Cultivating Common Ground

Caring is a nitty-gritty process. Cultivating Common Ground teaches us how to care at work with real life experiences rather than through conceptual thinking alone. Caring relationships to our work and each other give meaning to our work and provide a powerful source of energy for our organizations. Therefore we must release relationships from their hiding place in the informal structure of the organization. The way to do that is to work together to cultivate common ground in order to make a conscious commitment to hold a life and a task in common. As old structures crumble we have the opportunity to build caring communities at work. This book explains what went wrong in the first place names our fears and provides real-life examples of how to release the power of relationships in the workplace.Daniel S. Hanson is President of the Fluid Dairy Division of Land O'Lakes Inc. an instructor at Augsburg College in Minneapolis and a speaker and author on the subject of organizational change and personal empowerment. Hanson draws on his 30 years experience as a corporate executive for four Fortune 500 companies his extensive research and his own life-changing experience to offer practical hands-on presentations and trainings. He is also the author of A Place To Shine: Emerging From the Shadows at Work Butterworth-Heinemann 1996.This is a compassionate and powerful call for caring in the workplace. Dan Hanson is right on the mark when he suggests that we need to take courageous steps toward a new caring workplace. He is one of the best teachers of building community at work you'll ever meet.--Richard J. Leider founding partner The Inventure Group author Repacking Your Bags and The Power of PurposeDan Hanson delves broadly and deeply into the nature of relationships in the workplace. He lays before us the common ground that nourishes results as well as meaning and satisfaction for the human heart and soul. Hanson provides the tools and knowledge we need to cultivate this garden. We are called to fertilize the soil with our own courage.--Margaret A. Lulic author Who We Could Be at Work