Over the years, Seeing Things Whole has brought together many leaders to support each other in the growth and development of their individual organizations. Bob Wahlstedt (co-founder of Reell Precision Manufacturing), Shari Erdman (current co-CEO at Reell Precision Manufacturing), and Tom Henry (former owner and CEO at Landry Bicycles) gathered recently to discuss a range of topics and reflect on the history of Seeing Things Whole in their businesses and in their lives. Central to those conversations were how Seeing Things Whole became frameworks for enacting a worldview in their business while also helping them to focus on what it meant to create a whole organization.

Utilizing Seeing Things Whole to Drive Meaningful and Purpose Driven Work

Seeing Things Whole provided language and a model for building an organizational culture at Reell Precision Manufacturing that aligned with their business operations where they can focus on growing and developing their coworkers to be all they can be. This allowed them to drive towards more meaningful and purpose driven work.

 

Why is Wholeness Essential to Leadership Practice?

 

They also discuss the nature of leading from a place of wholeness and how it can support leaders struggling with burnout today. As a practice of Seeing Things Whole, creating an environment where people can bring their whole selves to the workplace is needed to gain success across multiple bottoms.

As a leader, consider how you are seeking to “seeing things whole” in your work as you build an organization that can be successful across multiple bottom lines.

Start today by taking the Whole Leader Profile.

The first community practice cohort is set to begin in January. Three leaders from three different organizations will work closely together over the course of three months. Each will dig into a particular workplace challenge, gaining insights and perspective to see the whole of their situation and formulate an effective path forward.

You have the opportunity to support these individuals by serving as a temporary trustee during the Roundtables. Trustees provide care, wisdom and perspectives, but not solutions to our cohort members. Roundtables will take place on the following dates:

Tuesday, January 23 – Registration Full

Tuesday, February 27 – – PLEASE NOTE: There is a waitlist for our February 27th Roundtable. Please reach out to Keri at cliftonk@augsburg.edu to be added to the list.

Tuesday, March 26 – PLEASE NOTE: There is a waitlist for our March 26th Roundtable. Please reach out to Keri at cliftonk@augsburg.edu to be added to the list.

Roundtables take place in-person at Augsburg University from 5:30pm – 8:00pm. Room, building, parking, and additional important details will be communicated to registered participants in advance.

Register to support these leaders: https://forms.gle/dnwRXmkk4LMRa7g78

If you have never been part of our Roundtables, it’s a great opportunity to experience it firsthand to see how this way of thinking and process could support you and your organization.

Leaders create pathways for people and organizations to thrive, but it’s no easy task in today’s workplace. How do effective leaders navigate persistent challenges while remaining true to their values?

Join Augsburg University’s Reell Office of Seeing Things Whole for breakfast and conversation with compelling leaders from business, the arts, and education who share a common drive to bring greater wholeness and meaning to their organizations. You will hear candid stories of success and challenge at work, from creating space for individuals to thrive as their full selves at work, shaping policies to balance organizational and people needs, and navigating the practical realities of leading organizations through periods of prosperity and economic downturns.

The conversation is for anyone seeking to find greater meaning in their work and leadership—especially people who are new to managing teams, in charge of organizational policy in a post-pandemic world, or thinking about organizational futures.

Panelists:

●      Najeeba Syeed, El-Hibri endowed chair and executive director of Interfaith at Augsburg University

●      Jun-Li Wang, associate director of Springboard for the Arts

●      Kyle E. Smith, co-CEO of Reell Precision Manufacturing

●      Tom Henry, former CEO of Landry’s Bicycles (moderator)

Following this session, stay for a special roundtable dialogue to consider questions around the future of work and business in Minnesota using the Seeing Things Whole framework. The roundtable will include a brief presentation by Kirsten Kennedy, executive director of the Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership.

REGISTER NOW

 

Who do you turn to for perspective on the thorny problems of leadership in today’s workplace? Are you a leader who would benefit from reflective practice, a framework for accountability, and customized coaching as you navigate organizational challenges?

Seeing Things Whole is a disciplined process that embraces the organization’s relationships to the larger world, cultivating whole leaders and thriving organizations to positively impact the common good. This fall, the Reell Office of Seeing Things Whole at Augsburg University will launch a Community of Practice Cohort to support the professional development of three leaders by advancing their strategic thinking toward action.

Working closely with professional staff and cohort members, participants will receive customized coaching, develop mutually supportive relationships, and learn to apply the Seeing Things Whole framework to real-life problems. Over the course of three months, cohort members will identify and dig into a particular workplace challenge, gaining insights and perspective to see the whole of their situation and formulate an effective path forward. Participants will:

• Attend three Whole Leader Roundtable sessions during January, February and March
• Work with fellow cohort members and staff to articulate and make progress on a leadership challenge
• Present the challenge to a Whole Leader Roundtable and receive focused feedback and insight
• Share progress and provide accountability within the Community of Practice Cohort
• Participate in structured reflection throughout the experience

Leadership challenges can encompass a wide range of issues, such as how to grow a program that requires many collaborators, how to share power within hierarchical organizational structures, or how to sustain motivation and resilience in a challenging leadership environment.

This opportunity is ideal for any individual looking to develop a deeper, more positive connection between their values and leadership action. The Seeing Things Whole framework has been used across sectors for more than 20 years by CEOs in retail and manufacturing, nonprofit leaders and managers, educators, and entrepreneurs. It is appropriate for leaders at all levels, particularly those facing complex organizational problems without straightforward solutions.

 

The Seeing Things Whole Roundtable provided a great deal of clarity and next steps around building out a new program at work. I gained new vantage points and got support from departments that will collaborate with me. The questions that were asked and the resulting insights gained about collaborative opportunities was the most valuable. Their insights and perspective helped me consider ideas and opportunities I had overlooked or needed to spend more time exploring. I was greatly energized by this experience and I feel better prepared to tackle obstacles I may face in building the new program.  – Gina M

 

For this initial Community of Practice offering, cohort members will pay a reduced fee of $600 (from $2500) for participation in the program (more than a 75% discount). The time commitment will be approximately 15 hours of face-to-face time (in-person and online) with additional personal work.

Contact the Reell Office Program Director, Keri Clifton, with specific questions at 612-330-1525 or cliftonk@augsburg.edu to share your interest in participation.

Professor Emeritus Tom Morgan and STW Program Director Keri Clifton enjoyed the opportunity to participate and present at the recent Annual Leadership Summit hosted by the Midway Chamber of Commerce and Augsburg University’s Center for Leadership Studies. Participants explored the Seeing Things Whole Model as a means to gain perspective on individual growth opportunities.

Keri will be speaking at an upcoming Roseville Area Optimist Club monthly lunch as well as the Minnesota Organization Development Network September Program.

If you’re interested in a Seeing Things Whole workshop in your organization, reach out to discuss further.

This spring, the Reell Office of Seeing Things Whole’s Program Director was certified to facilitate the Dependable Strengths Articulation Process. Dependable Strengths is a peer-assisted, group process for identifying individual strengths and has been utilized in various settings across Augsburg. It is an in-depth, interactive method that produces many benefits far beyond those of traditional question and answer strengths-identification instruments.

With this certification, the Reell Office can now support leaders to uncover strengths among and between leaders in the workplace and beyond. Dependable Strengths was founded on the premise that everyone has their own excellence in the form of a unique pattern of strengths. The process allows participants to articulate what is unique about who they are. It may confirm and/or reveal hidden strengths that set participants on a path to use their strengths intentionally in their work and life.

Leading with a strengths approach supports the organization to see and support their ability to create success across multiple bottom lines. As founder Bernard Haldane, Ph.D. said, “If you want to get the best out of a person, you must look for the best that is in them.” And when you find the best in people, you can build a thriving organization.

Contact us to learn more about this unique articulation process.

As Augsburg University supports students to tap into their unique gifts to fulfill their essential purpose through meaningful work, we recognize that organizations have an essential purpose too. The Reell Office of Seeing Things Whole supports organizations as they carry out their purpose in the world. Through a disciplined process that embraces the organization’s relationships to the larger world, Seeing Things Whole brings together a community of leaders and scholars to analyze and find solutions to critical organizational challenges. Rooted in Servant Leadership and Action Research, the Reell Office of Seeing Things Whole brings a long tradition of practice to life at Augsburg University and beyond.

Seeing Things Whole began in 1993 to accompany individuals and businesses eager to integrate moral reasoning and spiritual imagination into their work life. After years of successful round tables, conferences, and collaboration across industries, Seeing Things Whole integrated its work with longtime partner Augsburg University in 2016. Under the guidance of Professor Tom Morgan, PhD., the work of Seeing Things Whole continued and strengthened Augsburg’s mission to nurture tomorrow’s whole leaders through its use in the Masters of Arts and Leadership and Masters of Business Administration Programs.

To further work at Augsburg, the Reell Office of Seeing Things Whole was established in 2022 thanks to a generous donation. Dedicated staff were hired to further Seeing Things Whole’s impact outside of Augsburg University and will continue to expand the community of practice to see things whole and meet the needs of leaders today.

While the Reell Office does not work directly with undergraduate students, Augsburg students are prepared to be flexible professionals who can thrive in modern work environments. Classes and hands-on experiences help students explore their interests and talents, allowing them to develop skills that lead to success in their professional lives. Career exploration is supported by connections with employers and alumni, integration of career conversations and curriculum across the university, and opportunities to reflect on purpose and meaningful work.

Regardless of how an individual is interacting with Augsburg University, our purpose is to educate students at any age to make a living, make a life, and build community. The Reell Office of Seeing Things Whole is an extension of that purpose.

Augsburg University is expanding its offerings to support leaders to fully engage in meaningful work. Through a new continuing education course, leaders can learn to reflect deeply on their own values in relation to their actions.

The Reell Office of Seeing Things Whole, in collaboration with Augsburg University’s Center for Adult and Continuing Education, is thrilled to offer its first online course: “Foundations for Whole Leadership.”

Foundations for Whole Leadership explores the leadership framework Seeing Things Whole which cultivates whole leaders and thriving organizations to positively impact the common good. In this self-paced course, participants will grow their understanding of Servant Leadership, explore Seeing Things Whole’s Threefold Model of Individual Life, and apply the model to a personal leadership goal. Through deep reflection and real-life application of the model, individuals will walk away with a framework for tackling individual challenges in life and at work.

“We’re delighted to be launching Foundations for Whole Leadership to support leaders navigating today’s challenges,” says program director, Keri Clifton. “This course is our first online offering seeking to support leaders who want to find meaning in their work.” Through this self-paced online offering, leaders can learn at their own pace and gain new perspectives about themselves and those around them.

This is the first offering in a Whole Leadership Development Series with future courses currently under development. The Reell Office of Seeing Things Whole also hosts Whole Leader Roundtables monthly which allow leaders the opportunity to network and provide insight to each other’s challenges.

For more information, connect with Seeing Things Whole’s Program Director Keri Clifton.