PROGRAM OVERVIEW:

Zen of Coaching is a transformational online program for executive coaches and leaders who want to deepen their presence, expand their impact, and build a coaching practice rooted in wisdom, not just performance. Blending Zen principles, mindfulness, and real-world leadership experience, this course—created by Marc Lesser, the Zen teacher and CEO who helped bring mindful leadership to Google—supports you in cultivating stillness, navigating complexity, and coaching with greater authenticity, clarity, and purpose.

Your Guide: Marc Lesser

Integrating Leadership, Presence, and Purpose

Marc Lesser is a rare kind of coach—one who moves seamlessly between the worlds of business and inner life. A former CEO, longtime Zen teacher, and pioneer in bringing mindfulness into the heart of leadership.

Marc Lesser is a rare kind of coach—one who moves seamlessly between the worlds of business and inner life. A former CEO, longtime Zen teacher, and pioneer in bringing mindfulness into the heart of leadership, Marc has spent over 25 years helping people grow—not just in what they do, but in who they are.

With deep roots in both the boardroom and the meditation hall, Marc brings a grounded, insightful presence to his work with leaders and teams. His approach blends strategic clarity with emotional depth, helping people navigate complexity with more ease, awareness, and courage.

Marc helped create Google’s renowned Search Inside Yourself program, a mindfulness-based emotional intelligence training that has shaped leaders around the world. As co-founder and former CEO of the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, he worked with Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, and mission-driven organizations seeking to lead with more intention and humanity.

He’s also led three companies as CEO and holds an MBA from NYU—so he understands, from the inside out, the pressures of leadership and the value of clear thinking, wise action, and meaningful culture.

Before stepping into business life, Marc spent ten years in intensive Zen training at the San Francisco Zen Center, including five years at Tassajara, Zen Mountain Center,  the first Zen monastery in the West. That experience continues to inform how he shows up—as a teacher, a guide, and a fellow human walking the path.

“I often say I’m part business coach, part Zen teacher, and part therapist,” Marc reflects. “I care deeply about how we show up for ourselves and each other—and how we use our work as a place to grow, connect, and serve.”

Marc is the author of five books, including Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader and Less: Accomplishing More by Doing Less. Today, he works with leaders and teams around the world who want to bring more wisdom, presence, and heart into how they live and lead.

Structure and Schedule

5 Fridays: October 24th and 31st; November 7th, 21st, and December 5th
12:00 – 1:30 PT

(All sessions will be recorded.)

What You’ll Learn: The Program Pillars

1. The Power of Not-Knowing: Coaching from Presence, Not Answers
  • Why the best executive coaches don’t give answers—they create the conditions for insight.
  • How to hold space for uncertainty in leadership and decision-making.
  • Using koans (Zen paradoxical stories) to unlock new ways of thinking for clients.
2. Coaching in Complexity: Paradox & Polarities in Leadership
  • How Zen principles help leaders embrace contradiction (strength & vulnerability, action & stillness, leading & following).
  • Working with ambiguous, high-stakes leadership decisions through mindfulness.
  • Helping executives lead without attachment to outcomes while remaining highly effective.
3. Cultivating Executive Presence through Embodiment & Stillness
  • The neuroscience of how a leader’s presence influences company culture.
  • Zen-based practices for embodying gravitas, calm, and emotional regulation.
  • Teaching executives micro-meditation techniques for high-stress environments.
4. Coaching the Inner Game of Leadership
  • How to coach beyond performance metrics and into values, purpose, and wisdom.
  • Identifying the ego traps of leadership and helping clients lead with authenticity.
  • Cultivating a beginner’s mind in leadership—why curiosity outperforms certainty.
5. Building a Mindful Coaching Practice for Executive Clients
  • Integrating Zen coaching into a high-level executive coaching practice.
  • Communicating the value of coaching for presence vs. coaching for performance.
  • Structuring engagements that balance practical business needs with deep transformation.

Why Zen? Why This Program?

You don’t need to be a Buddhist—or have ever set foot on a meditation cushion—to experience the profound impact of this course. Zen isn’t about religion. It’s about awareness and attention. It’s a path to cultivating a clear mind and an open heart, especially in the face of uncertainty, complexity, and high stakes. That’s why Zen is so powerful for coaches and leaders: it trains you to stay present, grounded, and responsive—no matter the circumstances. Most coaching programs focus on tools and techniques. This one goes deeper. It teaches presence—the ability to listen without needing to fix, to stay steady in discomfort, and to meet others with clarity and compassion. That’s the kind of presence that sets exceptional coaches and courageous leaders apart. Zen strips away the noise so you can access your inner wisdom. Instead of reacting from habit or pressure, you learn to respond from insight. You become less distracted, more intentional, and more attuned—to yourself, to others, and to what really matters. In a world obsessed with doing, Zen teaches the transformational power of being. And from that place of being—calm, centered, aware—you unlock the true potential of your leadership and your coaching. This isn’t abstract philosophy. It’s grounded in lived experience. Your guide, Marc Lesser, is both a seasoned Zen teacher and a former CEO. He helped integrate mindfulness into Google’s leadership culture and has coached high-performing leaders across industries. He knows how to bridge the inner journey with real-world impact. Zen won’t hand you all the answers. But it will help you become the kind of coach who creates the conditions for others to discover their own. And that’s where real transformation begins.

The Zen Difference in Leadership Coaching

Beyond Basic Mindfulness

This isn’t another “breathe and reduce stress” program. The Zen approach develops the paradoxical thinking capabilities executives need most—being decisively confident while remaining genuinely open, driving results while cultivating relationships, maintaining vision while adapting to reality.

From Marc Lesser's Unique Journey

Few can blend these worlds authentically. Marc spent a decade as a resident of the San Francisco Zen Center and served as director of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center before bringing these principles to Google’s leadership program—creating a mindful leadership approach now used by thousands of executives worldwide. Marc Lesser didn’t just study Zen—he lived it (10 years at San Francisco Zen Center). Then he proved it works at Google and beyond. This is mindfulness forged in the fires of real leadership.

Transformative Leadership Capabilities

Where other programs offer tactical fixes, this coaching approach develops: Presence That Commands Without Demanding: Leaders who radiate calm authority even in crisis—a quality teams instinctively trust and follow. The Power of Not-Knowing: The ability to lead confidently while remaining genuinely curious and open—avoiding the fatal certainty that blinds other executives to emerging realities. Resilient Ambition: The capacity to pursue audacious goals without attachment to outcomes—creating leaders who inspire through purpose rather than pressure.  

The Inside-Out Transformation

This program works differently because it addresses the root cause of leadership challenges: Conventional Coaching: Works outside-in, applying external frameworks to problems Zen Coaching: Works inside-out, developing internal clarity that naturally produces better external decisions As one executive put it: “Other programs gave me better maps. This approach taught me to see more clearly so I could draw my own maps.”

The Cascading Impact

When a leader transforms their leadership presence, everything shifts:
  • Teams feel psychologically safe to innovate and take smart risks
  • Decision-making improves as habitual reactivity gives way to thoughtful response
  • Organizational culture evolves from tension to aligned purpose
  • Results improve while burnout decreases

Why It Matters Now

Today’s executives face unprecedented complexity—volatile markets, technological disruption, talent challenges, and stakeholder pressures that conventional leadership approaches weren’t designed to handle. The Zen approach doesn’t just help leaders cope with this complexity—it helps them thrive in it, developing the exact capabilities needed to navigate paradox, uncertainty, and rapid change with wisdom rather than reactivity. This isn’t just a different coaching approach. It’s the approach specifically designed for the leadership challenges of our time.
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Who This Is For

For Coaches Done with Surface-Level Solutions
This is for you if:
  • You’re done with “10-step models” and crave an approach that reaches the soul of leadership – where real transformation happens.  
  • You coach (or aspire to coach) elite performers – CEOs, founders, VPs – who need more than productivity hacks. They need wisdom.  
  • You feel the limits of traditional mindfulness and want tools that don’t just reduce stress, but redefine how leaders operate.  
  • You know presence is your most powerful tool – and you’re ready to master it, embody it, and teach it.  
  • You’re building a practice with depth – one that aligns with your values, attracts premium clients, and changes lives (not just KPIs).  

This is not for coaches who: ❌ Believe leadership is just about strategy and execution   ❌ Are satisfied with helping clients “manage” rather than *transform*   ❌ Think mindfulness begins and ends with “take a deep breath”   This is for those ready to go to the source – where lasting change begins. For Coaches who want to move beyond “take a breath” to transformative frameworks. Mindfulness is the foundation. This is the architecture for leadership.

What You Will Walk Away With

Marc brings a rare combination of depth, clarity, and real-world leadership experience to his coaching and teaching. In this training, he sets a high bar—inviting you not just to learn, but to transform the way you lead, coach, and show up in the world. This program is designed for executive and leadership coaches who want to deepen their impact by integrating mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and embodied presence into their professional practice. You’ll walk away with insights and tools that elevate your coaching, strengthen your leadership presence, and bring greater clarity and compassion to your most important relationships—both personal and professional. You will:
  • Deepen and sustain your mindfulness and meditation practice—not just as tools, but as core competencies in your leadership and coaching
  • Strengthen your ability to listen with precision and attunement, helping clients access insight and move through complexity
  • Cultivate warmhearted curiosity—the key to unlocking potential, fostering trust, and navigating high-stakes conversations
  • Gain practical techniques to coach with greater authenticity, presence, and impact in executive and organizational contexts

Whether you’re supporting C-suite leaders, high-performing teams, or emerging talent, this training will refine your presence, expand your toolkit, and align your coaching with what matters most.  

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The Virtuous Cycle of Coaching Excellence

Inner Depth + External Tools = Exceptional Client Outcomes
This program creates a sustainable path to coaching mastery. As your presence deepens, your client results improve, leading to more referrals, a stronger reputation, and a thriving practice built on transformation rather than transaction.

How This Program Stands Apart

Traditional Executive Coaching The Zen of Coaching
Focuses on performance, productivity, and goal-setting Focuses on presence, awareness, and wise action
Uses tools, frameworks, and accountability structures Uses inquiry, paradox, and deep listening
Emphasizes doing: what to say, what to do Emphasizes being: how you show up, how you relate
Encourages control, clarity, and linear problem-solving Embraces uncertainty, not-knowing, and complexity
Measures success by external outcomes Measures success by internal alignment and relational impact
Stays in the head: cognitive strategies, analysis Integrates head, heart, and body through mindfulness and embodiment
Seeks confidence through mastery Cultivates confidence through humility and grounded presence
Short-term fixes and performance improvements Long-term transformation of self and leadership presence
“This could redefine executive coaching. Unlike traditional or conventional coaching training programs focused on productivity and frameworks, this is a presence-first model rooted in Zen and real-world leadership.”

What You Might Be Wondering

Is this program for beginners or seasoned coaches?
Yes! Zen of Coaching is designed and applicable for all levels of coaches and prospective coaches. All coaches can benefit professionally and personally from learning to integrate depth practices and wisdom practices into their coaching and all parts of their lives.
Is this program for leaders?
Coaching and mentoring are two of the most important competencies of effective leadership. Leaders will experience significant benefit from learning depth coaching skills and competencies.
What are the dates, times, and structure of the program?

The program meets from 12:00 – 1:30 PT for five consecutive Fridays: October 24th and 31st; November 7th, 21st, and December 5th

What if I need to miss a session?
All sessions will be recorded and made available.
Will there be additional courses and resources?
ZBA Leadership and Coaching Institute and Marc Lesser will be offering a variety trainings and programs throughout 2026. Marc and colleagues are available for individual coaching sessions.
What is the cost of this program?

Zen of Coaching is offered at $850 for the full program. Registration is open until Friday, November 31st.

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$850
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