The Zen Executive with Jim Blake

Please join us and our guest, Jim Blake, for a show on The Zen Executive. Today’s business environment requires a new kind of leader, one with empathy and flexibility. But how do you bring this sort of clarity and vision to your business? In his new book, The Zen Executive: Gems of Wisdom for Enlightened Leadership, Jim looks at practical spirituality as the foundation for good leadership. Drawing from his experience as CEO of the 130-year-old spiritual non-profit, Unity World Headquarters, and a lifetime in corporate leadership, Jim provides advice on how to lead teams, companies, and communities, while maintaining alignment with your principles and integrity. Genuine and thoughtful, Jim illustrates his ideas with stories from his own experiences in a conversational and approachable style. The book is broken into four parts, starting with some guiding principles, then moving into work-centric practices like mission statements and leadership styles, then provides recommendations on how make it your own and use this foundation in your day-to-day work life.

Jim is the CEO of Unity World Headquarters, where he previously served as chief information officer and vice president of operations. Unity is a spiritual nonprofit founded in 1889 in Kansas City, Missouri. It helps people of all faiths and cultures apply positive spiritual principles in their daily lives. Jim has held numerous executive positions in the corporate world, including as Director of Customer Operations for Landis+Gyr, a global leader in the utility industry, and as Vice President of Products and Technology for Rhythm Engineering. He has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Central Methodist University and a Master of Divinity from Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary, the academic arm of the Universal Foundation for Better Living. Jim was ordained as a Unity minister in 2021.