In the great Zen tradition of teaching stories, Marc Lesser relates his own personal and professional trials as he navigates the delicate path of managing a successful business while staying true to his spiritual roots. Struggling through a difficult economic climate, he also faces the usual challenges of running a growing company -- meeting payroll, balancing cashflow, hiring and firing employees, and maintaining relationships with vendors and customers. Guiding him through these difficulties while providing strength and insight is the practice of Zen. Utilizing his training as a Zen practitioner, Lesser learns to apply specific teachings such as the eight-fold path directly to work and life. In chapters such as "Work: The Impossible Request," "Appreciating Uncertainty," and "Accomplishing More by Doing Less," ZBA: The Zen of Business Administration provides readers with intimate, helpful advice, while acknowledging the paradox of applying spiritual practice to the business world.
Z.B.A.: Zen of Business Administration - How Zen Practice Can Transform Your Work And Your Life, Marc Lesser, New World Library, Paperback, 256 pp, $16.95

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 CEO of ZBA Associates, an executive development and leadership consulting company.

Marc has led mindfulness and emotional intelligence programs at many of the world's leading businesses and organizations including Google, SAP, Genentech, and Kaiser Permanente, and has coached executives and led trainings in Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, health care, and government.

He 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. Deeply rooted in science, the program has been taught to thousands of executives worldwide. He was the founder and CEO of the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI).

Marc's books include Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader: Lessons from Google and a Zen Monastery Kitchen, Know Yourself, Forget Yourself, Less: Accomplishing More By Doing Less, and Z.B.A. Zen of Business Administration. They have been published in 11 languages.

Marc founded and was CEO of 3 companies and has an MBA degree from New York University. Prior to his business and coaching career, he 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 has keynoted at Mindful Leadership Summits in Washington DC, Toronto, and Sydney and has led "Search Inside Yourself" and "Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader" trainings in San Francisco, Japan, Hong Kong, and Toronto. Learn more at https://www.marclesser.net/

CONTENTS: Z.B.A.: Zen of Business Administration
Introduction	xv
WE ARE ALL ZEN STUDENTS, WE ARE ALL BUSINESSPEOPLE
We Are All Zen Students, We Are All Businesspeople	5
Start Where You Are	13
Serenity Is Not Freedom from the Storm but Peace within the Storm	21
The Benefits of Integrating Zen Practice with Your Work	25
Unfreezing Your World	31
Work: The Impossible Request	35
Our Happiness and Freedom Are Right Here, Right Now	39
Before Awakening, Work Is Just Work; After Awakening, Work Is Just Work	43
The First Thing, the Most Important Thing	49
That Darn Tail	53
WALKING THE PATH
Walking the Path	59
Uncovering Your Approach: Right View	63
What Are You Thinking? Right Thinking	71
Paying Attention: Right Mindfulness	77
It's What You Say: Right Speech	83
It's What You Do: Right Action	89
It's Your Work: Right Livelihood	93
Staying with It: Right Diligence	97
Staying Focused: Right Concentration	101
WISDOM: YOUR ORDINARY MIND IS THE PATH
Generosity	109
Ethical Conduct	113
Patience	117
Energy and Zeal	121
Meditation: Letting Go of Everything	125
Wisdom: Your Ordinary Mind Is the Path	131
LISTENING TO YOUR CLEAR, QUIET VOICE
Run Your Business and Your Life Like a Zen Monastery Kitchen	137
Impermanence	143
Listening to Your Clear, Quiet Voice	147
Radical View of Life, Radical View of Business	151
Accomplishing More by Doing Less	155
The Power of Intention	159
What Do You Want? What Do You Have to Do to Get It? Can You Pay the Price?	163
No Other Truth	167
Taking the Busyness Out of Business	171
Having a Teacher or Mentor	175
Interdependence	179
Success Is Highly Overrated	183
Tenacity	189
Let Cash Be Your King, but Let Flexibility Be Your God	193
YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD
Be Mindful of the Needs You Meet	199
Radical Listening	203
Appreciating Uncertainty	207
Sit-Down Comedy: Humor at Work	211
Embracing Our Stories	215
Woo Hoo, I Feel Really Dumb	219
Not You, Not Your Problems	223
You Can Change the World	225
If It's Not Paradoxical, It's Not True!	229
Act as Though You Know What You Are Doing	233
Epilogue	237
Nine Practices for Being More in Connection with Yourself While at Work	241
The Z.B.A. Manifesto	243
Recommended Reading	247
Acknowledgments	251
Index	255
About the Author	267