Mindful Leadership With Marc Lesser
Season 2 of Mindful Leadership (formerly Zen Bones) launches May 2025. Join Executive Coach, Author, and Zen teacher Marc Lesser to explore the intersection of presence, leadership, and emotional intelligence for changemakers, creatives, and conscious entrepreneurs.
Episodes

9 hours ago
Navigating Leadership Through Presence
9 hours ago
9 hours ago
Join Marc Lesser and guest Abbot Jiryu Rutschman-Byler as we explore Zen teachings and their application to leadership and everyday life. Experience the power of navigating leadership through authentic presence.
Jiryu currently serves as a co-Abbot of San Francisco Zen Center through his role as Abiding Abbot of Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. He is also co-editor of Becoming Yourself a new collection of talks by Suzuki Roshi.

Wednesday Jun 18, 2025
The Practice of Catching Sparks
Wednesday Jun 18, 2025
Wednesday Jun 18, 2025
In this milestone 50th episode of Mindful Leadership with Marc Lesser, we explore the art of catching sparks—those subtle, powerful moments of connection, inspiration, and presence that can transform how we live and lead.
Marc draws from his experiences as a CEO, Zen teacher, and leadership coach to reflect on how mindfulness, breath awareness, and love help us tune into the energy exchanged between people. With references to Thich Nhat Hanh, Bob Dylan, and the power of nature, this episode invites listeners to become more awake to life’s offerings — and to practice offering their own sparks in return.
Whether you're a leader, a seeker, or someone navigating a life transition, this episode offers practical and poetic insights for deeper connection, personal growth, and purposeful leadership.Transcript at marclesser.netkeywords: mindfulness, meditation, leadership, personal growth, inspiration, connection, Bob Dylan, Thich Nhat Hanh, energy, presence, breathing, Zen, catching sparks, emotional intelligence, conscious leadership, mindful communication, self-awareness

Wednesday Jun 04, 2025
Four Thousand Weeks and One Precious Moment
Wednesday Jun 04, 2025
Wednesday Jun 04, 2025
Marc speaks with Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks, about how leaders can enhance effectiveness through mindfulness, time management, and Zen philosophy. This episode challenges conventional leadership models and offers practical insights to spark creativity and resilience. A must-listen for anyone looking to lead authentically and build thriving teams.

Thursday May 22, 2025
The Practice of Effort and Effortlessness
Thursday May 22, 2025
Thursday May 22, 2025
Today's podcast features The Practice of Effort and Effortlessness. We begin with a short meditation. Then Marc talks about how practice should be directed from achievement to non-achievement. The aim is to get rid of unnecessary effort and to practice meditation with no gaining idea. The effort to let go of doing anything extra will reap great benefits to your mindful leadership practice and presence.

Thursday May 08, 2025
The World Was Made To Be Free In with David Whyte
Thursday May 08, 2025
Thursday May 08, 2025
Poet David Whyte joins Marc to explore how not-knowing, presence, and poetry open the heart of authentic leadership.

Thursday May 01, 2025
Introducing Mindful Leadership with Marc Lesser: A New Chapter Begins
Thursday May 01, 2025
Thursday May 01, 2025
New Name. Same Wisdom. Fresh Season.We’re excited to announce that Zen Bones is now Mindful Leadership with Marc Lesser — and Season 2 launches Thursday, May 8th!
This season brings powerful new conversations on what it truly means to lead with mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and heart.
If you’ve been on this journey with us, thank you. If you’re just joining—welcome. Follow the show and tune in May 8th!

Thursday Nov 30, 2023
We Are All Poets
Thursday Nov 30, 2023
Thursday Nov 30, 2023
We begin today's episode with a short guided meditation focused on being present, fully here with nothing to accomplish. I give a short talk on embracing the mind of the poet and the mind of the business person, exploring these distinctions and lack of distinctions and how we can live and work and play with more meaning and connection.
Today's Zen Puzzler comes from a traditional koan about a buffalo jumping through a window. The aim of this puzzler is about letting go of our predicting minds and instead seeing the world as fresh and mysterious.

Thursday Nov 16, 2023
Money As a Force For Positive Change
Thursday Nov 16, 2023
Thursday Nov 16, 2023
Kristin is founder and CEO at Nia Impact Capital. She is a pioneer in the field of impact investing. She is devoted to re-envisioning capitalism, to changing the face of finance, and to promoting inclusion and diversity in leadership.
In our conversation we talk about the importance of understanding money, finance, and investing and the life-changing force that money has. We speak about creating healthy cultures and how Kristin is on the front lines of gender lens investing, both through leading a women-owned company and supporting women-owned companies.

Thursday Nov 02, 2023
The Power of Priming
Thursday Nov 02, 2023
Thursday Nov 02, 2023
Today's podcast features The Power of Priming. We begin with a short meditation. Then Marc talks about how the world tends to prime us for anxiety and speed. As an antidote and practice, we can prime ourselves to be present, open, curious, and creative. Meditation practice is a form of priming. We can utilize priming in all parts of our days, from waking up to starting meetings.
Today's Zen puzzler is based on a quote about staring and impermanence.

Thursday Oct 19, 2023
The Power of Grace with Henry Shukman
Thursday Oct 19, 2023
Thursday Oct 19, 2023
Henry Shukman is a poet, writer and Zen teacher. He has written a best selling Zen memoir called One Blade of Grass. He is a guiding teacher of the Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.In this episode we talk about grace: the grace of acknowledging and living from the perspective that everything is gift. We address the tension of practicing with money, success and failure and working skillfully with our many motivations - all in the context of grace.

About This Podcast
Mindful Leadership With Marc Lesser is a bi-weekly podcast featuring conversations with leading spiritual teachers and activists, and an exploration of Zen teachings and practices, to help you appreciate your life, build vibrant relationships, and cultivate thriving workplaces.
Listen in weekly for cutting-edge interviews, teachings, guided meditations, and supportive tools for creating more meaningful work, along with potent mindfulness practices to develop yourself, influence your organization, and change your world.
If you like what you hear, please subscribe, rate, and review wherever you access your podcasts!