DC Area OD Practitioners Community of Practice
Session: A New Look at Use of Self
Session Description: “Use of Self” is a commonplace term in organization development work, but it is also a curious term, and we were curious about it. Everyone uses themselves, for better or for worse. So we started thinking together about what “Use of Self” means as a term of art and a central feature of OD work. The Use of Self Process Model is the product of our thinking. The Model draws on the traditional meanings of the term, develops them on the basis of our own experiences, and frames the ideas along the lines of Arthur Young’s universal process model (you might be familiar with it through the Drexler-Sibbet Team Performance Model, which uses the same framework). The Model is about what effective use of self looks like in action and in person. It tracks the development of use of self to whatever point it goes.
The purpose of the session is:
- Engage in a conversation about this newly-formed Model;
- To examine it in relation to the ideas of participants and to learn from their reactions to it; and
- To test out a newly designed scale measuring progress toward mature use of self.
Participants should come away from the session with:
- A new way of thinking about use of self;
- The benefit of sharpening their own understanding of use of self and hearing the views of others in response to our Model; and
- The experience of taking the Use of Self Scale that is a companion to our Model, and some insight into their own developing selves.
Presenters: Matt Minahan and Russ Forrester
Matt Minahan has more than 25 years of experience in strategic planning, organization design and development, and leadership development. His consulting practice focuses on organizations and leaders who are planning enterprise-wide change programs, including business strategy, mission, business process simplification, new structures, and monitoring and evaluation systems.
He works in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, with senior executives to develop new business strategies and redesign their organizations to meet new business challenges.
He is past chair of the Board of Trustees of the OD Network and is a former member of the board of CBODN. He is an active volunteer, program dean, and former board member at NTL Institute. He is on the adjunct faculty of the MSOD and Key Executive Leadership Programs at American University, the MS in Executive Coaching program at Queens University in Charlotte, and is a frequent guest lecturer in doctoral programs.
He earned his doctorate from The George Washington University's Executive Leadership Program in Organization Development, following an MS in Organization Behavior from the University of Hartford, and a BA in Communications from the University of Maryland.
Russ Forrester Is a consultant in the field of human behavior and organization development. An organizational psychologist, he is the principal of Forrester & Associates, Inc., co-founder and Director of Quality Team Performance, Inc., and an Associate with Drexler & Associates, Inc.
He has 35 years in the field of human resources and organizational development. He has worked in several large organizations in the public and private sectors, designed and implemented programs in organization development, executive development and training, leadership coaching, performance management, employee selection, and labor management relations, in the roles of individual contributor, team leader and manager. He is the co-author of the Drexler-Sibbet-Forrester Team Performance System.
He is the author of a number of publications, including:
- "The Team Performance Model," in Team Building: Blueprints for Productivity and Satisfaction
- "Team Work -- Not Necessarily the Answer"
- "Interdependence -- the Crux of Team Work"
- "Decadactyly" in Training
- “A Model for Team-Based Organization Performance"
He has served on the staff of the NTL Institute, conducted numerous workshops and seminars, and addressed a variety of professional conferences, primarily those formed around human resources issues.
He has a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Psychology, a Master’s degree in Human Resources Development, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy.
CoP Leader: Mark Sachs, ma.sachs@verizon.net.
Cancellation Policy: Registrants should contact Mark if they need to cancel.
Additional Notes: A $5.00 per person contribution is requested to help pay for rental of the room.
