Bio
Jeanne McPherson provides customized development that emphasizes collaborative leadership skills, organizational change, conflict management, and related interactional skills. Adept in French and Spanish as well as English, she draws out the best from cross-functional and multi-cultural/multi-ethnic groups. Dr. McPherson has developed a model for making interactive choices in the moment for leaders. Her career has evolved from serving as a technical editor/writer in nuclear waste management to workforce development in change leadership, conflict management, and collaborative leadership skills development. Jeanne’s current project brings together career expertise in her book:
How Do You Do Leadership in Our Multi-Stakeholder Workplaces? Applying What We Know
Consulting HIghlights—1980 to Present
Change Management Leadership: Conducted 18 leadership programs targeted to a Hanford organization; mid-level through executives
Collaborative Leadership Development: Developed a cutting-edge leadership program for an emergency training facility serving as a regional center for Homeland Security and other agencies
Colville National Forest Collaboration: Participated in the design of a tri-county collaborative performance plan; facilitated public meetings
Change Management/Customer Relationships: Designed a change program for a hazardous waste cleanup firm; presented this program in 7 states and 2 Canadian provinces
Organizational Development: Conducted programs in team building, change management, leadership, and conflict resolution for agencies of the US government over a period of 7 years
Executive Development: Served as part of a university program where executives of technical organizations were trained in leading the changing workplace; provided communication training
Organizational Change: Developed a training program for managers of a newly merged hospital organization with 6000 employees—coaching skills, problem performers and other challenges;
Performance Evaluation—Developed a program to train managers of a national textbook organization in evaluating performance, including documentation for motivation, ratings
Communication Skills Training: Provided oral and written language skills training for more than 15 years to technical professions; also, training for employees using nonstandard English dialects
Experience in Higher Education
2008 to Present — Adjunct Professor, U of South Alabama, Mobile
2003 to 2006—Assistant Professor, University of South Alabama, Mobile
1999-2002—Teaching Assistant, University of Colorado at Boulder, PhD Program
1995-1999—Adjunct Instructor, University of Denver Corporate Development Program
Affiliations
Society for Organizational Learning (SoL)–Speakers Bureau
Rotary Leadership Institute, Rotary International (RI)–Certified Facilitator; member, RI
National Management Association–Mid-Columbia Leadership Development Association (MCLDA)
Three Rivers Community Foundation (Board member)
Speaking Topics
- 100 Years of American Management Theory and How It Affects Your Leadership (45 minutes of fun–I promise!)
- Toss the Generational Labels: It’s Flux Gens for Our Emerging Future\Beyond Succession Planning: Addressing Our Leadership Gap through Collaboration\Sick to Death of Right/Wrong Debates? The Solution Is Easier than You Think…
- Beyond the “Death of Strategic Planning”: Engaging for Our Future
- Engaged Listening: It’s a Whole New Arena!
- Beyond Performance Appraisals: Organizational Learning for Our Future
and customized topics
Bibliography & Video
- How Do You Do Leadership in Our Multi-Stakeholder Workplaces? Applying What We Know
- How to evaluate others at performance appraisal time: The choices, the challenges, the words. ©2013.
- Preparing our next generation of leaders: Collaborating across age boundaries ©2012.
- Leadership for 21st century situations ©2011.
- Merged, incompatible IT cultures: Challenges of organizational change for a computing services team. In J. Keyton and P. Shockley-Zalabak (Eds.), Case studies for organizational communication: Understanding communication processes
- Leadership for the 21st century: Facing the challenge ©2008.
- Merged high-tech cultures in a public bureaucracy: Micropractices of change in information technology teams. Dissertation.
- Professional Technical Writing ©1980, 1986, 1990.
- Professional Technical Speaking ©1982, 1985
- A High-Tech Organizational Change Initiative in the Public Sector: Theory Engaged in Practice. With Stan Deetz, PhD, In P. Shockley-Zalabak & J. Simpson (Eds.), Engaging Organizational Communication Theory and Practice
- Clash in Korean heritage? A case study of work values among Koreans and Korean-Americans. With Eung-Jeong Han, PhD, Asian Journal of Communication
- And 15 juried conference papers, 3 awards for best paper
Credentials
PhD, Organizational Communication, University of Colorado at Boulder; professor/adjunct professor, Organizational Communication, University of South Alabama; adjunct professor, Washington State University-Tri-Cities; Certified facilitator in the Rotary Leadership Institute, Rotary International; consulting projects over 30 years in both the public and private sectors [including work with such groups as American Electric Power System (AEP); City of Denver; Goodyear Atomic Corporation; ICG Telecommunications; International Business Machines (IBM); International Institute of Auditors; Lowery Air Force Base; Kal Kan Foods (M&M Mars Corp.); National City Corporation; Nationwide Insurance Companies, Headquarters; On-Line Computer Library Center (OCLC); Owens Corning Fiberglas Technical Center; Philip Environmental Services; US Department of Agriculture; US Department of Defense; US Department of Transportation; US Health Corporation; Volpentest HAMMER Training and Education Center; Washington Closure Hanford; Washington River Protection Solutions; Xerox Educational Foundation; and the Xerox Publishing Group]
Speaker Endorsement
“Jeanne is a very thoughtful and intuitive speaker and facilitator who can bring diverse groups together and foster a safe environment for open discussions…. I returned refreshed and full of hope – all a credit to Jeanne’s program! She engages groups quickly, articulately, and conveys enthusiasm to whatever topic she brings to a group’s attention.” Carol Johnson, President, Washington Closure Hanford
“I’ve witnessed Dr. McPherson’s excellent presentation skills in front of both small and large groups of professionals. In probably one of her most challenging assignments, I attended a workshop on leadership and change processes for my employer…. Dr. McPherson was faced with some very determined managers of various levels during a tense time in our contract period where some of the managers were not transitioning….Dr. McPherson successfully gained the trust of the attendees, she successfully transitioned the attendees to more effective leadership skills and, to a large extent, enabled our company to accomplish a very successful contract.” William Kitchen, 2011 Past National Chairman of the Board National Management Association; Past Facilities Director (Retired 2011) Washington River Protection Solutions (URS) and, CH2MHill Hanford, Inc.
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