Confronting Our Freedom

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 lives Ways to shift the focus of your leadership and management to accountability and freedom Strategies for shifting the illusion of clear roles and expectations to one compatible with fully human organizations A 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.

Preface Prologue: Then Was the Moment The past is not past What lies ahead Introduction: The Philosophic Insight Conversations on freedom and accountability The view from where we are Parenting is the origin story of management and leadership Shifting the historical context Philosophic insight in the world of organized effort The existential understanding I The Power and Structure of Freedom Rewards Freedom, reality, choice, and will Accepting our freedom The fundamental insight Implications: The Forms of Freedom Choice, reality, and will II The Potential of Anxiety The fruits of your patience Solving anxiety The promise of anxiety The language of freedom: It is an inside job Shifting the context to freedom and accountability Implications: Anxiety as an ally of accountability both central to performance in a time of permanent uncertainty The permanent condition Being conscious III Speaking of Death and Evil Death is an option A storm in the shelter Facing reality. Taking charge of our life. A summary of usefulness of the reality of death Final facts The presence of evil Denying the reality of evil Do no harm Implications: failure, fear, death, and evil IV Fully Human Organizations Guilty as chosen and guilty as charged The Sound of freedom Reversing the illusion of clear roles and expectations Not enough  Our expectations What are we to do? Real and chosen accountability? Fully human organizations Epilogue References and Background Reading Acknowledgments About the Authors Index About Designed Learning