An age-old practice, mindfulness meditation is now being integrated into the corporate world, thanks to its scientific approach. Interview with Emmanuel Faure, founder of MBSR Lille, transition facilitator, meditation teacher and MBSR instructor (trained at Brown University of Public Health, Providence, USA).
In concrete terms, it's attention and concentration training. In an MBSR program, we train ourselves to be attentive, like musicians practicing for a concert. This practice brings calm and lucidity. Mindfulness also supports participants in dealing with problems such as stress and anxiety. Great athletes have even become adepts, such as tennis player Djokovic, who practices it for an hour a day.
For me, it seems to be the convergence of two movements: my own curiosity about life and being human in the 21st century, and a need to cope better with difficult situations (burnout). Like all consultants, I started out as a consultant with a desire to help people. Consulting firms are very demanding, and the pace is often difficult. I discovered mindfulness meditation, which helped me a lot, but at the time people weren't talking about it. I was worried, wondering if it was a cult. But when I saw that the medical sector was talking about it, I found it very relevant and decided to get trained. My entrepreneurial spirit led me to want to pass on this practice so that everyone can find resilience and discernment in the business world, to invent and innovate.
There are three types of benefit. The first is stress reduction. Participants manage stress better, and find the resources they need to work with commitment, joy and performance. As a result, both companies and employees are satisfied.
The second is increased efficiency and discernment, and hence innovation. In ten years, we've lost our ability to concentrate, going from 30 seconds to 17. The reasons? Technology, computers and laptops, which scatter the mind. Living more in the here and now gives us access to the reality of the situation: a better understanding therefore comes naturally.
Finally, the third benefit relates to collective pro-social behavior. The more we practice mindfulness meditation, the more we listen to others. We're able to understand emotions because we're aware of reality. By reacting differently, we waste less time, we talk about real issues, we open up, and the result is more compassion and solidarity.
Not only the Adeo Group, but also NGOs, universities, schools and banks practice mindfulness meditation.
How can practice help a consultant on a daily basis ?
With mindfulness meditation, a consultant stays focused on what the customer wants. A consultant receives thousands of pieces of information, but only a few are useful. You have to be discerning, sorting things out to focus on the right information and listening to the customer. What's more, we unconsciously apply identical patterns to different customers. Practice makes perfect. Stress management is also beneficial, as a consultant can make the wrong decisions out of fear.
To find out more : Emmanuel Faure, la huitième semaine