Being What’s Needed
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Being What is Needed

Being What’s Needed

by Ginny Whitelaw

Thank you for propelling us through our first decade of growth. According to Forbes, most nonprofits fail or stall out in their first few years.  Thanks to you, we enter our 11th year full of steam and ready to pour energy into where we’re needed.

And the needs for Zen leadership are great. Humanity is at a critical juncture where it’s clear that the way we are living and working continues to fuel the climate crisis and create ever-more challenging conditions for human life. Business as usual and conventional leadership nibble around the edges of the problem but are not up to the task. Through our work in Zen Leadership, we see leaders who are up to the task: experiencing their interbeing, developing a felt sense of reciprocity in relationships, and expanding to a connected state of consciousness that can reimagine and realize regenerative solutions. This year, together with colleagues around the world, we developed a nature-informed application of Zen leadership – i.e.,“perma leadership” – by which leaders can bring about thriving in their relationships, systems and society. In 2023, we plan to wing it to the world in a leadership summit for people, planet, and the future: One Earth, One Health, One With. I hope you can save the dates – April 20-26 – and join us.

This is an example of how we at IZL continue to listen for and lean into Being What’s Needed, which inspires the theme of this year’s fundraising campaign. For not only do we want to be what’s needed, but we want to resource you to be what’s needed in your life and work, whether that’s through embodied leadership skills, FEBI energy patterns for agility, deeper listening and greater resonance and resilience, community connections and support, coach and instructor training, or Zen training with our sister organization, Chosei Zen. Your funds will help us retool and expand our programs, train more instructors, build capability to host big events like summits, and support communities of practice in growing and applying perma leadership. Together, let us be what’s needed and resource more leaders to be what’s needed to reimagine and realize regenerative ways forward and bring healing and joy into the world we co-create. 

Ginny Whitelaw is the Founder and CEO of the Institute for Zen Leadership.