Category Archives: Meetings

What’s the Story?

Why just give a speech…  When you can deliver a message?

• Greater clarity around your personal story
• Authentic communication: being true to yourself and your listener
• The art of influence and persuasion
• How to get others enrolled in your ideas

When you make a real connection, you can make a real difference! That’s the power of The NEW Elevator Pitch.     See a quick video preview… (Please join our LinkedIn Group and comment on the discussions.)  

Schedule for Thursday Evening:
  –  6:30  Intros / Networking / Food   
  –  7:15  Announcements / Program 
  –  8:45  Closing and evaluation 

Meeting Location:   American Airlines Headquarters *
  4333 Amon Carter Boulevard, Center Port 5  (6 Story Building)
   Fort Worth,  TX   76155

  >> Click for Satellite Map of the building and parking (with lat/long)
  Note:  Take Hwy 183 to Amon Carter exit; Go south to Sovereign Rd (SW corner).  

Parking  is plentiful, free, and very close to the door (see map).  ADA accessible.  

Cost:   No charge for members ($60/year).  $10 for guests.

Facilitator BIO:

Chris Westfall is the national elevator pitch champion, an author, speaker and investment consultant.  He has appeared on CNN, ABC-NEWS, NBC-TV, and in The New York Post.  He has served as a coach and consultant to some of the largest companies in the world, including Cisco, Ford Motor Company, Great American Insurance, Brinker International, HP, Crane Worldwide, and Pier 1 Imports.  He is the author of The New Elevator Pitch (thenewelevatorpitch.com).  As an advisor to the entrepreneurship program at the University of Texas at Dallas, he regularly works with innovative companies to secure increased investment for new ideas in healthcare.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Program:  The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is the highest level of recognition that a U.S.-based organization can receive for performance excellence.  Since 1987, the Baldrige Performance Excellence Criteria have provided the leading edge of validated best practices for improving performance in all sectors of the U.S. economy, including business, health care, education, government and non-profits.

Of the 99 Baldrige Award recipients to date, 16 of them are based in Texas.  Most of these sixteen organizations earned the Texas Award for Performance Excellence before applying at the national level.

In this session, you will receive an overview of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, the Quality Texas Foundation, their award processes, and the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence.  You will meet a panel of senior executives who have played key roles in leading their organizations on a journey to performance excellence using the Baldrige Criteria as their roadmap.  You will hear their personal stories of how their organizations have transformed their organizational cultures, and achieved and sustained measurable performance improvement.  You will then have the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion with our subject matter experts, and learn first-hand about what it takes to become a high performing organization.

Panelists:

Peggy Freeby, Human Resources Manager, Freese and Nichols, Fort Worth, Texas,  recipient of the Texas Award in 2007 and the Baldrige Award in 2010

Lynda Johnson, Chief Performance Officer, City of Irving, Texas,  recipient of the Texas Award in 2011 and the Baldrige Award in 2012

Pat Cooper, Director of Health Care Improvement, Baylor Medical Center at Plano    (one of four medical centers within the Baylor Health Care System to receive the Texas Award)

Panel Moderator:   Jeff Bracken, CEO, Bracken and Associates,  Member of the Baldrige Board of Examiners, Quality Texas Board of Examiners and Training Faculty, and former Manager of Organizational Development at GTE Directories, recipient of the Baldrige Award in 1994.

Event Organizers:   Jeff Bracken   and   Glen Earl, OD Specialist, Parkland Health & Hospital System

(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)  

Schedule for Thursday’s Lunch and Program:

  11:30    Networking and Lunch    <– Note new time!
  12:00   DFW OD Network Announcements and Introductions
  12:15     Overview of the Baldrige and Texas Programs
                    (+ Award Processes and the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence)
  12:30   Introduction of Panelists and Opening Remarks
  12:45    Facilitated Panel Discussion
    2:15    Closing Remarks
    2:30   Adjourn

Cost:  No charge for members ($60/year). $10 for guests (program & lunch).

Meeting Location:    Argosy University, Dallas *
   5001 LBJ Freeway,   Farmers Branch, Texas 75244
          In Lecture Rooms 217-218-219

(Located in the ten story Heritage II building on the Northwest corner of LBJ and the Dallas North Tollway across from the Galleria)
 
Parking:   Free Parking on the top floor of the parking garage located next to the building.

Directions:          (Link to Map)

Going East on LBJ, take the Dallas Parkway and Inwood Road Exit.  Stay to the right and then turn left and go over LBJ Freeway by going straight through two lights.  Turn left on Galleria Drive and go under the Tollway.  Then cross the Inwood Road/Dallas Parkway service road and turn left on Galleria Circle.  Look for the ten-story Heritage II building with the Argosy sign on the top floor.  Park on the top floor of the white three-story parking garage on the north side of the Argosy building.

Going West on LBJ, take the Dallas Parkway Exit.  Turn right at the light onto the Dallas Parkway service road, then left on Galleria Drive, and left on Galleria Circle.

Going South on the Dallas North Tollway, take the Alpha Road exit, get on the Dallas Parkway/Inwood Road Exit, and turn right on Galleria Drive, and left on Galleria Circle.

Going North on the Dallas North Tollway, take the Dallas Parkway Exit, go over LBJ Freeway by going straight through two lights, turn left on Galleria Drive, and left on Galleria Circle.  

We look forward to seeing you there!

What makes an organization tick? Can all the parts really work together — harmoniously? How do different people with different thinking and communication styles align themselves to common group objectives that benefit the business as a whole?

February’s speaker Michael Rose has observed a pattern in business.  After seeing the ROE Methodology you will observe things differently too.  We will discuss three areas:

1. ROE Map – Learn a simple and effective Way to gain insight within any organization. ROE is the DNA of any business organization.

2. ROE Org Chart – You will learn a new organizational chart; the top down model is antiquated. An organization is like an organism; all parts within the cell must be healthy and work together to thrive. When a threat enters or existing parts become compromised, the remaining cell parts must pick up the slack in order to return to a healthy state. If not, the organism becomes compromised and might not survive.

3. ROE Gap – You will learn what “in-over-your-head” and “growing-pains” within a business really mean. Two gaps exist — the company gap and the individual gap. When individuals close their gap, the organization grows. Then the individual gaps widen and the process starts all over again.

(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.) 

Facilitator BIO:

Leveraging Social Media for Organizational Change

Program:   Digital technologies (such as Twitter, Facebook, and many lesser known tools) can be leveraged in unique ways to build collaboration and capacity for organizational change. In this month’s OD Net meeting we will take a look at how to use ‘social media’ platforms like these as powerful collaboration tools.

Our goals for this discussion will be to discover new insights and gain some hands-on knowledge for deploying both well-known and lesser-known social media ‘enablers’ to inform and encourage many change initiatives.

Facilitator:  Blake Godkin, Futurist, Strategy Consultant, and Lifelong Learner.

(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)  

Facilitator Bio:   Blake Godkin is a futurist, strategy consultant, creativity expert, and professional facilitator. He works closely with organizations to bring about future-focused organizational transformation by helping them create and manage new ideas. Blake finds unique ways to understand his clients’ aspirations for the future, and then leverages his expertise in trends and facilitation tools to build capacity for change.

His client experience includes educational institutions at all levels, as well as non-profit and corporate entities. His ongoing research focuses on enhancing organizational strategic planning through aspirational thinking. Blake holds a Bachelor in Design from Texas A&M University, a Master of Science in Creativity & Change Leadership from SUNY College at Buffalo, and he is currently completing a Ph.D. in Planning with a research emphasis on strategic planning.   See   Blake’s LinkedIn Profile

Annual Networking/Social Meeting and “Gold Elephant Book Exchange”

Meeting Goals:
–  Connect:   get to know one another better – personally & professionally
–  Learn:   share knowledge informally during the book exchange
–  Enjoy:   fellowship + creative responses (and humor) of the game

Please bring a gift-wrapped book that is meaningful to you – perhaps a book from your own library to ‘pay it forward’ or one from a second hand bookstore. Don’t spend a lot of money – it’s the thought that counts!

The game will be similar to a traditional white elephant gift exchange — each person in turn will unwrap a book or ‘steal’ one that someone else has already opened. Unlike ‘white elephants’ (which are often useless), the books are ‘gold elephants’ that will contain some unique nuggets of wisdom when opened (or stolen) by the right recipient! Discovering those golden nuggets will be part of the game as people talk about the books they give (and the ones they get)!

Handout/Procedure for the ‘Gold Elephant Gift Exchange’

Presenter / Facilitator:   Jim Jameson    

(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)

Facilitator BIO:
Jim Jameson is a Principal at Noah Consulting LLC (a firm specializing in Master Data Management for the Upstream Oil & Gas industry). His role is to improve the success rate of technology adoption projects, working mainly in the areas of Change Management, Collaboration, and Communications. He believes that focusing on the people side of technology change is the key to improving ROI on tranformational ‘IT solutions’.

OD Program Planning for 2013!

Program:    Please join us for our annual planning meeting where we use fun, interactive group exercises and discussion to determine how to best meet the needs of the growing DFW OD community in the upcoming year. Some key discussions will include:

  – What areas do you want to discuss and learn about in 2013?
  – What topics are critical to the success of your organizations?
  – What mix of daytime and nighttime meetings do we want to have? We have experimented with daytime meetings and had success.

Come with your ideas and your voice — This will be a highly participative meeting!

Facilitators:  Kelly Barker, Pete Sorensen, Nadine Bell, and Jonathan Bell.   (See BIOs below.)   

    (Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)  

Facilitator Bios:    

Kelly Barker — Kelly is an advertising sales professional who has been working for a cutting edge online media company for the past three years. She specializes in Search Engine Marketing, organizational consulting, meeting facilitation, and team building.

Peter Jay Sorensen, CMC — Pete is an independent strategic organization design, change management consultant, coach, and social entrepreneur.  He is known for his ability to see the big picture, make sense of messes, and lead teams through the resolution of complex issues.

Nadine Bell, CPF, CMF, CTF, is a master facilitator specializing in strategic and action planning, StrengthsFinder and facilitation of face to face and virtual meetings in the private and public sectors globally. A Past Chair of IAF, Nadine teaches ToP and Consciously Competent facilitation methods.

Jonathan Bell is a facilitator with Prismatic Solutions. He uses participatory processes to develop consensus across a wide variety of groups and issues. He works with clients to collaboratively plan projects, expand creative problem solving, enhance productivity and positively impact the bottom line.

“The Future of OD”

Program:   Are you new to the field of OD or an experienced practitioner? It doesn’t matter because our panelists will share their experiences from starting out in OD to becoming thought-leaders in the field.

Join Miya, Mary Beth, and Kathryn as they discuss the future of OD and talk about a memorable OD initiative. They will also share their thoughts on the next big OD evolution and involve the audience in identifying ways we can help influence our organizations. Come prepared with your thoughts about our field’s future and we’ll see how our ideas compare.      

Panelists:   (See BIOs below.)
 >  Miya Maysent – Vice President, People and Organization for 7-Eleven, Inc.
 >  Mary Beth Dudley – Senior Human Resources Executive
 >  Kathryn Collins – Director Organizational & Management Development for RealPage

(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)  

Panelist BIOs:    

Miya Maysent  is currently Vice President, People and Organization for 7-Eleven, Inc. – a privately-held company with over 10,000 employees. In her career, she has served as both an OD practitioner and HR Business Partner. Miya and her team are responsible for succession and talent planning, learning and development, and performance management. Prior to 7-Eleven, she worked for a publically-held energy company where she was responsible for organizational effectiveness initiatives, succession planning, talent management, and leadership education. She has Masters’ degrees in Industrial Organizational Psychology and Counseling Psychology from the University of Northern Texas.

Mary Beth Dudley  is a global senior-level Human Resources executive with extensive leadership experience in talent management and succession planning, organizational development, change management, and strategic planning. She has diverse and multi-industry experience in Fortune 100 companies, including Honeywell, Pepsi, and Gillette. She has led both operational and strategic roles at the field and corporate levels. Most recently she was Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Development at GameStop, a publically-held company with over 10,000 employees. Mary Beth holds a Master’s degree in Labor & Industrial Relations and a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Michigan State University. She is also certified in the Center for Creative Leadership 360 tools.

Kathryn Collins  is Director of Organizational & Management Development for RealPage, where she drives business growth by leading initiatives in organization design, change management, employee engagement and team development. She is responsible for the company’s internal learning organization and for building the company’s leadership bench through succession planning, talent reviews and innovative leadership development programs. Kathryn’s career spans talent management, corporate communications and engineering in the software, high tech and retail industries in North America, Europe and Asia. She has a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington, an MBA in Industrial Management from the University of Dallas, and an MS in Organization Development from the University of Texas at Dallas.

 We look forward to seeing you there!

Large Scale Change —
The critical role of Organization Development in DFW Healthcare Systems:
Texas Health Resources (24 hospitals and 21k employees) and Parkland Health and Hospital System 

Program:    Some may wonder:  ‘With such big changes in the healthcare industry are organizations in critical condition?‘   Come and get an insider’s look at two different kinds of organizations in the same business. THR is a very large multi-site system that resulted from a series of Mergers and Acquisitions resulting in a “silo” culture that must move towards a single large “systems” organization and culture involving OD interventions and leadership development. Parkland is a large mostly single site, publicly funded organization with a politicized board of Directors chosen by Dallas County political actors and serving a predominantly low income population which is presently on probation with Medicare and needing serious culture change.  Much change is in progress in both institutions!

[ Did you notice the meeting time?  This is our annual in-depth meeting, which goes from lunch to mid-afternoon.  This format is used once each year in September or October to offer a deeper exploration of a current hot topic.  See location and schedule below. ]     

Panelists:   (See BIOs below.)

>  Sushma Aggarwal, Director of Organization Effectiveness, Texas Health Resources: Center For Learning and Career Development

>  Andrew Gray, Manager of Leadership and Organization Development, Parkland Hospital and Health Care

Event Organizers:     Gene Ruckle, Gene Ruckle Associates and UT Arlington College of Business and Glen Earl, O.D. Specialist, Parkland Hospital.

(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)  

Panelist BIOs:    

Sushma Aggarwal  is Director of  Learning and Professional Development at Texas Health Resources.  She has over 15 years of professional experience in driving Organizational Effectiveness through leadership development; performance management; career and succession planning; and employee engagement. Her career passions include developing a high performance culture and growing an internal talent pipeline through leadership, mentoring, and coaching programs. Sushma holds an MS in Organization Development and Analysis and is currently enrolled in the PhD program through Fielding Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California.  Contact: (682) 236 – 6185.

Andrew Gray  is the Manager of the Leadership and Organizational Development department at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. He has worked as a training and organizational development professional for over 20 years.  During that time he has worked for a variety of organizations including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas and Illinois, The Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and Match.com.  Andy has a Master of Liberal Arts degree in Human Behavior from Southern Methodist University in Dallas and a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree in Psychology, also from SMU.  His areas of professional emphasis are organizational effectiveness surveys, leadership development, team building, performance management, and coaching.

  We look forward to seeing you there!

 Is Change Management the New OD?  What’s the Connection and Who Cares?

Program:    Practitioners of these two disciplines view them in a variety of ways — from completely independent to overlapping to complementary.  Some may see one as a subset of the other.  But how do our clients look at the services we offer?  Do they care more about the nature of the services or the results?  At this luncheon meeting the panelists and the audience will explore multiple perspectives on CM, OD, and other alphabetic acronyms TBD.

Two panelists recently attended the international ACMP (Association of Change Management Professionals) conference and will comment on the advancement of Change Management as a profession.  Our goal for this discussion is to forge a broader understanding of how clients are viewing our various disciplines through the broad lens of “change”, and especially how we can foster synergy between CM and OD from both the client and practitioner perspective.

[ Did you notice we said “luncheon meeting“?   This is a new format for OD Network meetings that we will use periodically to reach a broader audience in the DFW area.  See details below. ]     

Panelists:   Cindi Cunningham, Pete Sorenson, Jim Jameson, and Betsy Winkler.    (See BIOs below.)

(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)  

Panelist BIOs:    

Cindi Cunningham  is an OD Consultant supporting American Airlines’ Airport Services and Cargo organizations as Leadership Development Program Coach. In a prior role, she served as an Organizational Change Management Specialist supporting the project team now building the PSS technology replacement for Sabre. Cindi is skilled in organizational assessment, employee engagement, process improvement, change management, and leadership development. She has also led customer-centric organizations in other travel and hospitality companies.

Peter Jay Sorenson, CMC  is an external consultant who focuses on designing well-crafted organizations that combine getting work done and achieving outcomes with being positive environments for people who work.  He is currently working with several energy related companies on critical performance issues in high consequence environments.  Pete is known for his ability to see the big picture, make sense of messes, and lead teams in resolving complex issues.   

Jim Jameson  supports technology adoption through proactive change management to improve project success rates.  His goals include improved ROI on IT related projects while fostering a culture of collaboration, learning, and innovation.   Jim’s focus on the people side of technology change is intended to broaden the perspectives of business users and teach them to work in new ways in response to a change in their tools or ‘environment’.

Betsy Winkler  has been working as a business consultant and change leader for 20 years. She previously led the Change Leadership Center of Excellence for PepsiCo, and is a Change Leadership speaker at the 2011 Organization Development Network national conference. Her experience includes working with many multi-national companies on large, complex change and communications programs to drive business value. Betsy’s work in organization development encompasses employee engagement (such as surveys and action planning), as well as designing, developing and implementing global reward and recognition programs.

Healing the Organization – Strategies for Post RIF Recovery

Facilitator:  Judy Benavides, SPHR — an HR Business Partner with experience in Financial Services, High Tech, and Defense Contracts.

Program:  As organizations navigate a landscape marked by competitive pressures, global supply chains, outsourcing partners, and technology innovations, it seems that Reductions in Force (RIFs) have become a common strategy for “rightsizing” the workforce.  But what is the true impact of a RIF?

Join the OD community for an interactive discussion of productive options for a path forward in this challenging environment. Together we’ll explore the leadership strategies that build organizational agility, empower employees, and reduce systemic codependency. We’ll discuss our role in aligning OD interventions and HR practices with the “free agency” that is required in today’s workplace.

(Please join our LinkedIn Group if you haven’t yet done so, and comment on the discussions.)  

Facilitator Bio:    

Judy Benavides is an HR Business Partner working in the defense and aerospace systems industry. She has partnered with leaders through major culture change and organizational transformation. Judy’s career has included HR Business Partner and Leadership Development roles at Fidelity Investments, Placemark Investments, and CoreLogic. She brings a passion for talent development and leadership with a practical results driven approach.

Judy holds an MBA with a concentration in Human Resource Management from the University of Dallas. Judy has an SPHR certification and is certified as a Human Resources Strategist by the Human Capital Institute.

Contact:  Judy.benavides@yahoo.com    214-676-4455