In this issue:
Discovering Meaning at Work
ZBA Manifesto
Leadership With Integrity, Impact, and Imagination
Accomplishing More By Doing Less
A World Without Armies
Good reading
Z.B.A. Zen of Business Administration
Discovering Meaning at Work
We have the opportunity in our workplaces to align our hearts, with our intentions, and our actions, and to soften the barriers that separate us from others. For me, this is a place where our days at work are connected to creating more peace or more violence in the world. Our work is a place where we can transform drudgery to adventure, separation to connection, lack to abundance, and fear to openness.
Discovering meaning in our work begins by seeing that our work is not separate from our lives, and that our lives are not separate from the lives of others. If we want peace in the world, how can we make ourselves peaceful? If we want to address the difficult issues of systemic change and economic justice, we can begin by addressing these issues within ourselves at work, as well as by reaching out to others.
My definition of Zen practice is developing a responsive and flexible mind and keeping your heart open. I would offer this as a description of good work practice. Whether your intention is to develop yourself, help others, or develop a profitable business, the path is responsiveness, flexibility and an open heart.
My coaching, consulting, and speaking practice continues to grow and develop. I'm working with leaders in large and medium sized corporations, and with entrepreneurs starting and growing businesses. I find myself teaching meditation in corporate meeting rooms, helping technical people build leadership and communication skills, and assisting CEO's and other leaders find and express their voices of power, caring, and intuition. This work integrates my passion for leadership development, spiritual practice, and social change. I appreciate all your support! You can now view a piece of a talk I gave last month (Accomplishing More By Doing Less) on my website.
With warm regards,
Marc Lesser
ZBA Manifesto
Several years ago I wrote a list of 35 statements, attempting to capture the underlying flavor of integrating Zen practice and business practice. I called this list the ZBA Manifesto. Here are the first 12. All 35 are on my website, as well as in my book. Z.B.A. Zen of Business Administration.
- It's okay not to know. It's okay to be vulnerable. No one has all the answers. We value and learn from the questions and the asking.
- We are learning to appreciate the mystery and sacredness of our lives and the mystery and sacredness of life.
- Life is short. There is no escape from old age, sickness, and death. Death is a great teacher. Recognizing the shortness of our lives provides motivation to live fully in each day and in each moment.
- We understand the importance of taking regular quiet time for ourselves. Through reflection and by slowing down we develop an appreciation for life and we increase our capacity for understanding.
- We are learning to trust our inner wisdom. Our bodies and minds are amazing, unexplainable, and unfathomable.
- It's okay to be uneasy, to be uncomfortable, to grieve, to feel pain. Recognizing when something is off, feeling the depth of loss, experiencing pain, is the first step toward change and growth.
- Practice active listening — listening deeply to yourself and to others. Listen to others without formulating your own ideas. Listen to yourself before speaking.
- We all seek balance in our lives — balancing work and family, balancing our inner and outer lives, balancing what we want to do and what we must do.
- We are learning that we can be fully ourselves in all situations — at work, as parents, as children, as friends, as lovers.
- Being ourselves at work is vital to our health and happiness. Our time is too valuable to sell, at any price.
- Each moment is precious. In every moment we have an opportunity to discover, to grow, to speak the truth.
- Each moment is ordinary. In every moment we can realize we are fine, just as we are. Nothing else is needed.
Leadership: With Integrity, Impact, and Imagination
This is a workshop that I have been developing for organizations that can be delivered in half-day or full-day increments.
Outcomes:
- Develop your voice as a leader
- Clarify your vision, and increase your ability to inspire others
- Learn to trust your power and intuition
- Foster collaboration and teambuilding
- Create a spirit of community and celebration
Key Questions
- What issue or pattern in your style of being a leader, if addressed, would make the biggest difference in your work, and in the performance of your company?
- What issue or pattern in your organization, if addressed, would make the biggest difference in the performance of the organization?
- What are the possibilities for change, for transformation, and for success, that are not being addressed?
How participants learn:
- Develop skills of slowing down and looking deeply
- Self-assessment in the areas of integrity, impact, and imagination
- Innovative leadership concepts
- Practice having difficult and inspiring conversations
- Develop coaching skills
- Create a development plan for yourself and your team
Accomplishing More By Doing Less
I often think that Zen practice is very simple. It all boils down to two activities: sitting down and getting up. Sitting down is taking the time to stop, to reflect, to access our inner resources. Getting up is taking what we have learned and expressing ourselves fully in the world. A paradoxical result of this practice is that we may be able to accomplish more, by doing less. Here are some concrete examples:
- Cutting vegetables with a sharp knife instead of a dull knife (this requires some regular "knife sharpening meditation.")
- Establishing healthy routines, such as a daily meditation practice or expressing appreciation. Routines, once established, require little "doing."
- The impact of having a direct and powerful conversation, that changes the course of your relationship, or changes the progress of a project. Making a direct statement that powerfully cuts through limitations, fears, or assumptions. Speaking a difficult truth, or stating at a meeting that opens new possibilities.
- Going on a walk, or daydreaming and capturing an idea for a new product or process that leads to significant change or growth.
- Formulating a process or system for developing a product or service that allows for other people to accomplish many times what you could accomplish on your own.
Accomplishing More By Doing Less has been a passion of mine for many years, combining my ambition and laziness. I have been speaking on and developing workshops on this topic.
A World Without Armies
"We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children."
Jimmy Carter
"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?"
Mahatma Ghandi
I have recently started working with A World Without Armies (AWWA), a non-profit organization begun by Kaz Tanahashi, a world renowned calligrapher, translator, and peace activist. Its mission is to increase interest and action in the topic of demilitarization. Costa Rica provides a model for this, having abolished its armed forces in 1949 and maintains the highest standard of living in Central America. AWWA works with the people of Costa Rica to spread this practice of having no army to other parts of the world.
As war and violence around the world escalates, I can't help but wonder - why isn't everyone speaking about the insanity of war? I'm reminded of the 1967 classic movie, King of Hearts, where Alan Bates portrays an English soldier in France during World War II. His chance interactions within an insane asylum, during the heat of battle, poignantly and sweetly challenge assumptions about whom and what is insane (in the name of freedom.)
For more information, to get involved or to make a donation visit www.aworldwithoutarmies.org
Good reading
A Hidden Wholeness, by Parker Palmer - The full title of this book is: A Hidden Wholeness; The Journey Toward An Undivided Life; Welcoming the Soul and Weaving Community in a Wounded World. A central portion of this book describes in detail a Quaker process of "circles of trust" - a method for a group to help an individual access her/his own direction and inner wisdom. I have been experiencing this process in one of my coaching groups and am in awe of the power and potential of these guidelines. The author makes a case for how circles of trust can contribute to a movement toward non-violent social change.
Start Where You Are, by Pema Chodron - This book begins with the sentence: "This book is about awakening the heart." The central focus of this book is the practice of slogans, as a way to transform and open our hearts and mind. Examples of slogans are: Drive all blames into one, or Always maintain a joyful mind. Pema Chodron is an American Buddhist nun and directs a Tibetan monastery in Nova Scotia.
How To Make Meetings Work, by Michael Doyle and David Straus - When this book was first published, 30 years ago, it presented revolutionary thinking and methodology for conducting meetings. I find that it remains a useful and relevant tool.
Z.B.A. Zen of Business Administration: How Zen Practice Can Transform Your Work and Your Life
This book, released in February 2005 by New World Library, is available at your local bookstore or on Amazon. "I love this book. It is profoundly simple. It is understandable and accessible - a profound way to integrate life and work." - Eileen Fisher, president of Eileen Fisher, Inc.
Coaching, Consulting, and Facilitation - To learn more about the services offered by ZBA Associates call me at 415 389-6228; email is mlesser@zbaassociates.com.