A new leadership center at the University of St. Thomas is trying to adapt to a new way of reaching people — one that had started to change before the pandemic.
"There is a strong tradition of ethics centers at the University of St. Thomas," said Christopher Michaelson, the center's academic director. "But we are trying not to do the exact same things that our predecessors did, in part because the world has changed quite a bit."
St. Thomas held a dedication on Monday for the Melrose and the Toro Company Center for Principled Leadership at the university's Minneapolis campus. The event was delayed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The center led by Michaelson and Executive Director Nicole Zwieg Daly already has held events.
The center is trying to fill a different space than other leadership center and meet audiences where they are at, Michaelson said.
As an example, the center's first collaboration was a virtual event last winter with the Guthrie Theater called a Christmas Carol and the Common Good. A similar collaboration will be held this winter.
Also launched was a podcast called "Work in Progress with Christopher Michaelson," which generally discusses works or art and other media that pertain to business. Michaelson has recorded three already.
The center is developing a capstone course for students on principled leadership as well.
"This generation of students has been dubbed by others to be the 'purpose generation,' a generation that wants to make the world a better place," Michaelson said. "Principled leadership helps to show the way of how to choose a career consciously, or as we say at St. Thomas, for the common good."
