Todd Wangsgard
Enterprising, results-driven, and grounded are words that describe Todd Wangsgard. He brings 24 years of leadership and organizational development experience to his clients.
Clients value his ability to create clarity out of the business fog that prevents most companies from enabling greatness and developing the capabilities of their associates.
Todd has excellent professional experience. He was Senior Manager of Training, Talent Management, and Communications for ATK Lake City, a government-owned, company-operated manufacturing center in Independence, Missouri. He organized the training department, developed and implemented all levels of leadership curriculum, and oversaw the operation’s succession planning and teambuilding strategies.
As the Manager of Professional Development for ATK, a $4 billion aerospace and defense company, Todd led the creation of employee and leadership assessment and development initiatives for operations in 23 states.
Todd worked for Intermountain Healthcare, Inc. in Salt Lake City, Utah, the intermountain west’s largest physician, clinic and hospital network. He founded IHC University and managed the implementation of curriculum as well as the administrative team of IHCU.
An industry cross section of Todd’s clients represent higher education, health care, insurance, manufacturing, aerospace, and defense.
Todd holds a PhD from Walden University in Leadership and Organizational Change. He has also earned his MBA from the University of Phoenix and a B.A. from Weber State University (Ogden, Utah) in communications.
Todd is affiliated with a number of professional organizations and holds certifications to teach a number of programs. He is a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), a Master Facilitator for Achieve Global, and a Certified Professional Behavior Analyst (DISC).
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FranklinCovey Consultant Blogs | Todd Wangsgard | 1930s
On Becoming a Transition Person: Lessons from Opa
Mahatma Gandhi suggested that people should focus first on improving themselves and then allow others to be inspired by their example, their determination, their integrity to values. These days we could use as many uplifting and positive role models as possible to lean on, learn from, and emulate. By following Gandhi’s mantra, “Become the change you seek in this world,” perhaps you and I can become that uplifting story for others, as well as ourselves.
Opa Kurt, ca. 1942
In the early 1930s my maternal grandfather, Kurt, was living the relatively simple, easy-going life of an adolescent Austrian amid the cobblestone streets of Vienna. His family had quite limited means, but he chose not to focus on what he didn’t have. Instead he saw the rich history and art by which he was surrounded. He sensed the global significance of the financial and cultural center that Vienna had become. He pondered the possibility of choosing and learning a trade that would allow him to become a contributing member of a struggling economy.
At twelve years of age, Kurt (the oldest of three children) was told by his parents that they could no longer afford him. They informed him, he would be leaving the bustling city to spend the upcoming summer working on his grandparents’ dairy farm, nestled in the pastoral setting of Upper Austria.
Kurt loved the city. He had dreamed of attending a nearby vocational school and working with his hands in heavy industry. He eagerly awaited his anticipated return to the city following a busy summer on the farm. He would soon learn, he wasn’t welcome back. His parents’ believed leaving him on the farm was a better choice for financial and practical reasons.
Kurt had other plans.
Unannounced, he returned three years later to the porch of his parents’ apartment in Vienna, eager to share his plans to return to school. As his mother answered the door, and before he could get in a word, she said (in German, of course), “You imbecile! You idiot! What are you doing here?!”
Kurt overlooked this less-than-warm reception and explained how he desperately wanted to attend school in Vienna. His parents made it clear that they would be unable to support him. Fortunately his excellent grades not only garnered him an invitation to study at a prominent Viennese technical college, but also earned an apprenticeship to cover his room and board. He created the circumstance snecessary to fulfill a dream.
Opa (German for ‘Grandpa’) went on to perform admirably in his studies. He became an accomplished and award-winning machinist in his industry. He was even recognized for a handful of his own inventions. Then suddenly, as with most all young men his age, he was drafted into Hitler’s war.
Late in World War II, my grandfather was captured by the Allies along the Russian front and sent to a British prisoner of war encampment near the Polish border. This likely saved his life. He would later recount that his time spent in captivity was more pleasant than the time he spent with his comrades. His own countrymen ridiculed him, hazed him, and excluded him. At least while imprisoned he was fed decent meals and treated with a measure of dignity and respect.
Kurt survived the war and returned to his lovely young wife, Johanna, to start a family. They had two daughters while living in Vienna and eventually immigrated to the United States in 1956 to start a new life.
My grandfather became the change he sought in his world. To me, he embodies the 7 Habits concept of a Transition Person.
Each of us has within himself the capacity to set aside our past, to refuse to allow our circumstances to dictate our future, and to chart a course for our friends and loved ones that resembles our worth and potential, instead of our history.
Thrive!
Financial Relic in Lincoln, AL
During a lunch break with a client in Lincoln, Alabama, I came across this historic bank building from the 1930’s. It hasn’t been a bank for several decades, but stands out as a stoic architectural landmark from the past. Upon closer examination I could see a tree branch sticking out of the gable. The client who was with me indicated that the branch is actually alive, that it has made its roots in the nooks and crannies of the building’s façade and attic boards, and that in the springtime the branch blossoms and grows, as if it were firmly planted in the ground below. In spite of enormous odds, it thrives! The client also told me the story of how a bank depositor approached this once thriving community landmark in the 1930s to withdraw the bulk of his deposits, since the rumor was it would fail someday soon. He explained his concern for the future welfare of the bank, only to be told (probably by a bank employee), “Have you ever heard of a bank failing? Leave your money there, where it’s safe.” He did. The bank failed the next day. All of his deposits vanished.
As you are well aware, being overly exposed to metaphors is an occupational hazard of mine. (Fortunately no metaphor is yet known to have caused cancer.) I couldn’t help but see in this scene a metaphor of the new springing from the old. Perhaps it is the sign of a new, green, and changing economy springing out of the dead relic of past financial institutions. It could be like you and I, building on the foundation of our past and allowing the parts that are still alive and thriving to take root and flourish. Or perhaps it could be likened to the old year, giving way to the new, whereas each of us strives to extend further and higher toward our life’s goals.
Something new from old.
Like this tender branch of an optimistic seedling, you and I are given a chance every day to exercise our proactive muscles and grow into something new and better. Take time this holiday season to reflect on the good that you have established throughout your life, the new highs and lows you may have experienced throughout this past year, and consider the new directions and opportunity that lie before you and within you. Don’t allow past failures to dictate the potential trajectory of your future. Decide today to rise from the frustration and disappointment of past shortcomings and chart a course for your personal life’s landmark. Thrive!
May you and yours be blessed by the hard work and perseverance that have defined your life’s journey thus far. It has been my rare privilege to call you friends, and I trust you will continue to inspire me and others toward new levels of personal and organizational innovation and greatness into the coming year.
All My Best,
Todd