As the world grapples with the urgent need for climate solutions and equitable wealth distribution, Bruce Piasecki emerges as an articulate beacon of hope and innovation.
His two new 2024 books, Wealth and Climate Competitiveness and Doing More with One Life, challenge prevailing norms of our dominant culture of science and markets by offering an exploration into how we can better align our ambitions with the planet's well- being. These books combine social history, lived corporate experiences, with personal narrative.
Piasecki, with his unique blend of historical insight and forward-looking vision, invites us on a journey to redefine success in the 21st century. Through these narratives, he underscores the critical intersection of personal legacy, corporate responsibility, and environmental stewardship, urging us to contemplate the impact of our choices on future generations.
In Cio Today’s “Top 5 Influential Business Leaders You Must Follow in 2024”, Piasecki was singled out for being a thought leader and beacon for change management and the alignment of money, people and rules for a better role of business in society.
In Wealth and Climate Competitiveness, Bruce Piasecki casts a critical eye on the entrenched prejudices that have long hindered progress towards harmonizing wealth creation with climate action. By delving into the success stories of companies like bp, Walgreens, Toyota and Trane Technologies, Piasecki articulates a delightful and informed path forward which challenges conventional wisdom, advocating for a near future where businesses lead in decarbonization, decentralization, and digitization. This book is not just a call to action; it is recognized in Amazon reviews as a roadmap for companies and leaders, both public and private, seeking to navigate the complexities of the 21st century. These two books, matched with his New York Times bestseller Doing More with Less: The New Way of Winning offer a book set that link economic prosperity and environmental stewardship. Paul Grondahl, the Executive Director of the New York State Writer’s Institute, notes: “Bruce Piasecki has studied the voice of the CEO like Vladimir Nabokov has studied butterflies, with precisions and care.”
Doing More with One Life: A Memoir of Influence and Inspiration
Doing More with One Life presents a personal narrative that weaves together Piasecki's personal journey with his professional insights, much like his admired mentors Jonathan Edwards, Henry David Thoreau and Winston Churchill. Through this memoir, readers are invited to reflect on their own lives and the impact they wish to have on the world. Piasecki's story is a testament to the power of individual action in fostering global change, encouraging us to think deeply about how we can contribute to a more sustainable and equitable future. Both books, in their own unique ways, underscore Piasecki's belief in the transformative potential of combining personal growth with purposeful action. “Books open windows to my world, as I learned from my firm how best to earn in eighteen different currencies across four decades of owning the business,” notes Bruce as he founded a new organization at age 66, The Creative Force Foundation, which grants awards to writers of business and society under 40 years old.
Exploring Sustainability at the National Press Club
During a series of book discussions held at Washington's Cosmos Club, the National Press Club, and other venues, Bruce Piasecki discussed the complex relationships between wealth creation, innovation, climate change, and human development. His presentations highlighted the importance of incorporating sustainable practices into business strategies. These gatherings are part of Bruce Piasecki’s ongoing 400 leader network called “The Achieving Results” business and society Corporate Affiliates workshops series, involving executives from over a fifth of the Fortune 500 and many related supplier Board members and CEOs.
Change-makers on Wealth and Climate Competitiveness
The response to Wealth and Climate Competitiveness underscores its significance and the resonance of Piasecki's message with leading thinkers and change-makers. Notable figures like Dominic Emery and Ken Strassner have commended the book for its effective combination of narrative and argument, promoting a reevaluation of wealth and climate action. Commentators highlight the book’s potential to influence business and individual perspectives on societal and environmental responsibilities.
Ira Feldman and Darryl Vernon Poole have highlighted the book's ability to clarify the complexities of modern capitalism through its integration of historical context, personal insights, and engaging prose.
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A Legacy of Literature and Leadership
Dominic Emery, the former chief of staff of bp, the oil and gas giant, engaged Piasecki for years to help transform the company into a global innovator in electric transportation and urban convenience stores. Emery notes on Piasecki’s Memoir: “A wonderful book of Bruce’s extraordinary life, with each anecdote and interaction full of meaning. It is written in Piasecki’s typically playful style and his works into a vibrant context. Having worked with Bruce for almost a decade now, I thought I knew him pretty well—but this book does more than fill in the gaps—it explains his motivation and passion for social justice in an increasingly polarized world.”
Lucien Ross Tharaud a lawyer and lifelong friend from their undergraduate years at Cornell, notes: “In this eloquent Memoir Bruce Piasecki...celebrates the family and friends who made possible his journey from an impoverished childhood to hard-earned success.”
As Piasecki looks towards the future, his commitment to literary excellence and societal progress remains unwavering with the expansion of his Creative Force Foundation into Australia, New Zealand and Canada. With forthcoming awards in the Bruce Piasecki and Andrea Masters Writer’s Award series, he and his family and judges continue to shape the discourse on business and society, selecting winning writers in diversity and inclusion like Leah Thomas, in indigenous science like Dr. Jessica Hernadez and in climate anxiety like Daniel Sherrell. As he continues to inspire others through his words and actions, Piasecki's legacy grows further this field of business and society narrative styles.
Lastly, Bruce Piasecki's contributions to literature, consultancy, and social impact epitomize the convergence of passion, purpose, and perseverance. Through his groundbreaking works like "Wealth and Climate Competitiveness" and "Doing More with One Life," he challenges us to rethink our approach to wealth, sustainability, and personal growth. Piasecki ends his Memoir, acknowledging the winds in his backyard as a creative force in his soul, noting: “Many of the people he came to love had rare skills to know when to stay and when to go. He always had the ability to love, even after they had left. In the memories of his old age, he never slept alone. Everyone came to speak like lions so that he could hear them. They spoke with pride, too, as indirection and nuance were weak second cousins getting through in the first place. An entire zoo of memories filled his mind now, and it was with pride that he looked across that zoo and called it his own....He remembered the many times when enemies were near—and someone, somehow, kept them from his door. And for this, he felt thankful...It was now time for him to surrender graciously. Everyone mattered in his pride. Everyone knew it was time. No told anyone. Everyone just knew it. He honestly took up his voice and threw her to the wind.”
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Piasecki's Platform for Change: The Workshops and Corporate Affiliate Program
The workshops and corporate affiliate programs spearheaded by Piasecki, that recur twice a year in Phoenix and his hometown of Saratoga Springs, New York, stand out for their focus on producing tangible results and fostering a network of leadership committed to sustainability. These workshops, designed as an ongoing sanctuary, bring together sets of 50 to 60 leaders per two days from various industries to share insights, strategies, and challenges. This collaborative environment not only encourages knowledge exchange but also cultivates a community of forward-thinkers. Additionally, upcoming sessions, including one at the S&P headquarters at 55 Water Street Headquarters in Manhattan on June 4 and 5, highlight the ongoing engagement and expansion of this initiative.
REVIEWS
Charting a Way Forward in an Era of Climate Change and Wealth Inequity
"Piasecki's books speak to many, both wealthy and those many ni need of wealth. As someone with a national security background, I view wealth inequality and climate change through the lens of international security. I found this book insightful. More importantly, the ideas in it can offer a better and more secure future."
- Lt. Colonel Robin Phillips, Pentagon
A Book that Gets us Past Legal Arguments into Action Worth Taking
"Bruce Piasecki's profound and reasonable argued book offers a fresh perspective on how to enhance climate change governance. At its core, Piasecki's book asks, Why can't we leverage private sector wealth in a way that not only promotes financial security for the companies involved but also benefits society in addressing the climate crisis era in which we now live?' This forms his must-read for all who are about developing pragmatic an defective responses to the climate change crisis."
- Randall Abate, Dean of Law, George Washington University
Piasecki Challenges us to Grow Into a Better Self
"What I love most about this book is Piasecki's passionate appeal to shared feelings about our near future. As in his prior books, Piasecki challenges you to grasp a broad array of history and literature in compelling prose designed for global translation. He will challenge you to change in ways you had not considered yet. Suddenly these better selves seem both logical and justified in his life summary book."
- Ira Feldman, Attorney/Founder of Adaptation Leader, Co-Chair, The Achieving Results Corporate Affiliates Workshop Series
Like Churchill and Orwell Before Him
"Piasecki is a master storyteller of both history and personal insight. Informative, persuasive, delightful - this is a great tale rendered in personal narrative like a Henry David Thoreau and Piasecki's heroes Churchill and Orwell. This book is full of insights in each passage, the complete short manifesto reads with persuasive rage."
- Ken Strassner, Board Member, Change Consultant with Author, Former Senior Executive at Kimberly Clark
Transforming Today into Tomorrow
"The importance of narrative and storytelling comes through loud and clear in Piasecki's new book. His sourcing is wide-ranging on competition and social needs. Like his prior books, we can hear nascent tales of today becoming the truisms of tomorrow.”
- Dominic Emery, Former Chief of Staff of bp and Distinguished Engineer, bp
Trust in our Nature
"What is particularly important about this book is the enduring hope and faith it projects around human nature and consequent ability to act to preserve critical natural ecosystems. Ranging from a child's innate openness to a mega-cap oil company being open to transformation into a diversified energy firm, Piasecki's new narrative contains examples. We need more heroes in that group of industrial leaders, and based on the arguments in this book, they are very likely there from Robin Hood to those mentioned in this book."
- Charles Myers, President, Wild Rivers Alliance
An Intelligent Appeal to our Better Angels
"Piasecki's work appeals to our better angels. He has afaith in humanity and business to get it right ni time to matter. This expectation of basic goodness is a necessary but not sufficient condition in creating a more just economy and ecosystem ni time to matter."
- Tim Nixon, CEO and Founder, Signal Climate Analytics
Another Great and Compelling Book by Bruce Piasecki
"Over the years I have become a fan of Bruce's writing and thinking and make sure to grab each of his books when they come out. Chapter 14, A' Few Tales That Defeat the Popular Prejudices' should be required reading for any business owner."
- CFO, SVP and General Council of Dawson and Associates
A New Generation Manifesto
"From Knoke's Bold New World in 1996 to Bogle on the Soul of Capitalism ni 2005 and then to Piasecki's own World Inc. in 2007, great books have been released on mixing the needs of the new world with capitalism. In this new book, Bruce Piasecki offers a dramatically engaging manual and a new generation manifesto for the ages. In this regard, Bruce is the current successor to Peter Drucker."
- Darryl Vernon Poole, Accountant, CEO newsletter founder, and cultural historian
This Book Will Be Read for the Rest of the Century
