015: Adam Conlon on performance on the frontline in warfare and disaster zones

Adam Conlon was a captain in the British Army, undertaking his officer training at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. He the entered the Royal Artillery, and is a veteran of two tours of Afghanistan. Adam talks about the development path from basic training to the heat of battle, where his job was in leading teams, calling the shots and co-ordinating the use of weapons on the battlefield. Adam shares the intense feeling of receiving volleys of fire from the Taliban, how he responded under that pressure and how his training and camaraderie developed and enabled him to perform. Poignantly, Adam shares the process and the emotions of decompressing after a tour and adjusting back to normal life.  Adam spent a brief time serving Her Majesty the Queen in Human Resources, but now is leadership consultant and speaker, but still finds time to out his skills to use in the first response teams that aid disaster zones and we get into that skill of developing rapid teamworking and the importance of listening and rapport in engaging with survivors and locals in catastrophe stricken areas. This interview was humbling, richly engaging and I would say 1 hour and 25 minutes of pure performance. I finished the interview fascinated, moved and frankly I was thankful that we have people like Adam amongst our population that do what they do in order to make the world a better place.

Show notes

Adam Conlon and his background

Sandhurst, becoming a soldier, captain and leader

Leading people and making the decisions to fire artillery within the infantry

The importance of 'fit' in finding the right people for the right roles

Variety and being a generalist 15:15 Leading people, by developing followers - ego and vulnerability

Upping the pressure to test your skills

Being relaxed in chaos

High performance industries develop people because if they don't the consequences are high

Nad Ali and the operations in Afghanistan

Getting on the front foot with the enemy

Response to the first rattle of fire

Humour as a pressure valve

Fight or flight is a good option, freezing is not

Decompression on the way home from a tour

Stressful heart rate response to post-tour come-down

Letting the emotion out with crying

Working for Her Majesty the Queen

Learning what he didn't want to do

From tax consultant to frontline operations through sport

Applying skills to disaster zones

Operating in the Caribbean in 2017 

Get face to face 

Listen, empathy and trust

Arriving in Dominica - it was like a bomb had gone off

Sensing when there might be trouble - being observant when something is out of place - the absence of the normal 

Who supports Adam, family, friends 

Supporting Champions on Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs

Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve

Supporting Champions on Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions

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