The Yin of Inner Leadership - 殘 心 Zanshin

 

 

The Yin of Inner Leadership

 

陰

yin

literally, "the female principle"

 

 

1. Zanshin

 

殘 心 

zanshin

 

literally, "the spirit stays or lingers"

The term means connection,

the ability to extend our energies outward to create new harmonies.

 

 

The Tao is an empty vessel,

Infinitely useful,

The source of then thousand things.

 

It blunts all sharpness,

Unties all knots,

Softens the light,

And blends with the earth.

 

Deeper than the oceans,

Its scope is infinite,

Its power eternal.

 

(Tao, 4)

 

 

The Tao Te Ching affirms personal leadership,

the enduring power of character.

It tells us:

 

 

The ancient leaders who followed the Tao

Did not give people elaborate strategies

But help to simple practice.

 

It is hard to lead

When we try to be too clever.

Too much cleverness undermines group harmony.

Those who led without such strategies

Bring blessing to all.

To know these principles

Is to follow Tao.

 

(Tao, 65)

 

 

導

 

Te: The Power of Character

 

Te: "virthe," "goodness," "power," and "morality,"

but it is actually made up of three separate symbols:

"to go," "straight" and "the heart."

Thus, Te means integrith or character:

living "straight from the heart."

With the power of character,

we continuously influence and transform the world around us.

 

 

The Tao Te ching tells us:

 

All actions flow from the Tao.

Character (Te) shapes them.

Circumstances complete them.

 

The ten thousand things

Honor Tao

And revere Te

Not by custom or law,

But by their own nature.

Therefore the Tao creates

And Te cultivates,

Nurtures and protects,

Promotes, but does not posses,

Empowers, but does not take credit,

Leads without dominating.

 

This is the power of character.

 

(Tao, 51)

 

 

Leadership Skills for a Changing World

 

 Consciously responding to our world with the wisdom of living systems,

we become Tao leaders,

no longer reacting to the world unconciously,

but participating in its ongoing creation.

 

 

Flowing with Change: Zanshin

 

The great Tao is everywhere,

Flowing left and right.

The ten thousand things flow from it.

Yet it never dominates,

But achieves its purpose

Without taking credit.

Seen with detachment,

It appears infinitely small,

The energy that flows

Through all creation.

 

(Tao, 34)

 

 

Flowing with Change

 

Zanshin is the ability to recognize the flow with change.

Tao leaders welcome change

because they perceive the world dynamically.

 

 

Detachment and Zanshin

 

 

Detachment clears our vision;

instead of emotionally overreacting to circumstance,

we remain centered.

 

(Tao, 67)

 

In the East or West,

the important principle is balance:

courage and compassion,

wisdom and strength,

yin and yang.

 

 

 

TAO Questions

 

"Who do I know (in my experience or in history)

who combines courage and compassion?"

"How did this person develop and express these qualities?"

"What can I do to develop greater courage and/ or compassion myself?"

 

TAO Exercise

 

Read a biography of someone you admire.

Learn some important lessions from this person's example.

Role models are powerful motivators. 

 

 

Stretching Ourselves: Flowing with Zanshin

 

 

Transcending the limits of ego,

our lives become works of art.

 

 

Harmonizing the Unexpected: The Music of Zanshin

 

 

Transcending ego,

maintaining inner harmony,

they keep time with the music that governs all our lives.

 

 

Zanshin and the Courage to Reach Out

 

 

Becoming a Tao leader means

daring to take risks.

daring to be ourselves in the fullest sense,

not surrendering to external pressures,

not being afraid of who we are.

Sometimes it means

reaching out to do something new

as a spiritual exercise.

 

 

TAO Question

 

Is there something you'd like to do that your've been putting off?

To develop your leadership qualities,

it need not be work related.

In the Tao,

everything is related.

Does this activity make sense?

If so,

make a commitment to yourself to do it and take the first step.

Afterward,

take some time to record

what you learned about yourself

and the energy of zanshin.

 

 

Facing Your Fears

 

 

The Tao Te Ching shows us another way:

to become aware of what these energies may mean,

to listen and to learn.

 

 

TAO Questions

 

"What am I feeling?"

"What am I really afraid of?"

 

 

Zanshin as Flexibility: The Strength of Bamboo

 

 

The Tao Te Ching tells us:

 

We begin life gentle and yielding.

At death we are rigid, inflexible.

The grasses that grow are green and supple.

In death they are withered and sere.

Therefore, the rigid and inflexible

Belong to death.

The gentle and yielding

Are filled with life.

 

(Tao, 76)

 

 

TAO Exercise

 

Is there some failure or mistake in your past that is still haunting you?

Face that failure squarely and ask yourself what you learned from it.

 

What would you do differently?

What have you learned about yourself?

What will you do in the future?

 

Now take the next step—forward.

Leave the past behing and boldly get on with your life.

 

 

Facing the Unknown

 

 

Training through Your Doubts

 

The Tao Te Ching tells us that

all nature follows this process of zanshin,

moving from conception to creation one step at a time:

 

A tree that grows beyound your reach

Springs from a tiny seed.

A building more than nine stories high

Begins with a small mound of earth.

A journey of a thousand miles

Begins with a single step.

 

(Tao, 64)

 

 

The Tao Te Ching tells us:

 

With strength of character,

Nothing is impossible.

When our hearts expand

To embrace the impossible,

We are able to lead with Tao.

 

(Tao, 59)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Dreher, Diane. The Tao of Personal Leadership. Harper Collins Publishers. New York. 1997.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 to be continued...