The New York Post reported on the perspectives of Greg Monaco, who works at Quantum Lead and holds a “Forum Facilitator/Brand Development” title. Monaco believes mindful meditation can be used to address the lack of diversity in the advertising industry. “We often operate unconsciously and get into habits and not thinking about the decisions we are making,” Monaco said. “A lot of corporations are operating unconsciously, too. But every one of us is a force for good.” Monaco is right; however, his simple solution underscores the true enormity of the decades-old dilemma. How would one go about introducing mindfulness to replace the current mindlessness? The notion of “unconscious bias” has gained popularity when referring to the diversity issues in corporate America, but the term does not apply to adland, where deliberate denial, delegation, dodging and discrimination perpetuate the exclusivity. White adpeople are quick to express commitment, yet refuse to take direct action to make meaningful and measurable progress. Oh, and it doesn’t help that a peek at the Quantum Lead Team fails to depict a spirit of inclusiveness.
Adman says meditation is key to increasing companies’ diversity
By Claire Atkinson
It’s not often that the words “mindfulness” and “advertising” come together, but branding shop boss Greg Monaco believes meditating is a great way to figure out how to be more self-aware and manage New York stress.
Monaco, who teaches meditation classes, is hoping to sell clients on a novel idea that helps big organizations realize what they are good and bad at, and how to address issues that are causing a lack of diversity or lack of female leaders.
Monaco’s new business, Quantum Lead, is a consultancy “for conscious leadership,” as he calls it. He has mindfulness coaches helping employees ask themselves tough questions about change.
“We often operate unconsciously and get into habits and not thinking about the decisions we are making,” says Monaco. “A lot of corporations are operating unconsciously, too. But every one of us is a force for good.”
The chilled-out bike-riding ad guy may be the first of a new breed on Madison Avenue.
Hell, maybe yoga is just the solution for diversifying the ad world we've all been waiting for.
ReplyDeleteEndless decades of "high school mentoring programs" and "matchmaking" and "career fairs for recent grads" and "diversity officers" sure hasn't worked.
Bring on the stretching. The holding companies certainly like bending and twisting enough.