W. “Cliff” Kayser III

Founder and President

Book me here:
https://polaritypartnerships-cliff.youcanbook.me

Cliff Kayser MSOD, MSHR, PCC

Founder and President of XPERIENCE, LLC in Washington, D.C., which includes Kayser Ridge Retreat & Learning Center in Berkeley Springs, WV. Cliff is also VP of Polarity Partnerships, LLC where he has served as the Dean of the 2-year Mastery and Coaching Programs since 2012.

Cliff is an executive coach with 25 years of experience in organization development consulting and leadership training. He is a frequent conference keynote speaker on polarity thinking and values dynamics as they apply to national/global systems, organizational/team applications, and leadership competencies. Since 2010, Cliff has been an Adjunct Faculty member in American University’s Master’s in Organization Development and KEY Executive programs. He is a Coaching Fellow for the Leadership Coaching for Organizational Well Being (an International Coaching Federation Accredited Coach Training Program) at George Mason’s Center for the Advancement of Well-being.

Holding Master’s Degrees in both Human Resources and Organizational Development from American University, Cliff completed his Coaching Certification at Georgetown University’s Executive Leadership Coaching Program and earned a PCC (Professional Certified Coach) through the International Coaching Federation.

Prior to launching XPERIENCE, LLC, Cliff held internal positions as Vice President of Organizational Development and Training for The National Cooperative Bank (NCB), Senior Organization Development Consultant for The Washington Post, and Corporate Manager of Human Resources and Training at The Washington Post Company. Before joining The Washington Post Company, Cliff held human resources and management positions at the Planning & Development Collaborative International, the law firm of Arter, Hadden, Haynes & Miller, and a Fortune 500 organization.

Education, Certifications, Affiliations, and Publications

EDUCATION

  • Bachelor’s Degree, History & Business, Lenoir-Rhyne University, Hickory, NC
  • Master’s Degree, HR Management, American University, Washington, DC
  • Master’s Degree, OD, American University/NTL, Washington, DC
  • Executive Leadership Coaching, Georgetown University, Washington, DC

CERTIFICATIONS

  • PCC, Professional Certified Coach — International Coaching Federation
  • Polarity Master, Polarity Thinking Mastery Program (Cohort II)  (www.PolarityPartnerships.com)
  • EQi 2.0/EQ 360, Emotional Quotient Inventory, MHS/OKA Associates
  • MBTI, TKI, FIRO-B, Strong Career Development Inventory, Pearson-Marr Narrative Intelligence Profile
  • SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources), Society for Human Resource Management
  • Benchmarks 360 By Design, Center for Creative Leadership
  • Level Two Consultant, Barrett Values Centre Cultural Transformation Tools (www.valuescentre.com)
  • BBI (Becoming a Better Intervenor), Gestalt Institute of Cleveland
  • MAP, Cook-Greuter Leadership Development Maturity Profile Map
  • Master Trainer, Achieve Global & Development Dimensions International
  • Hogan Leadership Circle Profile

AFFILIATIONS

  • Adjunct Faculty Member, AU KEY Executive Program
  • Coaching Fellow, George Mason University, Center for the Advancement of Well-being
  • Visiting Faculty, The Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, 2009-present
  • Adjunct Faculty, George Mason’s EDGE– Center for Team & Organizational Learning, 2009-present

PUBLICATIONS

Author/Co-author of 9 Chapters in “And, making a difference by leveraging polarity, paradox, or dilemma: Vol. 2. Applications. Amherst, MA: HRD Press 2021.”

  • Chapter 17: Demystifying Classic Assessments Through a Polarity Lens
  • Chapter 22: Applying Polarity Principles for a Healthcare IT Start-Up
  • Chapter 23: Applying Polarity Thinking to Increase Healthcare Leadership Capacity
  • Chapter 24: Post-COVID-19 Planning for Sustained Benefit of Transition to Distant Learning Using PACT
  • Chapter 31: Institute for Polarities of Democracy: Leveraging Democratic Values and Advancing Social Change
  • Chapter 36: Polarity Thinking and Oshry’s Organic System Framework
  • Chapter 38: Polarity-based Inquiry
  • Chapter 39: Shifting from Drama to Empowerment: Using The Empowerment Dynamic* and Polarity Thinking to Engage Key Stakeholders
  • Chapter 42: Multarites: Interdependencies of More Than Two

Library of Professional Coaching, March 28, 2018, Margaret Cary, MD and Cliff Kayser

Upcoming Events

Writings

Cliff is an author/co-author of 9 Chapters in “And, making a difference by leveraging polarity, paradox, or dilemma: Vol. 2. Applications. Amherst, MA: HRD Press 2021.”

  • Chapter 17: Demystifying Classic Assessments Through a Polarity Lens

  • Chapter 22: Applying Polarity Principles for a Healthcare IT Start-Up

  • Chapter 23: Applying Polarity Thinking to Increase Healthcare Leadership Capacity

  • Chapter 24: Post-COVID-19 Planning for Sustained Benefit of Transition to Distant Learning Using PACT

  • Chapter 31: Institute for Polarities of Democracy: Leveraging Democratic Values and Advancing Social Change

  • Chapter 36: Polarity Thinking and Oshry’s Organic System Framework

  • Chapter 38: Polarity-based Inquiry

  • Chapter 39: Shifting from Drama to Empowerment: Using The Empowerment Dynamic* and Polarity Thinking to Engage Key Stakeholders

  • Chapter 42: Multarites: Interdependencies of More Than Two

TD Magazine July 2022, pp. 18-21. “See Well-Being Through a Polarity Lens: Maximize the Upsides and Minimize the Downsides of Well-Being Initiatives.”

Cliff Kayser is a contributing author to The Love, an international collection of over 70 exquisite essays, articles, and poems contributed by New York Times best-selling authors and the generous contributions of Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, including: Andrew Cohen, Wendell Berry, Madeleine L’Engle, Barbara Hand Clow, Maya Angelou, Sharon Olds, Mahatma Gandhi, Alex Grey, Stephen Dunn, Aung San Suu Kyi, Brian McLaren, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Purchase The Love  |  More about The Love

Cliff Kayser is a contributing author to the Oxford Handbook of Organizational Paradox.

Introduction to Chapter 28, Pg. 20:

“Transforming organizational dynamics depends on surfacing underlying paradoxical tensions. This chapter depicts how we can do so using Polarity Partnerships’ Polarity Map, and their process to engage multiple stakeholders in surfacing and accepting these paradoxical tensions.”
Wendy K. Smith, Marianne W. Lewis, Paula Jarzabkowski, and Ann Langley (Editors)

The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Paradox. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (2017).
Chapter 28:
“Paradox and Polarities: Finding Common Ground and Moving Forward Together: A Case Study of Polarity Thinking and Action in Charleston, South Carolina” 
by Cliff Kayser, Margaret Seidler, and Barry Johnson

Print Publication Date: Sep 2017
Subject: Business and Management, Organizational Theory and Behaviour
Online Publication Date: Sep 2017 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198754428.013.27