Type R: Transformative Resilience for Thriving in a Turbulent World

by Ama Marston, Stephanie Marston

Overview

Forget Type As and Bs. The future lies with Type Rs-the resilient individuals, leaders, businesses, families, and communities who turn challenges into opportunities in times of upheaval, crisis, and change.

In Type R, Ama Marston and Stephanie Marston explore Transformative Resilience and the strategies of those who use difficult circumstances as catalysts for growth — springing forward rather than bouncing back during turbulent times.

Here, Ama and Stephanie share inspiring stories of Type Rs thriving during unprecedented world events and increasing global pressures — from climate change to financial crises. They share the individual and collective triumphs of people coping with the stress of daily life and the challenges and disruptions that rattle all our lives at some point. And they draw upon research that spans the personal and the professional, the local and the global. Reaching across psychology, neuroscience, business, and politics, Type R demonstrates how we can use challenges to innovate, create new strengths, and grow.

Type R also teaches leaders, businesses, and organizations how to cultivate the critical Type R Vision and Culture, which is essential for navigating and thriving in disruptive change. This thought-provoking book proves that there is much we can learn from those who use change, stress, and adversity as springboards to progress in a chaotic world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781610398060
Publisher:	PublicAffairs
Publication date:	01/09/2018
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Ama Marston is an international strategy and leadership expert as well as a recognized thought leader focused on Transformative Resilience and inclusive and purpose-driven leadership and business. She is the founder of Marston Consulting, which has provided services to Fortune 500 and FTSE companies, the United Nations, Oxford University and numerous others. Her work with leaders like Mary Robinson, Ireland's first female President and Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel laureate economist and as a top advisor to the UN and international NGOs has placed her at dozens of decision-making tables and taken her to work in countries around the world.

Ama has long been hailed as a leader and original thinker and has won several awards, including a Council of Women World Leaders Fellowship and Phi Beta Kappa national honors, and was nominated as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. She earned a master's degree from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and currently splits her time between the UK and the US.

Stephanie Marston is a pioneering psychotherapist with more than thirty years experience and is a widely recognized stress and work-life expert and corporate consultant. She is the founder of 30 Days to Sanity, a stress and work/life online platform. She has published five previous books and has appeared frequently on shows such as The Oprah Show, The Today Show, CNN Headline News, and numerous other radio and TV shows. Stephanie has also served on the WebMD clinical advisory board. She consults with some of the world's most prestigious corporations including Whirlpool Corporation, H.J. Heinz Company, Xerox Corporation, Mattel Inc., Prudential Insurance, Morgan Stanley, and The Mayo Clinic. Stephanie lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Table of Contents

Prologue 1

Chapter 1 Meeting the Rising Tides in a Turbulent and Changing World 11

Chapter 2 Transformative Resilience and the Adversity Sweet Spot 29

Chapter 3 Type R: The Mindset for Our Time 51

Chapter 4 Harnessing the Storm: The Type R Characteristics 67

Chapter 5 Transformers: The Type R Individual 97

Chapter 6 Navigating Uncharted Waters: The Type R Leader 121

Chapter 7 We're All in It Together: The Type R Organization 151

Chapter 8 A Bridge Over Troubled Water: The Type R Family 177

Chapter 9 Type R in Action 199

Acknowledgments 217

Notes 221

Index 233

Editorial Reviews

10/02/2017
Daughter-mother team Ama, founder of a consulting firm, and Stephanie, a psychotherapist, take a thought-provoking stance on uncertainty and resilience, asserting that people need to regard the former condition “not as a passing state but as a condition of life.” They identify the quality of “transformative resilience” as the ability to treat personal challenges as learning opportunities. The authors maintain an optimistic tone, showcasing numerous instances of people who responded to adversity positively. Examples given here of “type R,” or resilient, personalities include Ursula Rakova, who is leading an effort to relocate the population of her homeland, a tiny South Pacific atoll steadily being consumed by the rising ocean, and Stephanie Decker, a double amputee whose advocacy resulted in Kentucky’s passage of a bill guaranteeing insurance coverage for prosthetic body parts. Seeking to define type-R people, the Marstons pinpoint six characteristics: adaptability, control, purposefulness, active engagement, the willingness to seek support, and openness to new information. This insightful road map to living in a world of uncertainty will leave readers hoping they too can be type Rs. (Jan. 2018)

Publishers Weekly

"The authors offer an informative and inspiring book on some remarkably positive responses to misfortune and change...engaging, useful."—Kirkus Reviews

"A thought-provoking stance on uncertainty and resilience...This insightful road map to living in a world of uncertainty will leave readers hoping they too can be type Rs."—Publishers Weekly

"Type R makes an impressive step towards reimagining how we live, work, and lead, going beyond past thinking to draw on research and a brave new vision for the future to help guide us to success in our complex world."—Mary Robinson, President of the Mary Robinson Foundation-ClimateJustice, and Former President of Ireland

"Transformational change demands constancy of purpose. Constancy of purpose demands transformative resilience. The authors thoughtfully advance this concept in a fashion that can be helpful to any leader who is trying to help their organization thrive in the face of adversity. A worthy read."—Doug Conant, CEO, Conant Leadership, Former CEO of Campbell Soup, FormerCEO of Nabisco Foods

"In a world of rapid change and unavoidable uncertainty, Type R offers a positive path to growth. The stories and insights collected here have informed my own life and the lessons I strive to teach my children. May they find a much wider audience!"—Anne-Marie Slaughter, President and CEO, New America

From the Publisher

11/01/2017
Mother-daughter author team—leadership expert Ama Marston (founder, Marston Consulting) and psychotherapist Stephanie Marston (If Not Now, When?)—explore the concept of transformative resilience (Type R) as a strategy for using difficult circumstances as catalysts for growth during turbulent experiences. Their focus is on developing the strength and skills to deal with the increasing global volatility and the never-ending stresses that come from balancing work and family life. The principles, mind-set, and skills of Type R are clearly explained, along with its defining characteristics. A handy tool to assess one's Type R abilities is included, with numerous examples of how individuals evolve through the six-stage Type R process. Ideas are then applied to developing Type R leadership skills and how organizations can integrate Type R culture into the workplace in order to realize greater impact. The material nicely combines well-known theories from change management, stress management, and the entrepreneurial principle of "problems are opportunities." The many personal firsthand experiences help connect these lofty aspirations with readers, and the material also wisely applies to organizational situations and leadership roles. VERDICT Recommended for erudite leaders eager for a solid foundation upon which to handle the realities of today's increasing stressors and problems.—Dale Farris, Groves, TX

Library Journal

2017-10-10
How some people achieve the "unforeseen blessing" of growth from adversity.In an era of increasing stress and adversity—whether from global issues like war, terrorism, and climate change or personal setbacks like divorce and financial loss—many Americans are embracing the change and uncertainty of challenges, write the Marstons, and improving and transforming their lives as a result. Both Ama, a strategy and leadership expert, and her veteran psychotherapist mother, Stephanie (If Not Now, When?: Reclaiming Ourselves at Midlife, 2001, etc.), have consulted widely on stress, work, and leadership. In this collaboration, they recount research from many disciplines and the inspiring stories of individuals demonstrating the power of "Transformative Resilience" to "learn, grow, and spring forward" after severe challenges. These survivors do not simply recover or bounce back; they emerge transformed. "Type Rs" range from a woman doctor who lost both legs in a tornado and became a determined advocate for children with prosthetics to an HIV-positive man diagnosed as terminally ill who has lived another 35 years as a leader of various causes. Their adversities vary, but all share a determination not to allow their setback to define them, to keep a positive mindset and "move away from a tendency to catastrophize," and to reframe their situations, thereby choosing their own attitudes. Whether individuals, families, or organizations, those successful at turning adversity into growth tend to go through stages, beginning with comfort, then disruption and chaos, and finally (after a catalyst triggers transformation) a re-engagement with the world, "but in a new way." The authors spell out the essential skills of TRs (adaptability, purpose, active engagement, etc.) and show how these transformational traits can benefit families and groups in turbulent times. While the phrase "Transformative Resilience" has the odor of marketing hyperbole, the authors offer an informative and inspiring book on some remarkably positive responses to misfortune and change.Engaging, useful, and sometimes annoyingly repetitious.

Kirkus Reviews