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Copyright 2001 ã weLEAD, Inc.
Freedom
and Accountability at Work
Applying Philosophical Insight to the Real
World
Jossey Bass-Pfeiffer, San
Francisco, 2001 (439 pages in hardback)
Authors Peter Koestenbaum and Peter
Block
ISBN 0787955949
This is not
your typical book on management or leadership. If you are familiar with the
previous works of these two authors you will know they intended it to be dramatically different. They
succeeded well with Freedom and Accountability at Work. Peter Block
starts this journey by writing the introduction. His task is to create a
context by which his colleague’s writings can be used to understand the
dynamics of the modern workplace. Many of the concepts and ideas found in Freedom
and Accountability at Work are taken from two previous books written by Koestenbaum. Both The
Vitality of Death and The New
Image of the Person were written by Koestenbaum in the ‘70s. These two philosophical books are
at the heart of this new publication. This book is written on the premise that
it is time to bring philosophy into the world of business by helping others
find answers to their questions about the real purpose of work. It includes
ways to bring ethical and spiritual values into the workplace.
Block
encapsulates this thought when he writes, “Philosophy is really about a
universal form of leadership and the possibility open to each person to shape
or create an environment that supports the pursuit of meaning and purpose,
rather than our current obsession with financial security and material wealth.”
Freedom and Accountability at Work provides discerning and near tangible
ideas about anxiety, freedom, suffering and death. The authors maintain that
viewing the purpose of work from the lens of a philosopher can provide a unique shift in
mental perception. They believe that by rising above the mental traps that
typically ensnare us, we can make our work places more
humane and experience the accountability and real freedom we all want. The
authors also provide potential solutions to those whose are presently
struggling with personal suffering and depression. They encourage the reader to
engage in
this profound degree of change that will help one to overcome the cynicism that
comes from superficial change. It is
their contention that leaders need to ask these deeper philosophical questions
to become better role models today and to acquire the enabling vision to lead
tomorrow.
weLEAD rating recommended
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