Joyce Z. Wazirali: Convert Crises and Adversity in Life and Business into Growth

By Sujany Baleswaran

Born and raised in Surinam, surrounded by the beauty of nature, Joyce Wazirali spent her childhood marvelling at the patterns of nature and humans, where the basis of her view of the world was born. With the belief that everything and everyone has a function, living together interdependently she observed the visible and invisible connections that surrounded her. Stemming from her core values of health and happiness, she delved into the complex dynamics of relationships and cultural issues, discovering how to break through perpetuating patterns in order to grow and thrive again.

In her recently published book ‘Unity Conscious Leadership™’, Joyce reveals the secrets of Successful Leadership & Cultural Change. In this book, Joyce takes you on a journey of awareness and discovery of the causes and effects of conflicts and crises.

We are not in an era of change. We are the creators, standing at the threshold of a new era of health, happiness and peace.

You have a beautiful way of perceiving the world, and it takes a special mindset to help others through their problems. Let’s go back further, before Unity Conscious Leadership®. How was your life growing up and how has it influenced your mindset?

I was born and raised in the Amazon in Surinam, a country in South America, a melting pot with a diversity of nature and cultures. As the seventh of nine children, I observed the patterns and dynamics within my family, and with time, their behaviour had become predictable to me.

My journey started in my grandmother’s orchard in Surinam, which blossomed with a myriad of tropical trees and fruits. It was a world in which I walked around in wonder and could see the interconnections and interdependence of all beings in nature. Amongst the trees and shrubs, there were birds, bats, insects and other creatures such as snakes, iguanas and anteaters. Each had its own unique appearance and sound. I watched hummingbirds fly towards flowers, taking nectar with its beak, hovering in one place in the air and then flying backwards. It was the only bird species that could fly like that. Birds picked from the ripe fruits and ate insects as butterflies flew by, fluttering from flower to flower.

Every time I gazed around the orchard, I realised it looked a little different. The fruits on the trees grew and changed colour, and the scents changed with the seasons. I watched the various types of fruit with amazement, wondering how a banana tree knew what it should look like or how it should make bananas? I realised that there must be an invisible Universal Intelligence where nature and beings can tap into information. The interconnectedness and interdependency extended beyond my grandmother’s orchard. Without the sun and rain, there was no orchard.

For ten years of my life, I spent countless hours in my grandmother’s orchard until the big move to the Netherlands. My fascination and connection with nature, the dynamics in my family of origin and my peaceful childhood with different cultures and religions, have laid the foundation for observing visible and invisible connections.

At just 23 years old, you became Director and one of two co-founders of a successful company in business services. That is a lot of responsibility at such a young age. How did you handle that pressure? What challenges have you had to overcome? 

I have never experienced pressure, only opportunities. In retrospect, I discovered that the lens of Unity Conscious Leadership® was one of the success factors in building a company with 80 employees in 13 years. By using this lens, I was able to perceive what was really happening between people within and outside our organisation and made me aware of patterns and ‘locked’ potential.
 
In order to change my environment, I was always looking for answers and solutions within myself. I discovered that the more answers and solutions I found, the more I became aware of how the Universal Intelligence works through relationships and situations. Becoming aware of this phenomenon made it easy for me to act in situations to break patterns and unlock potential. Our clients and staff members were our greatest ambassadors.

What sparked the idea to create Unity Conscious Leadership®? 

In 2011, I had a vivid dream where I met Shakyamuni Buddha in a forest. For some reason, he regularly appears in my dreams, and this particular dream was etched in my soul. He invited me to look into the world through his inner eye. I followed his instructions, and I saw Paradise. I felt absolute happiness and dynamic peace. I realized that we could all be happy together and make our earth a peaceful paradise. Since that day, my new mission was born: ‘to contribute to health, happiness and peace in the world.’ But I didn’t have a clue how to do that.

I was introduced to Nichiren Buddhism with the underlying strategy of the Lotus Sutra, which explains the complex coherence of life and the workings of the Mystical Universal Law which I was already aware of but could not explain. The deepening understanding of the Lotus Sutra helped me find the words to create and write Unity Conscious Leadership®.

Can you tell us more about your own spiritual journey? 

One day, when I was exploring the enchanting orchard of my grandmother, I became aware of how all creatures are interdependently interconnected with each other through an invisible Universal Intelligence. Since then, I could see the dynamics and patterns of interdependence in nature and between people. A lens that enables me to not only see the root cause and the required solutions to problems, but also the locked potential and opportunities for growth.

Already at a young age, I had mystical experiences, vivid and predictive dreams, visions and insights that actually manifested. They have become more and more intense over the years. Later at school and in my professional life, I noticed I was a little bit different from my colleagues. The way I perceived situations, my thoughts and my answers to questions were different. Most people didn’t understand my way of thinking. On the other hand, I thought, it’s so obvious what I was perceiving, why couldn’t they see that? It was as if I was looking at the world through a different lens. In retrospect, it turned out to be my gift.

You’re on this path that follows spirituality and Buddhism, but I’m sure many clients aren’t aware of this path – how do you guide these clients? What makes your method unique?

For me, spirituality and Buddhism means living from my Heart and in Oneness, where everyone is a leader, equally important and unique, with unique qualities and life missions, with a heart to heart connection. It’s about finding answers and solutions within ourselves, where the core values of health, happiness and peace prevail.

First, I listen to my clients’ stories and ask questions, understanding their situation from the perspective of Unity Conscious Leadership® and looking for patterns in their stories. Then I tell them that the situation they face is a reflection of their inner world. After explaining their stories through the lens of Unity Conscious Leadership®, they realize how all their stories and their environment are connected. From there, I guide them through an inner process to break obstructive patterns, unlock their potential and take steps forward. My working method is unique – my clients experience sustainable change on multiple personal levels in a very short time and become aware of how they can change their own environment through a deep inner change.

You recently published a book Unity Conscious Leadership™ – what inspired you to write this book? What does your writing process look like?

I discovered that the current situation we are in now has been created for centuries by our ancestors and society. People and organizations are struggling with repetitive patterns of obstacles and counter-currents, believing that they are separate and independent from their environment, looking for causes and solutions outside themselves, and trying to break through patterns with a temporary fix by trial and error.

They look at themselves and their world through the lens of Dualism. Communicating in a language of opposites such as: good and bad, black and white, us and them, inclusion and exclusion, vaccinated and not-vaccinated. Here lies the root cause of patterns and paradoxes, the source of conflicts and crises. Relationships and situations are getting more toxic, with people becoming more unhealthy and unhappy with their lives, trapped in constant conflict with each other.

Unity Conscious Leadership® is the new paradigm of leadership to sustainably break these old habits and patterns and transcend mutual differences.
In reality, we are living in a world of unity or oneness, with the fundamental understanding that we are all interconnected, interdependent and influencing each other continuously. As we are conscious beings, we can increase our consciousness by perceiving our outer world as a reflection of our inner. By recognizing that everyone is a leader, we see that we each have the ability to find answers and solutions within ourselves.

For over 30 years, I have been successfully guiding more than 1,000 individuals and CEOs on how they can change their environment and conquer personal and cultural issues with the lens of Unity Conscious Leadership®. I decided to share my lens (my legacy) with the world, in order to contribute to health, happiness and peace – the deep-rooted human values people are longing for in life. And inspire people to convert crisis and adversity into the growth of personal, cultural, and professional leadership.

In January 2019, I felt the urge to write, not knowing where to focus on. This book, Unity Conscious Leadership™ unfolded while I was writing. Unity Conscious Leadership™ is the bridge from Duality to Unity. Individuals, business leaders, teachers, parents, caregivers, board members, celebrities, influential people, politicians, government employees and world leaders can all benefit from it.

What advice do you have for women who are trying to move away from a difficult period of their life in order to grow again?

1. Mirror: Perceive your outer world as the mirror of your inner world.

2. Find your trigger(s): Every person or situation that triggers you by taking you out of balance, creating arousal or bringing back negative emotions like anger, pain, suffering or anxiety is a starting point for reflection.

3. Self-Reflection: Start with your own reflection – what are my thoughts, feelings and actions that are represented by the trigger(s)?

4. Introspection: Take the insights of your reflection for introspection. Ask yourself, when and in which context (family, friends, workplace, and so on) did I experience this before?

5. Patterns and paradoxes*): Discover them in your life and through the lives of your ancestors.

6. Transform through Unity Conscious Leadership®:

7. Make it generative: Take the insights you get from the transformation and share your experience with others who could benefit from it.

*) You can find the lists in my book, Unity Conscious Leadership™.