This past week it was announced Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick, has started meditating in the company lactation room. Amid reports of company upheaval, sexual harassment allegedly running rampant and a mass firing to hire 2 new female execs, we can see why he would need to get some quiet.
At a recent event, the iCONIC Conference, Arianna Huffington, an Uber board member, reportedly said:
“Literally, it was an amazing moment last week when we were in the office and he said, ‘I really need to go meditate in order to be in a place to make good decisions right now,’” Huffington said. “And literally [he] went into a lactation room that happened to be open, because they [Uber] don’t have meditation rooms yet. This is part of the change coming.”
Arianna further noted there were no meditation pods at Uber so the lactation room made sense until they installed pods. Some large companies now have meditation spaces for employees to break and clear their minds. I wonder what would happen if a women was found breast pumping in a meditation pod?
The thought of him using a lactation room to meditate does make me both laugh and cringe. What if a woman was leaking and had to pump really badly? What if he was in there for a long time and several women had to use the space? Would they have had to resort to the bathroom??
Arianna may see this as laughable moment but this raises so many questions about the company culture amid all the reports.
“Literally, it was an amazing moment last week when we were in the office and he said, ‘I really need to go meditate in order to be in a place to make good decisions right now,’” Huffington said. “And literally [he] went into a lactation room that happened to be open, because they [Uber] don’t have meditation rooms yet. This is part of the change coming.”
