Paul Vicary served for over 35 years in the British Army, including 22 years within UK Special Forces earning a meritorious medal for his service. He has operated in high-pressure environments worldwide, faced adversity head-on, and is one of the few individuals in the World who has walked to both the North and South Poles unsupported. His experiences prepared him for a second multifaceted career as a mental fitness coach, motivational speaker, and Director of a mental health training consultancy company, XCalibrelimited. He is an author, and his book “Plan D”, shares his experience of his North Pole expedition and the lessons that come from it.

Paul's motto: "Do the best I can in everything I do."

Paul's book: "Plan D"

Amazon USA: https://a.co/d/00Waniwy

Amazon UK: https://amzn.eu/d/0f3RES1D

https://paulvicary.com/

https://x-calibremh.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/xcalibrelimited/

https://www.instagram.com/xcalibretreks/

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Sue Williams is one of the world’s most experienced hostage and kidnap negotiators. A former senior detective at New Scotland Yard, she led both the Kidnap Unit and the Hostage Crisis Negotiation Unit, advising UK Prime Ministers and international governments during some of the most complex and sensitive abduction cases of the last three decades.

Her work spans war‑zone kidnaps, maritime piracy, cyber‑extortion, and covert negotiations for high‑profile families.

Today, she teaches negotiation and crisis leadership at Oxford Saïd Business School, and crisis management at Harvard University, and continues to advise global organizations on high‑stakes decision‑making under pressure.

We talk to Sue about her journey into becoming a hostage negotiator, and some of the communication tools she uses to effect successful negotiations: things we can all use in our daily lives.

Active Listening Tool: "MOREPIES"

Minimal encouragers

Open ended questions

Reflecting

Emotion labels

Paraphrasing

"I" messages

Effective pauses

Summary

Pip Decks: "Negotiation Tactics" https://pipdecks.com/products/negotiation-tactics?srsltid=AfmBOooQh5DLM45QlzlsR19IhiSeSuCmc97oXBae0Ub7r5ncXUP727dP

(photograph of Suzanne Williams used with permission by Suzanne Williams)

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Nick Lopez is a professional baseball player for the Texas Tailgaters, competing in the rapidly exploding phenomenon known as Banana Ball—often called the “greatest show in sports”—where he’s established himself as one of the league’s premier hitters. Like Banana Ball, his journey there is anything but typical.

Growing up, he had no collegiate offers out of high school. What he did have was relentless drive and an unshakable belief in his ability. That mindset pushed him to chase opportunity wherever he could find it. Even after a serious injury, he accelerated through the college ranks, ultimately finishing at the University of Kentucky, where he helped lead the program to its first-ever College World Series appearance—and earning himself SEC First Team and All-American honors along the way.

Undrafted in traditional baseball, many would have seen that as the end of the road. Nick saw it as a pivot point. He launched his own business, stayed ready, and ultimately earned his shot in Banana Ball—now performing in front of sold-out crowds of up to 80,000 fans a night.

This is a story of resilience, reinvention, and about creating opportunities, not waiting for them.

The Texas Tailgaters: https://bananaball.com/the-texas-tailgaters/

Nick Lopez: Insta: @dimitri.lopez_

Nick's business: Leisure House

https://leisurehouse.mykajabi.com/

Insta: @theleisureverse

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We are delighted to welcome back Dr Andrew Petrosoniak, who we first interviewed on episode 22, when we explored the role of coaches in medicine. In this episode we will take a deep dive into decision making. Human are estimated to make approximately 35,000 decisions a day. Very few of us have received formal instruction in how to make decisions particularly when under pressure, but like many things, decision making is a skill that can be learnt and trained. Andrew is an expert in human factors and has studied and thought about the elements that go into critical decision making, and he will present 8 tools we can all use to help us make better decisions.

Dr Petrosoniak is an emergency physician and trauma team leader at St. Michael’s Hospital, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Petrosoniak’s academic work focuses on using simulation to help design clinical infrastructure and improve patient safety. His other area of research involves understanding how rare, life-saving procedures can be best taught and practiced using simulation.

In 2020 Andrew co-founded Advanced Performance HealthCare Design - a company focused on using simulation, behavioural psychology and clinical expertise to enhance high performance teams in healthcare.

https://advancedperformance.ca/

Andrew is an invited speaker both nationally and internationally, and so we are honored that he has agreed to talk to us a second time!

8 Decision Making Tools:

1. Reduce decisions whenever possible.
2. Sign-post decisions.
3. Deliberately consider alternative options.
4. Assign probabilities to decisions.
5. Use one-line summaries, and simplify where possible.
6. Use a pre-mortem.
7. Debrief decisions.
8. Learn from decisions.

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Richard De Crespigny is an expert in leadership, decision-making, and human performance under pressure. He is best known as the Captain of Qantas Flight 32, the Airbus A380 that suffered a catastrophic engine failure shortly after takeoff from Singapore on November 4th, 2010—an event that has since become one of the most studied and finest examples of effective CRM in aviation history. He has over 45 years of experience in aviation and his book, QF32, is a powerful exploration of leadership, teamwork, communication, and calm thinking when the stakes could not be higher.

What makes the story of QF32 extraordinary isn’t just what went wrong—but how a team came together, how decisions were made in uncertainty, and how human factors, not heroics, made the difference to effect a safe and successful outcome.

In this conversation, we go beyond the headlines to explore what QF32 teaches us about crew resource management, cognitive load, emotional regulation, communication and leadership when suddenly faced with potential catastrophe.

Richard's books:

1. QF32
2. Fly! The Elements of Resilience

Richard's website: https://qf32.aero/

Richard's podcast, FLY: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/qf32-the-inside-story-from-the-flight-deck/id1832400848?i=1000723751309

(Episode photograph supplied by Richard De Crespigny used with permission)

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Dr Jorian Kippax is an emergency medicine specialist based in Tasmania, Australia — but his work spans mountaintops, disaster zones, and deep wilderness. He’s a Retrieval Consultant with Ambulance Tasmania’s Critical Care and Retrieval Service, and a Trauma Specialist at the Royal Hobart Hospital. He’s also a veteran of international disaster response, having led medical teams in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan and earthquakes in Myanmar as part of Australia’s elite AUSMAT deployment force.

In November 2024 he was involved in a 22-hour rescue deep in Tasmania’s Franklin River wilderness. He performed a life-saving underwater field amputation to free a trapped rafter using only the gear that could be delivered by helicopter. That act of skilled courage earned him Lithuania’s Life Saving Cross and the 2026 Australian of the Year for Tasmania.

In today's episode, Dr Kippax shares a firsthand account of the rescue, and we explore the underlying human factors skills used by him and the large team of specialists that day.

To watch the ABC News Documentary: You Tube: https://youtu.be/nMa-Lqxfzqk?si=3or2-2ZjAh6oziyi

https://australianoftheyear.org.au/recipients/dr-jorian-kippax

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I was fortunate to be invited to an Upland Hills Health dinner to deliver a presentation focused on the lessons we have learned from our podcast guests, specifically with respect to how Healthcare might benefit from instruction in human factors and mental skills, and from formal coaching. Drawing from the stories and lessons learned from several of our impactful guests, I delve into how mental skills training forms the third corner of a high performers pyramid, held together by the understanding and application of human factors. I suggest that we can set ourselves up for success with mastery of the basics, excellent preparation, and then by using self regulation techniques to steer us into the appropriate performance state. I cover mental rehearsal and visualization, and finally some key concepts about debriefing and how important it is for that to become an ingrained part of team culture.

I would like to credit and acknowledge the podcast guests that provided this material that I have collated together from multiple episodes into a single presentation. If you wish to hear more details from these guests themselves then please jump into their individual episodes numbered below.

Dr Jason Brooks #6

Alan Stein Jr. #16

Capt. Sam Soderberg #17

Mandy Hickson #18

Dr Andrew Petrosoniak #22

Jonathan Viscosi #27

Payar Pasha #29

Keith Reesby #33

DISCLAIMER: ***The opinions that I express in this podcast are my own personal views, with references also made to prior episodes and guest views. I am not speaking for, or representing, any other company or institution. The dispatch case details at the beginning of the podcast are purely a fictional simulation, and any resemblance to a real or actual event or patient is purely coincidence.***

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Keith Reesby is a personal development specialist with more than 25 years of experience in human performance and transformation. Combining contemporary psychology, ancient philosophy and lived experience, he has developed a proven 10-step process to help people discover purpose, build self-awareness, and achieve lasting behavioural change.

Keith combines his lifelong passion and study of psychology with extraordinary life experiences that include: international sportsman, combat helicopter pilot, ascent of Mount Everest, driving from Cape Town in South Africa to the UK, and Iron Man endurance events. He is an author with an upcoming book about to be published, "The Hero you" and currently works a transformation life coach through his company METIS Human Potential. These experiences have given him rare insight into the human condition—and the practical tools to overcome its challenges. In this episode we talk to Keith about two key events in his life; when he was shot while flying on deployment with the Army, and what happened during his ascent of Mount Everest. We discuss ways to cope with the "startle effect", and how knowing your own values and inner-self can help unlock the Hero within you as well.

Keith's website: https://keithreesby.com/

Upcoming book: "The Hero You"

Performance acronym: ARFA

A: Action

R: Reflection

F: Feedback

A: Adjustment

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