Freedom at Work

    —
December 31, 2013

How do we create organizations that work for everyone? What’s the true role of the person called “the boss”? How is the concept of business stewardship different from our traditional notions of leadership? Where can we find true freedom in the workplace? Peter Block is a bestselling author and business consultant who teaches about chosen accountability and the reconciliation of community. Tami Simon speaks with Peter about these questions and more in a business conversation unlike any you’ve heard. (73 minutes)

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Peter Block is an author, consultant, and resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, whose work focuses upon chosen accountability and the reconciliation of community.

He is the author of several bestselling books, including Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used; Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest; The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work; Community: The Structure of Belonging; The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters; and Freedom and Accountability at Work. He is also the coauthor of Applying Philosophic Insight to the Real World (with Peter Koestenbaum) and The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods (with John McKnight). His books address ways to create workplaces and communities that work for all, to bring change into the world through consent and connectedness rather than through mandate and force.

He is a partner in Designed Learning, a training company that offers workshops designed to build the skills outlined in his books.

Peter serves on the boards of directors of Elementz, an urban arts center; and LivePerson, a provider of online engagement solutions. He is on the advisory board for the Festival in the Workplace Institute, Bahamas. He is the first Distinguished Consultant-in-Residence at Xavier University. With other volunteers in Cincinnati, Peter began A Small Group, whose work is to create a new community narrative and to bring his work on civic engagement into being.

Peter's office is in Mystic, Connecticut. For more information, visit www.peterblock.com, www.abundantcommunity.com, www.designedlearning.com, and www.asmallgroup.net.

Author photo © Jim Block 2013

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Freedom at Work

How do we create organizations that work for everyone? What’s the true role of the person called “the boss”? How is the concept of business stewardship different from our traditional notions of leadership? Where can we find true freedom in the workplace? Peter Block is a bestselling author and business consultant who teaches about chosen accountability and the reconciliation of community. Tami Simon speaks with Peter about these questions and more in a business conversation unlike any you’ve heard. (73 minutes)

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A Message of Gratitude

Dear Sounds True friend,

At this time of thanks-giving, I want to thank you, a beloved member of our extended Sounds True community of listeners, readers, authors, and learners worldwide.

Thank you for your interest and willingness to be an explorer of your inner world.

Thank you for your perseverance, your willingness to be here, with all of life’s great joys and terrible griefs and sorrows. Thank you for being ”on the journey,” with all of the ways life breaks open our hearts and asks us to expand and hold a larger space of love.

Thank you for your courage to be you, beloved and singular, the you that carries a unique gift, some special look, a cry and a laugh never heard before, a contribution we need. Thank you for being yourself and extending yourself to others, even in small ways, which often turn out to be huge.

My own prayer this Thanksgiving is to remain steadfast and true. Please know that here at Sounds True we remain so—and we love doing so in connection with you. We are here because you are here. This thanks-giving, I bow to the strength and goodness of our human hearts.

With you on the journey,

Tami

P.S. Here is a thanks-giving offering, a classic poem from Mary Oliver:

Praying

It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be 
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few 
small stones; just 
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t 
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence, in which 
another voice may speak.

Mary Oliver, Thirst

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