Thinking Two Jobs Ahead and One Challenge at a Time with Marcus Payne

“I wouldn’t take it back for all the money in the world.”

That’s how Marcus Payne chooses to reflect on his role as Chief Counsel for Queensland Health during a global pandemic.

“It was a wonderful experience in terms of the pressure and what I learnt but would I choose to go back and do it again? I’m not sure!”

Now Head of Legal at Urban Utilities, Marcus clearly likes a challenge - in September he completed a bucket-list goal, swimming across the English Channel in 14 hours and 29 minutes.

“I’m a pretty firm believer that anyone can do amazing things, it’s just about having the right approach and not trying to do too much too quickly.”

The “right approach” to something as difficult as swimming The Channel includes training in the cold and dark from three in the morning, ahead of a busy work schedule. But most importantly, it involves a team of motivators.

“You’re not allowed to wear a watch either so I very quickly found myself surrendering to the fact that I didn’t know where I was, I didn’t know how long I’d been out there, I didn’t know how long to finish - I just resigned myself to be very present in each moment.”

In this final episode of Friends in Law for 2022, Marcus explains the lessons such a huge physical challenge share with the daily challenges of life and career, the role senior lawyers must play in a post-pandemic office and the slowly tipping scales of work/life balance that can only come when you truly enjoy what you do.