Marcus Child
In a rerun of the webinar from 10th June, Marcus Child presented the latest in IWFM’s series ‘Navigating turbulent times', which delves into today’s greatest sector challenges.
In episode 9, Marcus Child, the co-founder of Positive Reframe and keynote speaker at the IWFM Conference 2019, tackled the theme of ‘Leading for resilience and resourcefulness post-Covid-19’.
Peter Brogan, IWFM’s head of research and insight, introduced Child’s discussion on the capacity to lead, whether by example or through managing teams.
Child, who regularly speaks on conference platforms and has advised politicians, sportspeople and CEOs around the world, laid emphasis on people exploiting the workplace as an environment for self-improvement as well as commercial success. He trains new habits to be practised in the minds and relationships of people inside and outside work, long after his programmes are complete.
He introduced the FIRO-B (Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior) instrument, which helps individuals to understand their behaviour and that of others, and applies its principles of inclusion, control and openness to achieve a spirit of commitment, even when people are working remotely.
He advanced his theory that the Covid-19 pandemic should be treated as an opportunity for leaders to nurture agility, develop entrepreneurial thinking, and reset the culture in their business.
The discussion revolved around Child's take on the ‘control curve’, based on the ‘five stages’ theory developed by Swiss-American psychiatrist, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, author of the 1969 international best-selling book, On Death and Dying, where she introduced her theory of the five stages of grief – also known as the ‘Kübler-Ross model’.
Child restated the process as a curve starting with shock, moving to disbelief and denial, then to blame of oneself and others, then rejection and disappointment, and finally acceptance, and hope.
His argument, accompanied by quotes from a range of authorities from Buddha to the Mafia, is that the faster you can move through this curve, the faster you can get to a stage of rebuilding. He suggested trying out some practical exercises for promoting positive intentions, such as setting a new goal for every month, maintaining a diary of positive thoughts before going to sleep, and paying attention to the ‘five fibres of resilience’ – the physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual.
The most important of these is spiritual, said Child, in the sense that concentrating on a positive purpose supports the other fibres of resilience.
Full details of the ‘Navigating turbulent times’ webinar series are here.