I recently had the pleasure of hearing Tim Peake (Soldier, Pilot, Parent, Astronaut) speak and wanted to share a few leadership insights Tim shared. Tim is a former Apache pilot, flight instructor, and test pilot. In 2015, Tim became the first British astronaut to visit the International Space Station. He also conducted a spacewalk during his six-month mission.

Here are the key leadership highlights I took away from Tim’s talk:

Leadership Insight 1 - Have a positive mindset, but be prepared for unexpected changes

Taken separately, both of these points make immediate sense. My real takeaway was the importance of achieving both of these things together. Tim spoke about confronting the possibility of what to do if something goes wrong, including having a plan for the worst. Planning for a disaster scenario does not have to be at odds with going into the scenario positively though. One of the best forms of preparation for when things go wrong is to prepare your mindset so you are open and ready to embrace unexpected changes. While we can develop procedures for most emergencies, there can always be those “wicked problems” that fall outside our specific event planning. Having the right mindset is key to dealing with these problems effectively and successfully. 

How well prepared are you for things going wrong? Is your mindset flexible as well as positive?

Leadership Insight 2 - Don’t worry about the emergency – when things go wrong, focus on generating options

The importance of generating options follows on nicely from being prepared for unexpected changes. When an emergency does occur, the ability to generate options is hugely valuable. Staying calm in a crisis (sometimes easier said than done!) is a great start. Taking a moment for a few full, deep breaths can help to create the right environment in which to think clearly and start generating options. From there, it then becomes about exhibiting sound judgment in your decision making.

Do you empower others to help you generate options when things start going wrong? How would you benefit if you did this even more?

Leadership Insight 3 - Embrace the abnormal – when you first enter a cave, stand still for a few minutes to acclimatize before you do anything else

Sometimes, we can all feel too busy to take the time to fully appreciate the environment we're operating in. We may be under pressure to take a decision quickly, deal with multiple unexpected events and/or have a to-do list that's so long, we just need to get our head down and starting making progress. What if we could take better decisions and be more effective though?

Although Tim didn’t talk about “sound judgment” specifically during his talk, he refers to the importance of sound judgement in his books as a key aspect of effective leadership. Taking enough time, when you can, to truly understand the environment in which you are acting/going to act can certainly help to ensure sound judgment in your decision-making.

Do you always take the right amount of time to appreciate the environment you are operating in? If not, how would it have benefitted you if you had?

Leadership Insight 4 - Everyone needs guilt-free time to relax and unwind

The importance of health and wellbeing has been recognized and welcomed more and more in recent years. Quite rightly, too – we are all living, breathing beings after all! How many of us feel truly “guilt-free” about taking a walk at lunchtime or, dare I suggest it, mid-morning to refresh after a two-hour meeting? How many of us keep checking our phones long into the evening, on holidays, and/or keep them next to us when we sleep? Tim spoke about photography, which was his favourite guilt-free activity while in space. During his downtime, Tim would float into the cupola and shoot photo after photo of Earth, catching sunrises, sunsets, tropical storms, and incredible cloud formations.

What “guilt free” activities do/can you introduce into your day to relax and unwind?

Leadership Insight 5 - We all have flaws in our character – look to spot these in yourself (to adjust) and in others (to support)

The fact we all have flaws in our character won’t (hopefully!) come as a surprise to anyone. It’s Tim’s advice on recognizing the flaws in ourselves so we can adjust our thinking/actions accordingly, and recognizing the flaws in others so we can support them accordingly that really resonates with me.

I’d also add that we should be open to receiving help from others when they spot flaws in our character too (especially if they are flaws we haven’t noticed/are less aware of).

When did you last support someone else dealing with a flaw you had spotted? Did you help? Would you have allowed them to help you in the equivalent scenario?

Bonus Leadership Insight - It’s okay to have childish excitement! (Although on the launch pad, you have to remain professional too!)

This is probably my favourite takeaway from Tim’s talk! It’s not just excitement that Tim refers to, but childish excitement in particular. Hopefully we’ve all caught ourselves smiling at one time or another at the excitement of a child at something that may seem relatively small to us, but seems entirely magical to them. What if more of us saw the world just as they did, even if just now and then?!

I didn’t ever dream of becoming an astronaut myself, but it still feels incredibly motivating to think that an astronaut gets excited about their work! Perhaps it’s easier to be excited at the thought of flying into space than it is about working in most other jobs? Then again, how many of us truly risk our lives when we go to work and how would we feel about work and our lives if that were true?

How many of us truly dare to have childish excitement about something professional (even if we maintain our professionalism at the same time too!)? 

The next time you catch yourself smiling at a child's excitement, remember that feeling and see how close you can get to feeling like that again too - it may just change your day for the better!

More information about Tim Peake, his experiences, and his recent and current engagements are available on his website - https://www.timpeake.com/


For more information about ENRICHED LEADERSHIP, please get in CONTACT

Click here for more INSIGHTS