From the depths of the global financial crisis in the last quarter of 2008, a senior officer of one of the world’s largest financial institutions had a life-changing epiphany. Realizing that he had just lost his lifetime investment and retirement nest egg, he pulled himself up and stared reality in its face. Just over a year later, he has completed a book that, he hopes, will change the lives of others who, like him, faced the same dilemma.
In Beyond Survival: How To Thrive Amidst Life’s Inevitable Crisis, Roger Collantes offers a “useful toolkit for those who want to learn the essential skills and action principles to live a meaningful and fulfilling life, especially in times of unprecedented change and global transformation.”
Just like the training programs that he has designed and conducted for corporate audiences, this book is a virtual “owner’s guide” for taking charge of one’s life, and even possibly reinventing it, as the author himself has done.
While caught in the vortex of a real-world crisis, he decided to conduct his own “anthropological study” to understand ways and patterns of coping and hurdling real-life challenges: “I looked into the phenomenon of crisis, the theory of positive thinking, the concept of ‘learned helplessness’, the psychology of resilience and hardiness, and the practical applications of optimism psychology.”
He begins by citing “four hard realities.” First, “crisis is the new normal.” Second, “all bets are off.” Third, “there is no rescue plan.” Fourth, “the battle lies within.”
Hence, each person must gear up for battle by adopting what he calls “the thriver’s mindset” which is the alignment of one’s inner faculties of head, heart and guts. In essence, this means “keeping your focus on the right thing, putting your passion in the right place, and summoning your will to do the right thing right away.”
Mr. Collantes offers three simple rules for survival: stay focused, stay calm, and stay alive. He uses as an illustrative case the heroic emergency landing executed by US Airways pilot Chesley Sullenburger in the Hudson River, a few minutes after birds had hit both the plane ‘s engines. Captain Sully is an excellent role model of serenity amidst chaos that is the thriver’s trademark.
Indeed, the thriver is uniquely capable of riding through crisis with flying colors. Consider how the thriver’s response, as exemplified by Captain Sully, compares with three other typical response types, namely: losers, worriers, and survivors. Mr. Collantes has coined interesting acronyms, all popular fast-food items, to describe the four typical response types.
The loser, “a depressed type of person who views crisis as beyond his control, and admits to helplessness,” is prone to making the following ‘barbecue’ (BBQ) responses: Bicker, Bitter and Quitter. The “worrier” prefers to view crisis passively, using the BLT approach of Blame, Lament, and Torment. The survivor is the one who is unemotional about crisis, taking it one lick at a time, and somehow succeeds by simply staying out of trouble, just like a laid-back BEER drinker: Better Engaged than Early Retired.
The thriver is like the HERO sandwich: Hopeful, Energized, Responsive and Open-minded.
“It’s all about mindset,” writes Mr. Collantes, so in order to get out of the three usual mind traps, one has to employ the WIFI techniques of “Whip It and Flip It!”
First, to overcome the blame cycle, one has to use GPS or the great positive spin. This simply involves framing the good news counterpart of the bad news. For instance, when Mr. Collantes’ financial advisor apprised him of the huge hemorrhage in his investment account, he said: “the bad news is that you lost half of your total investments. The good news is that more investors lost more!”
Second, to prevail over the bad luck syndrome, Mr. Collantes suggests re-framing a bad situation into a BID: blessing in disguise.
Third, to fend off the boomerang effect of compounding one’s predicament by imagining all sorts of related problems, he suggests the positive CYA approach: count your aces.
At the heart of Mr. Collantes’ book is the feature on six global thriver icons, each of whom embodies a key principle of thriving. He calls them the members of The Thrivers Club. Who are these outstanding thrivers?
US President Barack Obama is the role model for principle number one: creating new possibilities. Former South African leader Nelson Mandela exemplifies principle number two on reaffirming one’s core beliefs. Oprah Winfrey represents principle number three on inventing one’s best future is represented by Oprah Winfrey.
The fourth principle on summoning one’s inner resolve is demonstrated by seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong who is the most highly acclaimed cancer survivor. Christopher Reeve, who became famous as Superman but was hobbled by a debilitating paralysis is the prime exemplar in terms of principle number five: inspiring oneself and others. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is the role model for the sixth principle on seizing the moment.
Mr. Collantes completes the owner’s guide by providing six practical exercises for that demonstrate the efficacy of the six principles: think flipside, know your anchors, give yourself a makeover, exercise your muscles, write your epitaph, and be failure-proof.
Beyond Survival is indeed, an extraordinary book that could also potentially alter readers’ lives. Assisted by a dynamic and youthful team, the author has designed the book to be quite reader- and user friendly. It has the look and feel of new media. While flipping through it, it’s as if the reader is in front of a backlit page on a laptop screen where color highlights are liberally used. It resembles Tom Peters’ earlier forays into unconventional publishing. After browsing through the initial sections, the reader finds himself embedded in a unique learning experience.
A few years ago, this writer collaborated with him in designing a leadership program for senior executives of a global consumer bank. He tapped a local travel agency and event organizer in designing a half-day team building exercise that was a page out of the Amazing Race playbook.
For those who have had the privilege of learning with Roger Collantes in executive education seminars and workshops, reading Beyond Survival would be like being immersed in yet another highly innovative, hands-on and participative approach learning experience.
He hopes that readers will eventually consider themselves as ultimate thrivers and become proud members of the Thrivers Club as they navigate through a crisis-proof life.
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