Stewardship - 2nd ed - Choosing Service Over Self-Interest

Zusatztext 91259160 Informationen zum Autor Peter Block is the author of eight books and a partner in the training company Designed Learning. He is the recipient of many awards—including the Organization Development Network’s Lifetime Achievement Award and ASTD’s Award for Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning—and was named to Training Magazine’s HRD Hall of Fame. Klappentext 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, original, and iconoclastic thinkers. Here he extends the scope of his insights to help put us create not just productive and humane workplaces but vibrant communities, an engaged democracy, and a healthy planet. Introduction to the Second Edition What Has Changed? REVISING A BOOK after twenty years is an occasion to reflect on what has changed in that time. There is, of course, the wish that the world had gotten better. You want to believe that there is less suffering, more kindness, and, for all peoples, a world of more possibility. This wish to see progress is even stronger considering the practice of stewardship, a clearly idealistic and spirit-based undertaking. Stewardship as used here is meant to be a choice to (1) act in service of the long run, and (2) act in service to those with little power. In historical terms, this has meant to care for the well-being of an unborn king or the next generation. For today’s world, it translates into creating accountable and committed workplaces without resorting to increased control or compliance as governing strategies. This is not an easy assignment, considering the still-dominant paradigm of leadership, which is about good parenting and its stronger cousin, patriarchy. Patriarchal leadership, the common practice in most organizations, acts in service of the short term and works in the interest of those with high power, not low power. Stewardship, then, is an intention to distribute power widely, especially to those at the lowest levels of the organization. It calls us to organize workplaces based on relatedness and collaboration as an alternative to the bell-curve ideology of competitiveness that is used to rationalize patriarchy. Stewardship also is a call for a purpose larger than today’s drive for material gain, and it pays attention to supporting the common good for our communities, the earth, and people outside the usual cast of stakeholders. This takes us a step away from the individualism and self-interest that is so prevalent. Against this backdrop, here are reflections on developments over the last twenty years that make stewardship an even more urgent form of governance. It’s a Digital World The biggest change in organizational life is that we have been beamed into all the joys and sorrows of the virtual and digital world. It is a romanticized world, riding on the wings of speed and fr...

Product details

• Authors: Peter Block
• Publisher: Berrett Koehler Publishers
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.06.2013
• EAN: 9781609948221
• ISBN: 978-1-60994-822-1
• No. of pages: 312
• Dimensions: 172 mm x 236 mm x 20 mm
• Series: Agency/Distributed
• Subject: Social sciences, law, business > Business > Advertising, marketing