Peter Block

Peter Block is an author, consultant and citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. His work is about empowerment, stewardship, chosen accountability, and the reconciliation of community.

Peter is the author of several best selling books. The most widely known being Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used (1st edition 1980); Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest (1993) and The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work (1987). Peter is the recipient of the first place 2004 Members' Choice Award by the Organization Development Network, which recognized Flawless Consulting as the most influential book for OD practitioners over the past 40 years.

He has also authored Flawless Consulting Fieldbook & Companion: A Guide to Understanding Your Expertise, published in November 2000. The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters (Berrett Koehler 2002) won the 2002 Independent Publisher Book Award for Business Breakthrough Book of the Year. Freedom and Accountability at Work: Applying Philosophic Insight to the Real World, was co-authored with consultant and philosopher Peter Koestenbaum (Jossey-Bass / Pfeiffer, 2001).

The books are about ways to create workplaces and communities that work for all. They offer an alternative to the patriarchal beliefs that dominate our culture. His work is to bring change into the world through consent and connectedness rather than through mandate and force.

Flawless Consulting (2nd edition 1999) is about having impact when you have no direct control and has become a classic for anyone in a consulting role. The Empowered Manager focuses on creating an organization of your own choosing. Stewardship is about the right use of power and designing organizations for service. The Answer to How Is Yes is about giving priority to what matters over what simply works.

He is a partner in Designed Learning, a training company that offers workshops designed by Peter to build the skills outlined in his books. He received a Masters Degree in Industrial Administration from Yale University in 1963; he performed his undergraduate work at the University of Kansas.

Peter serves on the Boards of Directors of Cincinnati Classical Public Radio, Elementz and InkTank. He is the first Distinguished Consultant-in-Residence at Xavier University. As a citizen of Cincinnati, he is currently involved in a development project in Over the Rhine, a youth possibilities project, and a neighborhood connections safety project with the University. With other volunteers, Peter began A Small Group, whose work is to bring into conversation other groups not in relationship with each other, through the powerful tools of civic engagement.

He has received national awards for outstanding contributions in the field of training and development, including the American Society for Training and Development Award for Distinguished Contributions; the Association for Quality and Participation President's Award; and Training Magazine HRD Hall of Fame.

Peter's office is in Mystic, Connecticut. He welcomes being contacted at pbi@att.net.