GIODN Book Club – Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement

GIODN is excited to have Jackie Savros and Cherie Torres to present their work Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement. Check out a little bit more about what’s in store below!

Do you wish to have the best possible conversation so you, your employees, colleagues, and external stakeholders are productive and have meaningful engagement?

Conversations is the primary way we connect with others especially in workplace and social settings, imagine trying to lead a team, department or work on a project with just one other person without words or conversations?
Conversations is the lifeline to how we get things done in most settings. If we can have conversations that are appreciative and inquiry-based, it will strengthen relationships, move us towards positive outcomes in our teams and organizations and promote situations where you can flourish!

We will share
• Our story of why we wrote this book
• the nature of their conversations and effects that have on self and others
• The importance of being in an appreciative mindset has on our wellbeing and organizational health
• Introduce two simple practices: positive framing and generative questions to foster conversations worth having
Please visit our website to download the Conversational Toolkit and Preface and Introduction of the book (written by David L. Cooperrider): www.ConversationsWorthHaving.today

Jacqueline (Jackie) Stavros’ passion is working with others to create meaningful results for positive change. She is recognized for her creation of SOAR, a positive approach to strategic thinking, planning, and leading. She is a professor in the College of Business and Information Technology at Lawrence Technological University and Advisor for David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry. She co-authored many articles and books with two recent: books, Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement (www.ConversationsWorthHaving.today) and Thin Book of SOAR: Creating Strategy that Inspires Innovation and Engagement (soar-strategy.com). She has worked across all sectors, including for-profit, nonprofit, government, and a wide spectrum of industries. She has worked in 25 countries using Appreciative Inquiry (AI) to affect the lives of thousands or people and hundreds of organizations improve capacity to thrive and increase performance. Her work has been featured in Forbes, SmartBrief, Detroit’s Live in the D, dbusiness Magazine, and leadership and training blogs and podcasts. She is a keynote speaker on positive approaches to leadership, strategy, and change. Her mission is to change our world of conversations that create environments that work for all. She earned a Doctorate of Management in Capacity Building Using an Appreciative Approach: A Relational Process of Building Your Organization’s Future.

Cheri Torres, Ph.D. Lead Catalyst, Cheri partners with people to catalyze positive change in workplaces and communities. Her approach enables leaders and teams to recognize the power of their words and conversations to strengthen relationships, expand possibilities, and increase productivity and engagement. She introduces two simple practices: generative questions and positive framing. These are grounded in neuroscience, positive psychology, sociotechnical systems, and Appreciative Inquiry, one of the most widely used approaches for systems change. She’s worked with thousands of leaders and teams around the world to support high performance, engagement, and organizational success. Her passion: work with others to create a movement of conversations worth having around the world that allow us to create communities and organizations that work for everyone. She’s written numerous books and articles; her most recent book is a Berrett Koehler bestseller, Conversations Worth Having: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement. A perpetual learner, she’s accumulated a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a specialization in Collaborative Learning from the University of Tennessee. She also holds an MBA, a Masters in Transpersonal Psychology, Level 2 certification in Cultural Transformation Tools/Barrett Values Centre, and Level II certification in Spiral Dynamics Integral. She also co-designed and patented Mobile Team Challenge, an award-winning, portable low ropes course.