From Buber to Four Laws of Relation

One line in Martin Buber’s I and Thou stopped Jim Ferrell in his tracks. It made him realize that leadership isn’t inside the individual — it lives in the space between us. That insight became his new book, You and We: A Relational Rethinking of Work, Life, and Leadership. In it, Jim argues that progress doesn’t come from sameness, but from uniting across difference. In this episode, Jim and Dart discuss the four laws of relation, why relation is not the same as relationships, and how leaders can shift attention from individuals to the “between.”

Jim Ferrell is a leadership consultant, founder of Withiii Leadership, and bestselling author of several leadership classics. He has spent nearly 30 years working with leaders and organizations around the world.

In this episode, Dart and Jim discuss:
- Relation vs. relationships
- The four laws of relation
- Why progress depends on difference
- How individualistic leadership fails
- What happens when we ignore the “between”
- Levels of relation: division to compounding
- Practices that move leaders toward integration
- How relation reshapes how we see ourselves and others
- And other topics…

Jim Ferrell is the founder of Withiii Leadership and author of You and We: A Relational Rethinking of Work, Life, and Leadership. Prior to Withiii, he co-founded and led the Arbinger Institute, where he authored international bestsellers including Leadership and Self-Deception and The Anatomy of Peace. His work on leadership, culture change, and conflict resolution has shaped organizations from Apple, Google, and Nike to the White House and U.S. Treasury. A graduate of Yale Law School, Jim has also served as an adjunct professor on law and leadership at Brigham Young University. He is recognized as one of the most influential voices in relational leadership and organizational change.

Resources Mentioned:
You and We: A Relational Rethinking of Work, Life, and Leadership, by Jim Ferrell: https://www.amazon.com/You-We-Relational-Rethinking-Leadership/dp/1637747330
I and Thou, by Martin Buber: https://www.amazon.com/I-Thou-Martin-Buber/dp/1578989973
Withiii Leadership: https://www.withiii.com/
Get discounted tickets to the Responsive Conference, featuring past Work for Humans guests Bree Groff and Simone Stolzoff – September 17–18, Oakland, CA. Use code “11fold”: https://www.responsiveconference.com/tickets
Register to attend the UWEBC Conference, where Dart keynotes the HR track alongside Ethan Mollick and Nancy Giordano – September 30, University of Wisconsin: https://uwebc.wisc.edu/conference/registration/

Connect with Jim:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameslferrell/

Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.