About Dr. Mitchell Kusy

Dr. Kusy has had 25 years experience in organization development and is a full professor in the Ph.D. Program, Leadership & Change, Antioch University and a distinguished visiting professor, University of Auckland, New Zealand. In addition to his US-based consultations, he has consulted in:

Argentina • Australia • Bahrain • Croatia France • Germany • Ireland • Israel • Japan • New Zealand • South Africa • Spain • Sweden • Taiwan • The Netherlands • Ukraine • United Kingdom • United States • Uruguay.

Volunteering in non-profit organizations, Mitch has served on the Board of Directors for the American Society for Training & Development, Southern Minnesota Chapter. He recently received the
international honor of being selected a Fulbright Scholar in international organization development. In 1998, he received the prestigious award Minnesota Organization Development Practitioner of the Year. Previous to Antioch University, Mitch was a full professor in the master’s and doctoral program in organization development, University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, where he taught for 17 years. Before this, Mitch directed the leadership development area at American Express Financial Advisors. Previously, he managed organization development & employee relations for Health Partners, Inc. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Providence College and two Master’s degrees—one in Psychiatric Social Work, University of Wisconsin and the other in Industrial Relations, University of
Minnesota. He holds a Doctorate in Organization Development, the University of Minnesota and received an international award from the International Society for Performance Improvement as Outstanding Researcher of the Year. He is a Registered Organization Development Consultant & Leadership Coach, Minnesota Organization Development Practitioner of the Year, Fellow, Executive Education, University of Minnesota and Professor, Antioch University, Ph.D. Program in Leadership & Change. Mitch Kusy’s specific areas of consulting include strategic planning, leadership development/coaching team development, organization development, building respectful engagement at work and 360 feedback.

His latest research study is on the specific strategies leaders should employ to mitigate the effects of toxic personalities at work. His publication record consists of hundreds of articles and the following books:

• Kusy, M., & Holloway, E. (2009). Toxic workplace! Managing toxic personalities and their systems of power. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Published in English and Portuguese.
• Kusy, M., & Essex, L. (2005). Breaking the code of silence: Prominent leaders reveal how they rebounded from seven critical mistakes. Lanham, Maryland: Taylor Trade Publishing/Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group.
• Essex, L., & Kusy, M. (2007). Manager’s desktop consultant: Just-in-time solutions to the top people problems that keep you up at night! Mountain View, CA: Davies-Black Publishing. Published in English, Spanish, Korean, and Polish.
• Allen, S., & Kusy, M. (in press). The little book of leadership: 50 tips to accelerate leader potential in others. Lafayette, CO: Moonlight Publishing, LLC.
• Essex, L., & Kusy, M. (1999). Fast forward leadership: How to exchange outmoded practices for forward- looking leadership today (1999). London: Financial Times-Prentice Hall. [3rd best-selling business book in the US—“What Corporate America is Reading.” Knight Ridder- Tribune News, April, 2000]. Published in English and Russian.

Sample Organizational Clients of Dr. Mitchell Kusy
American Express • Ecolabs, Inc. 3M • Target Corporation • Prudential Insurance Company • Deloitte New Zealand • The New York Times • Fairview Riverside Medical Center • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota • Northwest Airlines • Sanofi Winthrop Pharmaceuticals • Health One Corporation • Jostens • Sandoz Nutrition • Twin Cities Public Television • Abbott Northwestern Hospital • Kraft Foods • AT & T • Schneider National • Minnesota Pollution Control Agency • Polaris • Minnesota Department of Revenue • SEH Engineering • Associated Public Safety Officers • Bemis, Corp. • Whitney Hotel • US Bancorp • Minnesota Department of Revenue • FMC Corporation • Minneapolis Public Schools • Minnesota State Police • United Way • Lutheran Brotherhood • People Management, Inc. • Basin Electric • Roche Laboratories • Deluxe Corporation • Nexus, Inc. • United Power Association • Honeywell • Western Australia Water Authority • Medtronic • University of Auckland Business School • RSM McGladrey • United Health Care

Learn more about Mitch’s experience and services.

Testimonials
The approaches and techniques my staff learned here helped them resolve some long standing personnel issues in a series of respectful, yet highly effective steps.  This was one of the most useful workshops I’ve attended in my professional career. – Jim D’Angelo, President & CEO, Nexus (ret.)

In my role as SUPERVALU’s Corporate Vice President of Retail Operations, I attended a workshop on toxic personalities in the workplace done by Dr. Mitchell Kusy and Dr. Elizabeth Holloway. I was impressed at how they blended their research findings with those of others in developing practical examples and advice that I could use in my collaborative work at the office. – Lynn Olsen, Former Vice President of Retail Operations, Supervalu

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