“Mindfulness in some way is cultivating our attention, our way of being, that can be a doorway to our own emotional lives, and then our emotional lives can be a doorway to cultivating our leadership ability and toward the possibility of creating great cultures…positive, healing cultures.” – Marc Lesser
Marc Lesser is a speaker, facilitator, workshop leader, and executive coach. He is known for his engaging, experiential presentations that integrate mindfulness and emotional intelligence practices and training. He is the author of 4 books, including Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader: Lessons from Google and a Zen Monastery Kitchen, and CEO of ZBA Associates, an executive development and leadership consulting company.
Highlights from this episode
More about Marc Lesser
Marc helped develop the world-renowned Search Inside Yourself (SIY) program within Google – a mindfulness-based emotional intelligence training for leaders which teaches the art of integrating mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and business savvy for creating great corporate cultures and a better world. He founded and was CEO of 3 companies and has an MBA degree from New York University. Marc was a resident of the San Francisco Zen Center for 10 years, and director of Tassajara, Zen Mountain Center, the first Zen monastery in the western world. He leads Mill Valley Zen, a weekly meditation group.
Website: https://www.marclesser.net
Quotes
“We are comfort seeking creatures and recognizing that is important…we miss a lot by the unwillingness to be uncomfortable, avoiding difficulty and conflict.” [11:08]
“Not sugarcoating in a way is like ‘own your discomfort’, ‘own your fear’…it opens the path towards optimism, towards greater meaning and purpose.” [12:00]
“If we are going to change systems and cultures, it starts with ourselves.’’ [26:50]
“Strong, wise leadership can heave the possibility of helping to align people and get them excited. If we are all in this together, we can create organizations and cultures that work for the greater good, and not just a handful of people.” [28:30]
Books mentioned in this episode:
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