Insights Blog
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Brand, Leadership, and Spirituality
Ginny Whitelaw explores the intersection of spirituality and leadership, finds that the spiritual Way naturally becomes leadership when it serves others, and leadership becomes the Way when it is rooted in deep practice that transcends ego.
IZL Leadership Training - Nothing Short of Exceptional
Jeremy Hurst shares his transformative experience at a Zen Leadership program, which he initially joined with skepticism but left with newfound clarity, resilience, and a deep appreciation for its impact.
Physical Side of Great CEOs
Ginny Whitelaw explores how the findings from a Harvard Business Review study on great CEOs align with the FEBI energy patterns.
FEBI, Brain Chemistry, and the New Science of Teamwork
Ginny Whitelaw explores how recent research linking personality patterns to brain chemistry aligns with the FEBI energy patterns, reinforcing the connection between mind, body, and leadership behavior.
Zen, Leadership, and Transformative Technologies
Ginny Whitelaw explores the intersection of Zen training and transformative technology.
Women of the Land
Gordon Greene contrasts two groups of women, one training in Hawaii and the other in Wisconsin, highlighting how each brought unique energy.
Forget Democrats and Republicans – What Kind of Convention are YOU Hosting?
Ginny Whitelaw draws a parallel between political conventions and our internal conventions. My engaging our whole mind-body, we can become more whole and balanced.
TRUMP, HAMILTON, AND THE ZEN LEADER WALK INTO A BAR...
Ginny Whitelaw reflects on messages and their ability to resonate or not with the listener. What can leaders do to help their messages hit the right chord?
The Energy of Agile Leadership: from Antenna to Arrow
Ginny Whitelaw explores how leadership energy flows through four FEBI energy patterns and how these patterns can help leaders become more agile.
Zen Leadership: Taking Away Fear
Kate Watters reflects on her transformative experience with Zen Leader training, describing how meditation, movement, and deep inquiry helped her confront fear, cultivate clarity, and implement practical strategies to enhance security and resilience within her organization.
Stories from the Training: Diane - Zen, Fear and the Art of Abundance
Diane Chencharick reflects on her transformative journey with IZL, describing how meditation, self-awareness, and confronting fear helped her break through creative blocks, reclaim her art, and ultimately find authenticity in both her work and life.
Taking Ownership: How We Avoid It and How Zen Tackles Avoidance
Ginny Whitelaw explores how our ingrained tendencies to seek comfort, avoid pain, and conserve lead to unhealthy habits, ineffective leadership, and environmental neglect. She urges us to take true ownership by facing into that discomfort.
Stories from the Training: James
James Blachly reflects on his transformative experiences at IZL and sesshin, describing how Zen training deepened his leadership, sensory awareness, and ability to let go of ego, ultimately shaping his personal and professional life in unexpected ways.
Summer In The City: If The Energy Patterns Were Cities...
Ginny Whitelaw reflects on the transformative CitiZen program, where city leaders applied Zen principles to leadership, posture, and breathwork, deepening their ability to navigate urban challenges with presence, resilience, and a renewed sense of purpose.
Springtime For Hara
Ginny Whitelaw explores how, amid rapid advancements in AI and neurotechnology, a different kind of innovation is emerging—one that accelerates human consciousness through practices like hara breathing, leading to the development of a "harameter" that could bridge Zen wisdom with modern technology.
Leading into the Six Perfections
Ginny Whitelaw connects Ken Wilber’s Fourth Turning of Buddhism to leadership by exploring how the 4 energy patterns align with the 6 Perfections, offering a practical, embodied approach to developing more conscious, effective leaders.
The Zen Leader Goes Home
Theo Cade, Zen Leader participant, shares his experience working with a number of the Zen Leader flips.
Zen, Leadership, and the Fourth Turning of Buddhism
Ginny Whitelaw explores Ken Wilber’s Fourth Turning of Buddhism through the concept of the U Turn, showing how leaders can transcend self-imagination to access deeper insight and transform vision into action.
How a Zen Leader Can Reinvent Organizations
Ginny Whitelaw reflects on Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux, highlighting how its evolutionary approach to leadership and decision-making aligns with Zen principles to create more adaptive, purpose-driven, and engaged organizations.
Change Requires Management, Transition Requires Leadership
Ginny Whitelaw explores how leaders can navigate change and transition by integrating William Bridges' transition model, John Kotter's change framework, and the FEBI energy patterns to align leadership responses with the needs of the situation.