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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Founded Sounds True in 1985 as a multimedia publishing house with a mission to disseminate spiritual wisdom. She hosts a popular weekly podcast called Insights at the Edge, where she has interviewed many of today's leading teachers. Tami lives with her wife, Julie M. Kramer, and their two spoodles, Rasberry and Bula, in Boulder, Colorado.

Photo © Jason Elias

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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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