Peter Koestenbaum has integrated centuries of thought and knowledge into a coherent easily understandable and practical guide on how to lead your life, manage your business and consult to leaders. The elegance of his work is that he integrates much of mankind's wisdom with his own business experience in a manner that is easily applied in a community or organizational environment. Peter Koestenbaum and The Philosophic Consultant are gifts to you and your clients--take the time to read and reflect on the wisdom that he provides so freely to each one of us.

This is a competent example of the many formula based books on leadership, one built round four dimensions of vision, engagement with reality, ethics and courage. Originally published in 1991, much of what it argues is now part of the common currency of the literature. It is well set out and simply written, but does not really engage with the great issues of today's society. Similarly, there is no explicit definition of leadership, the implicit definition used being a traditional one that is under considerable challenge.

I've read a ton of business books and 80% are rehash, obvious garbage. This is a keeper. Inspiring, will make you excited to go to work again.

Read it!

This book presents a way of thinking about leadership that is both deeply personal and universal.

The Leadership Diamond organizes the paradoxical imperatives of leadership into a simple but far from simplistic model. It brings other leadership theories into perspective by offering a dynamically balanced, holistic and actionable approach.

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.

This book is tough sledding, and it is not for everybody. However, if you are willing to work your way through it, authors Koestenbaum and Block offer a few terrific and hugely powerful insights.

Freedom and Accountability is a curious and rare piece of writing - existentialist philosophy applied to the world of work. The authors are concerned with issues such as choice and free will, accountability and responsibility, and what it means to be an authentic human being - critical issues as the industrial era hierarchical workplace evolves into something new.

Plus - here's the gem - they assert that it is only by acknowledging and internalizing the fragility of life, and the immediacy and totality of death - that one finally stops wasting one's time, ceases doing things which do not matter, and becomes truly empowered.

And here's an interesting idea: they further assert that anxiety - that near-universal feeling most of us seek to avoid - is really the stuff that makes us feel alive, and it is a direct result of our exercise of free will. The only people without anxiety are either doing nothing important - taking no risks, or are totally repressed.

This book resonated with my own work as an executive coach, speaker and strategist,. And I liked it a lot. I find it helpful to read words which express my own thoughts with greater clarity than I had previously.

These ideas may also feel familiar to students of Landmark Education and Werner Erhardt - they have similar roots in the writings of philosophers Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger.

I have learned from this book! I have learned about Existential Philosophy, human beings and myself. I have affirmed my belief in freedom, human potential and the Grace of God but this book has nothing to do with religion. I have affirmed my belief in my power and responsibility to shape the world. I have learned much about the human condition. I have helped others with the knowledge that anxiety (of the existential kind as opposed to the neurotic kind, the latter being the denial of anxiety) is actually a positive state since if acknowledged it can lead one to a rebirth. I have utilized the information in this book to face conflict in relationships by bringing them into the transcendental realm where we all have a stake. I have realized that failure or the threat of death, in the form of rejection or job loss is not a threat; no one can threaten you with the inevitable. I have affirmed that I can be an idealist while being realistic.

There is much to be explored in this depth of writing; it is a heavy book both in weight and content but by reading it, you can become stronger. There are some parts of this book after first read that I admit I don't quite understand or maybe I am preventing the understanding; I will read this book again. I will continue to explore the depths of my being to bring meaning to my life and hopefully the lives of others. This is how I feel about this book; read it and discover how you feel!