Peter Block

The perfect resource for consultants, updated for a transformed and rapidly evolving market In the newly revised second edition of the Flawless Consulting Fieldbook, best-selling author and consultant Peter Block delivers an invaluable companion to the fourth edition of his popular Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Understanding Your Expertise. In the book, you’ll find an expansive toolkit you can draw on for information and guidance in the midst of your next consulting engagement. It’s a just-in-time literary aid that you can read from front-to-back, or one you can grab and skip to a specific thread or theme you need to read about right now. In the book, you’ll discover: How the flawless consulting skills are being applied in a wide variety of situations by people with unique and different ways of bringing their gifts in the world. Just like you. How to act on what you know to use a variety of approaches to create experiences aligned with your intent and strategy How to view resistance as an ally instead of a problem to be solved or overcome. An invaluable collection of resources for consultants everywhere, Flawless Consulting Fieldbook, 2nd edition will rapidly become your most used and dog-eared reference for everyday consulting engagements.

A powerful, inspiring, and achievable vision of a society based on cooperation and community instead of competition and commodification. This book counters the dominant and destructive story that we are polarized, violent, selfish, and destined to consume everything in sight. That is not who we are. The challenge, Peter Block says, is that we are suffering under an economic theology that is based on scarcity, self-interest, competition, and infinite growth. We're told we can purchase and outsource all that matters. Block calls this the "business perspective narrative." It dominates not only the economy but also architecture, faith communities, journalism, arts, neighborhoods, and much more. Block offers an antidote: the "common good narrative." It embodies the belief that we are basically communal and cooperative. And that we have the capacity to communally produce what we care most about: raising a child, safety, livelihood, health, and a clean and sustainable environment. This book describes how shifts to the common good perspective could transform many areas, fostering journalism that reports on what works, architecture that designs habitable spaces creating connection, faith collectives that build community, a market that is restrained and local, and leadership and activism that build social capital by creating trust among citizens. With these shifts, we would fundamentally change the world we live in for the better.

An expert discussion of the timeless fundamentals and latest tools that form the foundation of successful influencing Renowned consultant and author Peter Block delivers the latest and fourth edition of his best-selling Flawless Consulting, an intuitive and insightful step-by-step guide to the five phases of effective consulting. The book offers a deep exploration of the skills, tools, and behaviors required to successfully influence others. You'll see exactly what you need to say and do to help others achieve their goals, whether you are an internal or external consultant or anyone in a leadership position who wants to build effective partnerships in business, healthcare, education, or community work. Along with newly updated examples, case studies, stories, and suggestions for putting the flawless consulting process into everyday practice, you'll find: A new section for consultants living in a highly virtual world that explains how to achieve authentic engagement with your clients in virtual and hybrid environmentsInvaluable information for leaders and internal consultants operating within their organizationsConcise and digestible techniques for successful contracting and discovery For over 40 years Flawless Consulting has been the go-to guide to building trust and structuring meaningful partnerships with others for greater influence and impact. This latest edition ensures that the book will remain the gold standard in the industry for many years to come.

Explore the nature of modern leadership In Confronting Our Freedom, a team of dedicated leadership coaches delivers an exciting and engaging new take on management and leadership. Drawing on recent events in the market and in the world, including the Great Resignation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and widespread digital transformation, the authors invite you to reimagine ideas of freedom and accountability in the context of work. You’ll explore how freedom of action—for managers and employees—is what gives rise to true accountability, both in the community and in the workplace. In the book, you’ll also find: Discussions of the power and structure of freedom, including its implications for our own choices and livesWays to shift the focus of your leadership and management to accountability and freedomStrategies for shifting the illusion of clear roles and expectations to one compatible with fully human organizationsA groundbreaking and incisive approach to managing and leading others in virtual, hybrid, and in-person settings, Confronting Our Freedom will be an eye opener for managers, executives, and other business leaders seeking to improve their ability to inspire others to their fullest potential.

The expanded and revised edition of Community tackles the hysteric rise of isolation and fear in a digitally interconnected world. As a response to the increasing violence in our culture, the widening ideological divides, and the growing gap in economic well-being, there is greater awareness that a deeper sense of community is desperately needed. But even as we acknowledge the need to build community, the dominant on-the-ground practices about how to engage people, civically and organizationally, remain essentially unchanged. We still believe community is built with better messaging, more persuasion, and social events for people to get to know each other better. All of which is na ve. In this new edition, Block draws on a decade of putting these ideas into practice to emphasize what has worked and extract those thoughts that were nice but had no durability. He explores how technology, instead of bringing us together, has driven us into more isolation. New examples show that community building can be a more powerful way to address social problems than more traditional policies and programs. And encouragingly, Block insists this is really simple, once we decide it is essential. He offers a way of thinking that creates an opening for authentic communities to exist and details what each of us can do to make that happen.

Empowerment produces the conditions for high performance. Especially for middle managers and below. Empowered cultures attract and retain talent. They produce high achievement, high accountability and high commitment. The Empowered Manager uncovers a roadmap to creating a more accountable culture in today's fragmented and virtual world. Bestselling author Peter Block is a true visionary: author of the classic Flawless Consulting, his work is about empowerment, stewardship, chosen accountability, and reconciliation of community. In this book, he returns his eye toward management to renew our efforts to create a shift in the traditional hierarchy. Twenty years after the original book, Block talks of why it is so difficult to both open the door to empowerment and more importantly, have people walk through it. It is more important than ever to create a culture in which all members of an organization are treated as entrepreneurs, giving them ownership over their role and responsibilities. This is in the face of the reality that most employees want safety, not the adventure of empowerment. Peter enhances the first edition of the book by acknowledging employees wish for dependency. Their longing for the days when a job carried a promise of a future, and companies cared more about the product and the people, than about the money. This is written primarily for people in the middle. Good managers and employees who care more about doing good work and treating people right, than ambition and making it into the ruling class. The upper middle and below is where there is the greatest need for great management. Which builds on valuing strengths, and allowing talent the space to stretch and achieve. Almost independent of the power points of people at the top. This book shows you how a new approach to management empowers all employees at all levels, and culminates in better business outcomes for the entire organization. Help shape a culture of commitmentDevelop the political skills to negotiate successfullyTake responsibility for your actionsLearn to fail up, and face setbacks with courage If you feel controlled by bureaucracy, unrewarded for creativity, and from a distance, powerless to control your own destiny, this book is the breath of fresh air your career has been craving. Timeless tips from a master of business strategy alongside a framework for more effective management makes The Empowered Manager a must-read guide for anyone doing business today.

Our seduction into beliefs in competition, scarcity, and acquisition are producing too many casualties. We need to depart a kingdom that creates isolation, polarized debate, an exhausted planet, and violence that comes with the will to empire. The abbreviation of this empire is called a consumer culture. We think the free market ideology that surrounds us is true and inevitable and represents progress. We are called to better adapt, be more agile, more lean, more schooled, more, more, more. Give it up. There is no such thing as customer satisfaction. We need a new narrative, a shift in our thinking and speaking. An Other Kingdom takes us out of a culture of addictive consumption into a place where life is ours to create together. This satisfying way depends upon a neighborly covenant—an agreement that we together, will better raise our children, be healthy, be connected, be safe, and provide a livelihood. The neighborly covenant has a different language than market-hype. It speaks instead in a sacred tongue. Authors Peter Block, Walter Brueggemann, and John McKnight invite you on a journey of departure from our consumer market culture, with its constellations of empire and control. Discover an alternative set of beliefs that have the capacity to evoke a culture where poverty, violence, and shrinking well-being are not inevitable—a culture in which the social order produces enough for all. They ask you to consider this other kingdom. To participate in this modern exodus towards a modern community. To awaken its beginnings are all around us. An Other Kingdom outlines this journey to construct a future outside the systems world of solutions.

Community shapes our identity, quenches our thirst for belonging, and bolsters our physical, mental, emotional, and economic health. But in the chaos of modern life, community ties have become unraveled, leaving many feeling afraid or alone in the crowd, grasping at shallow substitutes for true community. In this thoughtful and moving book, Paul Born describes the four pillars of deep community: sharing our stories, taking the time to enjoy one another, taking care of one another, and working together for a better world. To show the role each of these plays, he shares his own stories - as a child of refugees and as a longtime community activist. It's up to us to create community. Born shows that the opportunity is right in front of us if we have the courage and conviction to pursue it.

NEW EDITION, REVISED AND UPDATED Stewardship was provocative, even revolutionary, when it was first published in 1993, and it remains every bit as relevant and radical today. Most organizations still rely on patriarchy and hierarchy as their core form of governance, stifling initiative and spirit and alienating people from the work they do. Peter Block asserts that a fundamental shift in how we distribute power, privilege, and the control of money can transform every part of an organization for the better, and he examines the nitty-gritty of implementing these reforms. This revised and expanded edition includes a new introduction by Block addressing what has and hasn't changed since the first edition and a new chapter on applying stewardship to the common good of the wider community. This visionary yet pragmatic book is sure to open your mind and change the way you do your job forever.

The classic first edition of this book argued that organizations that place service above self-interest and practice a far-reaching redistribution of power, privilege, and wealth stewardship will succeed far beyond those with a narrower, more selfish focus. As a successful managing strategy for corporate, governmental, and nonprofit organizations, "stewardship" is, fundamentally, the spirit of partnership and service. Organizations that absorb the principles of stewardship will offer equity and partnership at all levels for its employees, and managers who identify themselves as "stewards" will hold themselves accountable to all those over whom they exercise power. In this revised and updated edition, Block explores what has and has not changed in organizations and in the world in the twenty years since the first edition was published. He argues that the concept of stewardship is more relevant and necessary than ever, and shows how the idea of stewardship can and must be expanded out from organizations into our communities, societies, and nations. Peter Block is one of our most provocative and original thinkers. Here, he extends the scope of his insights to help us create not just productive and humane workplaces but vibrant communities, an engaged democracy, and a healthy planet.

There is a growing movement of people with a different vision for their local communities. They know that real satisfaction and the good life are not provided by organizations, institutions, or systems. No numbers of great CEOs, central offices, or long range plans produce what a community can produce. People are discovering a new possibility for their lives. They have a calling. They are called. And together they call upon themselves. This possibility is idealistic, and yet it is an ideal within our grasp. It is a possibility that is both idealistic and realistic. Our culture leads us to believe that a satisfying life can be purchased. It tells us that in the place where we live, we don't have the resources to create a good life. This book reminds us that a neighborhood that can raise a child, provide security, sustain our health, secure our income, and care for our vulnerable people is within the power of our community. This book gives voice to our ideal of a beloved community. It reminds us of our power to create a hope-filled life. It assures us that when we join together with our neighbors we are the architects of the future where we want to live.

This book is written to support those who care for the well-being of their community. It is for anyone who wants to be part of creating an organization, neighborhood, city, or country that works for all, and who has the faith and the energy to create such a place. I am one of those people. Whenever I am in a neighborhood or small town and see empty storefronts, watch people floating aimlessly on the sidewalks during school or working hours, pass by housing projects, or read about crime, poverty, or a poor environment in the places where our children and our brothers and sisters live, I am distressed and anguished. It has become impossible for me to ignore the fact that the world we are creating does not come close to fulfilling its promise. Along with this distress comes the knowledge that each of us, myself included, is participating in creating this world. If it is true that we are creating this world, then each of us has the power to heal its woundedness. This is not about guilt, it is about accountability. Citizens, in their capacity to come together and choose to be accountable, are our best shot at making a difference. This book is for all who are willing to take a leadership role that affirms the conviction that without a willingness to be accountable for our part in creating a strong and connected community, our desire to reduce suffering and increase happiness in the world becomes infinitely more difficult to fulfill. It is also based on the belief that in some way the vitality and connectedness of our communities will determine the strength of our democracy.

People keep asking "How?" as a defense against living their life, says best-selling author Peter Block. In this witty, insightful award-winning book, Block shows that many standard solutions and improvement efforts, reinforced by most of the literature, keep people paralyzed. Here he places the "how to" craze in perspective and teaches individuals, workers, and managers ways to act on what they know. This in turn allows them to reclaim their freedom and capacity to create the kind of world they want to live in. Block's "elements of choice" - the characteristic of a new workplace and a new world based on more positive values - include self-mentoring, investing in relationships, accepting the unpredictability of life, and realizing that the individual prospers only when the community does.