The Mindful Marketer

Lisa Nirell cuts to the chase quickly in The Mindful Marketer, which is arguably in line with the principles she has outlined in the book around effective decision-making. Lisa Nirell’s long experience with the IT industry is evident in the examples she takes about organisations and executive she has worked with. But the solutions proposed for the C-suite are applicable and relevant for other industries. This aspect makes the book and effective read from a broader perspective.

Lisa successfully infuses principles of spirituality, consciousness, mindfulness and higher order living in the decision-making frameworks she proposes for senior marketers. One of the real highlights of the book is the showcasing of external or indirect factors that influence marketing leadership and its associated behaviours (e.g. personal energy management, workspace design).

The book is a deviation from other marketing books on the same subject in terms of the directed nature of solutions. Lisa delivers solutions in a sharp and punchy manner, without going through needless paragraphs. Each chapter is short and concise and addresses an important element of effective decision-making.

Although the book has been written from the point-of-view of a coaching guide for CMOs and senior marketers, the solutions that Lisa proposes will resonate with junior and middle level managers too. The first section of the book addresses the familiar challenges of Digital Intrusion Movement (DIM), data inundation and the constant pressure of taking decisions in a fragmented state of mind. These are malaise that are all too common in today’s organisations and equally impact all levels of the marketing organisation.

The title of the book directly relates to the fact it is about decision-making by being more conscious, involved and integrated in the process. The book effectively creates a framework to achieve this, but does not add to the thinking around the elements that feed this framework. Through her direct experience working with the C-suite, Lisa does a great job of weaving together this framework, but the elements could have been elevated further.

The book has numerous sharp and impactful examples that illustrate the principles behind the framework that Lisa proposes. But the exponential growth of knowledge and information behind some of the elements makes them a little dated in the book. On the other hand, many of the Eastern spirituality principles outlined are timeless and will forever be relevant for marketers. The book does achieve this balance but fails to move forward by one additional step in terms of injecting new thinking or a different level of interpretation.

All and all, ‘The Mindful Marketer’ is a great book for marketers at all levels to have a quick (but comprehensive) assessment of the conscious and unconscious challenges they face and how to apply spiritual and higher order living based techniques to circumvent them. The book does not add significantly to marketing thinking but does propose some unique and thoughtful solutions for a senior marketer’s day-to-day challenges.

Read more from Sandeep Das here.