Responsibility at Work

Responsibility at Work In this remarkable collection of essays, Gardner and his colleagues have given us an astonishing array of penetrating insights into the responsibilities, meaning, and ethics of work. Everyone, anyone, in any organization, can learn and profit from the wisdom in these pages. -Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business and University Professor at the University of Southern California and author of On Becoming a Leader Gardner and his colleagues boldly confront the ever-present tensions between professional action and professional responsibility with superbly crafted individual case studies as well as broad theoretical arguments. Taken together, the writers deepen our understanding of the challenges of leadership-from classical ethical dilemmas to the seemingly mundane question of how to allocate one's time. -Lee S. Shulman, President, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Responsibility at Work is a crucial book for our times. It is horrifying to think that a willingness to take responsibility has so long been eclipsed by a demand for rights. It is responsibility that is the cornerstone of our society and is the key to good work. This insightful, penetrating book gives fresh understanding of that vital and essential concept and how it can be applied in the workplace. -ALEX S. JONES, Director, Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, Kennedy School, Harvard University The key to building community, as argued here, is for citizens to take responsibility toward others. But where do people gain that sensibility? What social forces encourage it? What can we do to enrich it? In short, how can we revive people's commitment to others? Drawing upon hundreds of interviews from the GoodWork® Project, the authors of these essays wrestle admirably with these questions. Taken together, these essays are not only richly rewarding but reassuring: perhaps it is just possible we can find our way again. -DAVID GERGEN, Professor of Public Service and Director of the Center forPublic Leadership at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government