Corrections or additions?
This article by Kathleen McGinn Spring was prepared for the October 9, 2002 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Steering Toward Success
Studies show that drivers who crane to look at an
accident
turn their cars toward the wreck. This is an example of actions going
where the brain leads, says Franne McNeal, a business coach
who advocates Appreciative Inquiry, a way of improving personal and
business results by focusing on the positive — rather than on
the wrecks.
McNeal speaks on “Appreciative Inquiry: Focusing on What
Works”
on Tuesday, October 15, at 4 p.m. at a meeting of the American Society
for Training and Development at Summerfield Suites. Cost: $40. Call
609-279-4818.
McNeal grew up in Bryn Mawr. The oldest of four sisters in a family
that encouraged positive results through education, she recently
attended
her 20th reunion at Princeton University, which she entered at age
16. The daughter of two physicians, now retired, McNeal’s understated
manner and soft voice give little hint of the drive within.
“I was the first African American president of the Cloister Inn
(a Princeton University eating club),” McNeal says. At the same
time, in addition to studying for her degree in American History,
McNeal, all of 18 at the time, ran a start-up business, which supplied
students to work at parties.
Upon graduation she accepted a management training slot with Smith
Kline, discovered it was sales and human resources that interested
her the most, and moved on to FMC, where she sold industrial
chemicals.
One day, out on a sales call, she broke her ankle in enough places
to put her of commission for weeks.
While recuperating, she spent some time thinking about her career.
“I was young,” she recalls with a laugh, “I thought `I
know it all; I’ve had two jobs. Let me see what else I can
conquer.’”
She took some computer courses, and started a computer training
company,
which she ran for eight years at a time when navigating by mouse was
foreign to office-bound America. Clients included the City of
Pittsburgh
and PNC bank. As desk jockeys got up to speed on bits and bytes, she
saw the need for small group training begin to go away, and accepted
consulting work, and then a full-time job, in human resources with
PNC, specializing in leadership training.
PNC was constantly restructuring during her time there. Looking at
the positive side, she says, “I had a lot of opportunity to learn
how corporations develop.”
After a little over four years with PNC, and just six months short
of vesting, McNeal was restructured out of a job. Next step: back
to entrepreneurship. After taking a few months off, McNeal founded
HR Energy (www.hrenergy.com) in August, 2001. Her goal is to work
with groups and individuals to achieve “significant business
results.”
The framework for her coaching, Appreciative Inquiry, is “the
art of helping systems create images of their most desired
future.”
Rather than emphasizing problems to be solved, it encourages
reflection
on success. There are four steps to personal or organizational
improvement
through Appreciative Inquiry:
Discover. Let’s say a person is out of work, and lookingfor a job. Using questions, he would look at where he is, tally hisstrengths, and focus on what has worked for him in the past. Inworkingwith individuals, McNeal often corresponds by E-mail prior to a firstcoaching session, asking questions designed to elicit responses thatwill “reframe” the situation.Maybe the laid-off worker could think of the last time he was facedwith change — maybe when he moved to a new home. How did he handlethat? Acquiring and moving into a new home requires research, thehelp of experts (real estate agents, lawyers, home inspectors),organizationalskills, and, often, the recruiting of friends to help with heavylifting.”Focus on strengths,” says McNeal, “on how you handleda situation well.”Dream. “Look at what is the best of what couldbe,”says McNeal. After figuring out where you are, what strengths youbring to the situation, and what gaps in your strengths need to befilled, sit back and imagine the best of all possible outcomes.Design. In this stage, the job seeker, staring right atthe best of all possible situations, draws a map for getting there.”Sketch out internal and external factors for making the dreamcome true,” advises McNeal. This is the nitty gritty stage, theone where a strategy takes form.Deliver. Backed up with recollections of past successes,and clutching a plan, the job seeker is now set to steer himself intoan excellent position.Job seekers, career changers, executives interested in improving theirperformance, teams, departments, and whole companies, all can benefitfrom dropping the word “problem” and replacing it withquestionsabout where they want to be, and an unwavering concentration on thatgoal.”When you focus,” says McNeal, “that’s the directionyou go.”Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
