Jacqueline Stavros
Professor
College of Business + Information Technology
Dr. Jacqueline (Jackie) Stavros’ passion is working with others to create purpose and meaningful results for positive change. She is recognized for her creation of SOAR, a positive approach to strategic thinking, planning, and leading. Jackie has over 30 years of leadership, strategy, strategic planning, organization development and change management, marketing, and international experience. She is a professor in the College of Business and Information Technology at Lawrence Technological University. Jackie started Lawrence Technological University (LTU) as an Adjunct Professor in 1997 and joined the faculty full-time in April 2000. She teaches in the Bachelor and Master programs: Principles of Management, Strategic Management, Organization Development: Transformation and Change, Creating Sustainable Business Value, and Leadership. Prior to joining faculty at LTU, her industry work includes automotive, banking, technology, and professional services. In all her management positions, Jackie reported directly to the president and was responsible for strategic planning, marketing, sales, training, quality projects, and international business development activities. Jackie has worked with the Michigan Small Business Development Center Network (MI-SBDC). The MI-SBDC is part of a nation-wide SBDC network that provides counseling, training, and resources to entrepreneurs.
Jackie has co-authored seven books, 25 book chapters, and 50 articles. Her two most recent books are: 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). Her research is grounded in the AI, neuroscience, and positive psychology to help others understand how their conversations influence their wellbeing and ability to succeed. In 2013, Jackie received Lawrence Technological University Inaugural Presidential Colloquium – Honor for Exemplary Faculty Research and Scholarship. She is on a mission to co-create a global movement of conversations worth having to recognize each other’s humanity and create organizations and communities that work for everyone. 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. She earned her Doctorate in Management at Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Her Dissertation topic was Capacity Building Using an Appreciative Approach: A Relational Process of Building Your Organization’s Future. She holds an MBA in International Marketing from Michigan State University and BA in Marketing from Wayne State University.
Aligned with LTU’s motto of “theory and practice”, she continues to work with executives, managers, staff and line teams, and organizations’ stakeholders to collaboratively and creatively help them get organized and focused for sustainable growth with a focus on strategies that align with the triple bottom line (TBL). Through executive coaching and whole system small and large-scale change methods, she helps organizations identify and articulate their values, vision and mission statements, strategy, and strategic initiatives and build collaborative teams and communities for inspired action for positive change. She has worked across all sectors: nonprofit, for-profit, government, and social-entrepreneurs. She has worked and traveled to over 25 countries throughout Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America using Appreciative Inquiry (AI) to affect the lives of thousands or people and hundreds of organizations improve capacity to thrive and increase performance. Clients have include Americhem, BAE Systems, Covenant Community Care, Edsel and Eleanor Ford Foundation, Facebook, Fasteners, Inc., Flint Intermediate School District, General Motors of Mexico, Jefferson Wells, NASA, Tendercare Healthcare Centers, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Advisory University, United Way, Girl Scouts, National Education Association, Washtenaw Literacy, U.S. Army, and several Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers, and primary, secondary, and higher education.
She is Appreciative Inquiry Advisor with Council of Appreciative Inquiry Practice with the David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry and AIM2Flourish Program at Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management. Jackie is an associate for the Taos Institute and editor for Taos Institute Publishing. She is member of the Academy of Management and Organization Development Institute. She is an advisor and reviewer for doctoral dissertations for Tilburg University (in Netherlands), Penn State University, and several other universities.