Dorie Ellzey Blesoff

Dorie works with organizations to improve strategic alignment, quality of team performance, sustainable change efforts, and development of leaders. She has held managerial and executive positions in the field of Organization Development and Human Resources in multiple industries, including healthcare, manufacturing and professional services. She became an independent consultant and coach in 2002. Her client base includes individuals and teams in large global and US-based companies, small-to-medium family businesses and non-profit organizations. Dorie designs, keynotes and facilitates strategic retreats and team meetings, utilizing proven models and interactive learning methods that facilitate changes in strategy, culture, behaviors. She also coaches individual team members to improve individual and team performance. She emphasizes the power of appreciating and building upon what works, leveraging proven strengths and involving people in the change process so they can commit to an initiative instead of only “complying” with it.

Dorie serves as Adjunct Faculty at Northwestern University’s Center for Learning & Organizational Change in two courses: “Designing Sustainable Strategic Change” and “Learning Organizations for Complex Environments.” She received an Award for Outstanding Professor in 2008. Dorie earned her Masters in Organization Development from Loyola University, Chicago in 1995. She is also a Singer-songwriter with a published CD of 16 original songs. She performs benefit concerts in the Chicago area, and incorporates music for company-wide celebrations, team-building, as a creative element in learning situations, and entertainment.

Areas of Expertise

• Scenario Planning, Search Conference, Appreciative Inquiry Methods
• Original Model for Designing Sustainable Strategic Change
• Values and Results-Based Development of Leaders and Leadership Teams
• Experiential and Participatory Learning Methods
• Systems Thinking and Learning Organization Disciplines from Peter Senge's "Fifth Discipline"
• DiSC Assessment Instrument for Team-Building and Diversity Work
• Lominger Competencies and 360 Feedback Tools
• Multi-Cultural Competency – Recognizing, Practicing, Teaching
• Interpersonal Communication Skills, including Conflict Management
• William Bridges: Managing Transitions

Publications & Media

• OD Practitioner, Winter, 2010: contributor to Case History "Quality Intiative in the Pathology Lab" by John Nicholas and Homer Johnson
• Co-authored articles for Professional Services Management Journal (PSMJ) Feb, 2003 “Getting Your Firm Culture to Support a Big Change” and CAEL Forum and News, Spring-Summer 1997, Volume 30, Number 3 “Success Is a Team Effort”
• TRAINING Magazine, December, 1997, featured in lead article “Beyond Recruiting: A Two-Fold Strategy to attack skilled labor shortage.”
• BIGGS INDUSTRIES – PREFACE. Kendall-Hunt, 2000