Dr. Leslie Saulsberry, CEO of Whole Institute immediately piqued my curiosity at the first Venture Way Collaborative Guest Speaker Series, with her captivating presentation. There was a level of authenticity I could not forget as she approached the front of the room with no shoes, highlighting the aspect of psychological safety encompassing the entire event. Every audience member became inspired as Dr. Saulsberry introduced her concept called, “Moonshot Thinking,”. A Moonshot is a big idea that may seem impossible, but Dr. Saulsberry recommends not to disregard a goal simply because it seems unrealistic. She actively supports and encourages people to create steps that can be taken leading up to one’s Moonshot becoming their reality. Dr. Saulsberry also expressed her belief that all people have the responsibility to make work environments and societal systems whole, and explained how employees of any position within a company have the power to do so. This groundbreaking thought process is what she bases her life’s work on, so how did this come to be?
Dr. Saulsberry became fascinated by system functions in early adulthood, when she got a job through a temp agency in Michigan. Quickly after starting, she not only realized that most of the people there were miserable, but also the lack of which management seemed to care. In this particular workplace, employers’ sole concern was their staff being physically present and busily working. This leadership style did not resonate with Dr. Saulsberry, so she left Michigan to attend Bennett College, a historically Black College for Women, in North Carolina. She was presented with the opportunity to design and manage a summer youth development program through the Bennett College Community Development Corporation. Here, she noticed a big difference in leadership tactics, in comparison with the job she’d left, “there was a level of complete support,” she explained to me. She was trusted with tasks such as, organizing budgets, transportation, contracts, curriculum, managing vendors, and timelines/deadlines, which allowed her to strengthen skills she already possessed. Unlike the last job she’d had, the one at Bennett College valued her mental processes, wellbeing, and encouraged collaboration. These two very different experiences made Dr. Saulsberry realize, “leaders have the responsibility to create systems and spaces [in which] we can all feel seen, heard, and valued,”. Within a workplace environment, there are many different people coming from unique backgrounds, and Dr. Saulsberry believes, “when people are in spaces together, they should be safe environments. They should be psychologically, emotionally, and physically safe spaces where people can thrive,”. Past work experiences inspired her to bring the importance of valuing human resources to others’ attention.
Now, as the CEO of her own company, “Whole Institute,” Dr. Saulsberry is an acting example of a boss who prioritizes humanity. As someone who has dedicated a lot of time to self cultivation, Dr. Saulsberry actively encourages and supports her employees and clients doing so as well. She genuinely wants to see them succeed as their whole authentic selves. A business wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything without its employees, therefore it is the company’s responsibility to make sure employees are pleased with the conditions in which they work, “If you have to meet a certain quota, of course the bodies in a space can help you do that but, how are you treating them, how do they feel, are the spaces conducive to them thriving?”. Dr. Saulsberry recommends companies and those in positions of power emphasize these questions. People in managerial roles are morally obligated to make choices protecting humanity, and the dignity of those in a given situation. “Those ”, often being employees who receive the minimum pay and have the least amount of say in workplace matters. Unfortunately, as Dr. Saulsberry points out, “The pandemic especially, put a spotlight on our systems and organizations not valuing our human resources,” naturally causing shared spaces to be reactive, and therefore overly stressful for employees (i.e why it seems like “no one wants to work anymore”). A Forbes article titled, Workplace Trend: Stress is on the Rise, states, “Managers who feel stress acutely tend to pass it on to their employees by their own high-tension behavior,”. An increasing number of people are realizing their work environments aren’t, “conducive to them thriving,”. COVID allowed people the time to reevaluate their priorities, causing values such as self care, and self cultivation to gain more traction than capitalistic values like “hustle culture” and/or materialism. Many people today still believe this way of thinking to be an unobtainable luxury, but I would say those are the people who need to spend the most time on self cultivation!
Thoughts of self-doubt and/or having beliefs that are self-limiting is merely a product of our environment. Dr. Saulsberry put it so beautifully when she said, “I believe we all come into the world as whole human beings, but somewhere along the way we get a little bit broken and life beats us up a little bit, and we all have these experiences that shape us,”. Our reactions, and even our thoughts, are not always who we are, but how we were conditioned to be; something totally separate from ourselves. Building awareness of the conversations we have within our inner monologue creates an opportunity for choice; that may have previously been seen as impossible or not worth considering. This conscious practice of reframing our recurring thoughts is self-cultivation, and it goes much further beyond improving our workplace environments. It’s about empowerment, and whole-heartedly believing in yourself. Deconstructing our conditioning is what makes Moonshots possible! It is easy to override what our body is trying to tell us, by overthinking. We often dismiss signals by rationalizing or justifying pushing through, but when we begin to actively listen to what our body is trying to say, that is how we reclaim our power. Awareness creates choice, in the sense that when you build upon it, you go from being reactive – like the boss expressing anger acutely, unaware they’re negatively affecting those around them – to acting with an embodied calmness that only comes from being grounded in your truth. Having a strong foundation of groundedness and inner peace allows you to act with a higher capacity for valuing, and expressing compassion for yourself and others. You have created psychological safety within yourself, and can then model and provide that for those close to you, and even strangers whom you share public spaces with. It becomes something that is with you always, and no one or thing can take it away. Self-cultivation has a real, tangible, empowering radiance that is absolutely contagious. If we have the power to make ourselves whole again, and live in a way that fully resonates with us, we intrinsically have the power – and responsibility – to do the same with our societal systems.
Dr. Saulsberry is the perfect example of an individual who embodies the calm empowerment that comes from doing the inner work. She is a reflection of genuine benevolence to anyone with whom she interacts. That is what makes her such an inspirational leader; she is a force of positive influence. As a result, Dr. Saulsberry is living her Moonshot as her reality! Her company, Whole Institute, is a combination of all her passions: policy development, leadership, and organized collaboration, “the main cornerstones for this are for women to do the personal work, the deep dive on themselves,”. To further support this, Dr. Saulsberry is currently organizing a Global Women’s Conference, taking place October 20-21, 2023, at Holyoke Community College. This is a space for women from all over the world to, “share, support, and uplift,” each other, in collaboration to make the world more whole. As someone who has grown up around a lot of different cultures, spent time volunteering for the Peace Corps, and has her Masters Degree in International Development, the global perspective of this conference is very personal to Dr. Saulsberry. Her face lit up as she gave voice to how homogeneous people are. Regardless of what part of the world we live in, “We are so much alike, and desire many of the same things across the globe. How can we connect with one another to highlight that we all have very similar needs? How can we collectively shift or change to come to the understanding that we are all in this together?” To really put this into perspective, Leslie named motherhood as an example. No matter what country you are in, mothers generally want the best for their children; they want them to be safe, and to have opportunities they themselves weren’t presented with. We are all humans who just want to be, and feel, whole. We all seek happiness, fulfillment, and belonging so, Dr. Saulsberry asks, “how can we remove the illusion that we aren’t more similar than we are different; and the differences are what make us even doper!?”
That illusion is conditioned. We’re not born believing we’re too different to coexist. We’re not born with the desire to compete with each other. Competition as a whole is something completely made up, as the world is big enough for every individual on it to shine as bright as they want to. Why do we choose to be avoidant, competitive, and fearful of our differences, when we could choose empathy, celebration, and harmony? Probably for the same reason we choose to be “realistic” instead of following our desires: we’re conditioned to believe our choices are limited. However, we’re all born with free will; which in itself is limitless! The choices we make on a daily basis are so powerful we can use them to transform our lives in a way that fully resonates with our deepest desires! When we do that for ourselves it, as Dr. Saulsberry says, “ripples out into the world”. When we dive deep, be honest with ourselves, reflect on what resonates with us, and take inspired action to change what doesn’t, we become an inspirational influence to others. Venture Way Collaborative itself is a Moonshot come to life, and it now serves as a hub for inspiration and creative solutions. I invite you to come feel the possibilities for yourself. It’s never too late to live to your full potential… to think, if we all deconstructed our conditioning, and created a foundation of psychological safety and inner peace within ourselves, we would be more than coexisting together. We could ALL succeed and advance, as a collective. Imagine the power and force that comes from such wholeness.
