In this episode, we journey with Joss Thompson - a mechanical engineer, seasoned mountaineer, and expert snowboarder - through his expedition to climb Denali, North America’s highest peak.

This is more than a tale of adventure; it’s a masterclass in preparation, resilience, and the nuanced art of pushing human limits.

Joss shares his early mistakes with acclimatisation, his preparation alongside friend Todd Ainsworth, and the logistics of the unguided climb. He recounts standout moments, such as participating in a dramatic high-altitude rescue of two stricken climbers, observing a fatal avalanche, reaching the summit in -50°C conditions, and snowboarding part of the descent.

Whether you’re an aspiring mountaineer, an outdoor enthusiast, or someone seeking inspiration for tackling your own “summits,” Joss Thompson’s story is full of wise advice and actionable tips.

This episode will help you:

• How someone assesses risk and makes critical decisions under pressure when facing unfamiliar or dangerous situations.
• Learn the importance of checking in with teammates during challenging moments, as people process difficulty differently.
• Joss's story about when confidence becomes overconfidence and how small misjudgments can have serious consequences.

Highlights

[00:02:00] The Spark of Fascination
[00:02:50] Early Altitude Mistakes
[00:04:28] Exploring Personal Limits
[00:05:10] The Denali Decision and The Seven Summits
[00:08:00] Knowing When You're Ready
[00:08:55] Arrival in Alaska
[00:12:20] The First Push to Camp One
[00:15:44] High-Altitude Survival Basics
[00:18:50] Life on the Glacier
[00:20:34] Navigating a Whiteout
[00:28:26] The Engineer's Mindset
[00:32:27] Expedition Highlights
[00:35:53] The Fear of Failure
[00:40:21] Reaching the Summit
[00:44:09] The View from the Top
[00:45:30] The Snowboard Descent Begins
[00:50:25] A Dangerous Traverse and a Lesson Learned
[00:57:37] A Dramatic Helicopter Rescue
[01:09:38] Constant Risk Assessment
[01:11:46] Witnessing a Tragedy
[01:18:29] Lessons from the Mountains

Resources

• Connect with Joss via Instagram
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

Nothing is in insurmountable, if you’re open to finding a way through.

One way through is to find refuge in what you love. Love helps you stay grounded in the present, and keeps hope alive.

It can also give you the strength to navigate even the most traumatic circumstances, as it did for Liia Dmytrenko, one of the millions of victims of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and of the ensuing war, now in its 5th year. At just 19 years of age, she has already lived through more fear, uncertainty, and upheaval than many of us experience in a lifetime.

“When my life turned upside down”, she says, “I quickly realised what mattered most was not what I owned but the people I loved.”

Soon after Kyiv came under attack, Liia and her family escaped to western Ukraine. Three months later, she and her mother made their way to the UK. And with barely any English, Liia joined a top school in her GCSE year. Her mother returned to Kyiv to support the war effort.

Liia’s move to the UK deprived her of her voice. Lacking the vocabulary to express what she was really feeling, she found a path to self-expression through art: sketching scenes of Kyiv from memory.

During her short visits home she captured her observations of the war in Kyiv through a series of photographs that became the subject of a school exhibition inviting people to imagine their reactions to actually being there. This work was also featured in an ITV documentary.

Today, Liia’s in the second year of a graphic design course at Oxford Brookes University. She’s learning to live a “double life”: lectures, parties, and relative safety in Oxford; danger, fear, and drones exploding outside her window in Kyiv.

Her creativity has become both a lifeline and a vehicle in which to process the trauma of war and displacement, and find stability and meaning in it all.

She cannot escape the fear. Instead, she chooses to believe in the future.

This episode will help you:

• Understand how to find stability and meaning when everything you've built suddenly disappears.
• Discover how creativity can become a lifeline for processing trauma and reconnecting with yourself.
• Learn to hold conflicting realities simultaneously without letting fear paralyse your forward momentum.

Highlights

• [00:00:00] Introduction
• [00:02:14] The Day War Began
• [00:03:58] Leaving Everything Behind
• [00:07:53] Escaping Kyiv
• [00:10:00] A New Path Beyond Ballet[00:14:12] A Mother's Blessing
• [00:21:49] Arriving in the UK
• [00:30:17] Finding a Voice Through Art
• [00:35:21] Living a Double Life
• [00:42:16] Fearless Forward
• [00:43:03] Closing Reflections

Resources

• Connect with Liia via LinkedIn
• Connect with Liia via Instagram
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

True leadership requires the moral courage to act on your principles, even when it costs you everything you've worked for. The fear of making decisions that might harm others is far more significant than any physical danger we might face ourselves.

Oliver Lee is a former Royal Marines officer whose extraordinary career took him from Cambridge to the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan. Decorated three times for his service and the youngest full colonel in the Royal Marines since World War II, Oliver led through some of the most challenging circumstances imaginable.

In 2013, he made the difficult choice to resign on a matter of moral principle, walking away from a glittering military career. Having lost his youngest brother in 2003, Oliver has since become a powerful advocate for mental health and suicide awareness. Now leading organisations through complex change as a CEO and performance consultant, he brings hard-won insights about courage, responsibility, and what it truly means to lead when everything is at stake.

This episode will help you

• Understand how to lead through extreme adversity by reconciling your own mortality and focusing on the wellbeing of those you're responsible for
• Recognise when moral courage demands you stand up against institutional failure, even when it costs you everything you've worked for
• Learn to channel fear as a motivator rather than letting it paralyse you, especially when facing decisions that affect others

Highlights

• [00:09:38] Oliver's biggest fear in command
• [00:12:40] Being prepared to die
• [00:16:25] Telic 1
• [00:20:51] A moment of profound personal loss
• [00:30:31] Challenges off the battlefield
• [00:34:30] Leaving the Royal Marines
• [00:46:58] Oliver's biggest fear right now
• [00:49:25] What Fearless Forward means to Oliver
• [00:51:24] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with Oliver via LinkedIn
• Lunan Performance – Oliver’s coaching practice
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn