Behind the I’m Fine
Our book of the Month for February 2026 is “Behind the I’m Fine: the Truth about modern day Masculinity” by Chris Britton, a speaker and podcast host on appreciation, empathy and Men’s Health.
ABOUT THE BOOK
What does it really mean to be a man in the modern world?
“I’m fine” is the typical male response to the simple question: How are you feeling?
But it is not fine. Men’s mental and physical health is taking a battering like never before; the image of a man is more distorted than ever before, and the meaning of what it means to be a man is more uncertain than ever before.
This all despite years of attempting to help men to open up about their feelings and understand their behaviours. But men are killing themselves at shocking rates. They also account for the majority of addicts and die younger than women. Put simply, men, especially young men, have lost their identity in the world.
This book reports the alarming statistics regarding men’s physical and mental health and includes personal stories facing men today. Crucially, it offers practical and positive solutions to the growing crisis faced by males of all ages.
For equality to continue to grow, we must accept that men have uniquely male problems that need to be recognised, acknowledged and addressed by businesses and the wider society health and includes personal stories facing men today. Crucially, it offers practical and positive solutions to the growing crisis faced by males of all ages.
For equality to continue to grow, we must accept that men have uniquely male problems that need to be recognised, acknowledged and addressed by businesses and the wider society.
About Chris Britton
Chris Britton is a forward thinking thought leader, author and speaker on appreciation and empathy.
For the past 15 years, Chris has used his empathy first approach to humanity to drive positive change and high performance in organisations including Virgin, Vodafone, River Island and Reward Gateway. Chris’s passion for seeing people for who they are, not just what they can do has led to him to inspiring audiences across the world with a mix a groundbreaking research, personal story telling, humour and practical next steps.
Growing up during the Troubles in Northern Ireland in the 90s, Chris’ fascination with how people operate and make choices, especially under extreme pressure, led him studying Criminology and Psychology at Brighton University and starting his journey into the HR space, making a difference to organisations from the inside.
Not content with the theory, Chris joined Sussex Police in 2015 as a Special Constable and is still an active and serving police officer enabling him to blend the academics with real and often gruesome life experiences. His story telling is a mix of personal and professional examples which make the hair on your neck stand up and gives audiences a peak behind the curtain of what society is really like.
Chris talks about the stresses and strains that organisations are under and why doing more with less is unsustainable. Instead, he focuses in on how businesses can use the concept and science of appreciation to unlock high performance whilst making a positive contribution to the lives of your employees. Less with less and making it count.
Chris’ personal story is one of heart break, personal struggles and resilience. After suffering with post-natal depression after the birth of his first daughter and uncovering buried and repressed emotions from a life where his identity was never certain, Chris now openly talks about the challenges facing all human beings with an expert lens shone on the changing of masculinity and why wellbeing needs to evolve to whole being and how best practice just doesn’t cut it in our complex world.
The book can be ordered via Amazon and for more info on Chris’s speaking work please visit his webpage.