wonderful things that you can put your energy to, to make a difference with what you do love.
[00:40:37] Gayla: Yeah. Well, and we all have to do adulting. So I think sometimes that's the other thing is as, as you, as you grow and learn, you recognize how important.
[00:40:48] It is for you to be willing to be the adult and to do the adult things. Because by being the adult, you're kind of saving that space for people who are younger than you to learn and grow, especially children to learn and grow and become who they are. So, you know, you're strong enough and able enough to be the adults.
[00:41:07] So I think it's not always fun. So, and it's a good way to live in community with other.
[00:41:16] Carrie: Well, I think you have empowered all of our listeners to be better leaders, wherever they might be in their leadership journey, whether it's at a small step or a big step, I think this is an incredible conversation. If people want to get a hold of you and reach out to you, where should they go?
[00:41:35] Gayla: No, they can reach out to me. I'm going to give you both email addresses my work email at AG Bell G G U I G N as in Nancy, A R D as in dog. So gguignard@agbell.org. And then my personal email is ghguignard@gmail.com. Glad to hear
[00:41:59] Carrie: from. Well, thank you, Gayla, for being a guest today on the empowEAR Audiology podcast.
[00:42:06] I really appreciate it. And I am sure that all of our listeners are going to really appreciate this conversation as well.
[00:42:14] Gayla: Thank you so much, Carrie. Thank you.
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