Diving in the Dark: What We Learned from Dr Richard Harris
It’s a rare opportunity to be able to hear the Australian of the Year speak about their accomplishments. It’s even rarer to hear the details of their accolade-earning feat first-hand.
Principal Consultant Jean Kilner and I were lucky enough to be able to hear Dr Richard Harris speak last night at the Australian Institute of Training and Development / EduTECH conference.
If you’re not familiar with his name, you might be familiar with his story.
Dr Harris is an Australian anaesthetist and cave diver who played a crucial role in the rescue of 12 boys from the flooded Tham Luang cave in July 2018.
Last year he was Googled over 50,000 times, but from his humble and level-headed demeanour, you wouldn’t know it.
Dr Harris spoke about his experience as part of the Thai cave rescue efforts in such a refreshing and honest way, focusing on the importance of decision making in difficult situations.
He spoke about the pressure and ambiguity he faced in being brought in half-way through the mission. By the time he and the team arrived at the caves, officials coordinating the rescue had already come up with the idea to bring the boys through the caves while sedated ? and they wanted him to help.
According to Dr Harris, this went against everything he knew. In his mind, the chances of the boys surviving the rescue while sedated were pretty much zero.
As the monsoonal rains poured down and the chance for a successful rescue was diminishing, he realised he and the rescue team would have to make a difficult decision: sedate the boys and attempt the rescue, or risk drowning in the cave as the waters rose.
Despite his gut instinct, he and the team made the choice to attempt the rescue. As we now know, that choice saved the lives of all 12 boys.
This story of bravery, comraderie and the ability to tackle those hard decisions head-on is something we can all learn from.
Dr Harris spoke about the importance of the choices he made along the way that led him to even be invited to be part of the rescue mission team.
He admitted he wasn’t the brightest, the best at sports or a ‘superstar? as a kid. He was just an ordinary guy with a passion for medicine and diving. He worked and worked at his skills until he was in that position where he could make an impact.
This is a topic we focus on in our learning and development workshops ? this idea of personal impact, contributing to a team, and driving your own career.
No matter what your career is, it’s so important to live your passion. Even if you never have this one defining moment on a world stage like Dr Harris, at the very least you will become a specialist. This in itself is an achievement, and will allow you to have an impact on other people.
For more information on personal mastery and the impact of high performance teams in your organisation, visit www.peopleconnexion.com/training or contact us for workshop information on +61 7 3333 1511.