Paula Reid Speaker Focus

Paula Reid has Yacht Raced around the world and Skied full distance to the South Pole and is an inspiring and motivational speaker. More than that, Paula uses her adventure experience and Masters Degree in Applied Positive Psychology to help organisations survive, cope, and thrive in uncertain and challenging conditions via her Adventure Psychology talks.

I first started working with Paula back in 2008 and its always been a pleasure to work with her over the years. She very kindly answered a few questions for our Speaker Focus this month.

Hello Paula, I hope you are well. Firstly, where are you at the moment? I know you have been travelling to the Ukraine a lot recently, are you at home at this time or planning any further trips out?

Hello Matthew, all is well, thank you. I am back in the UK having just cycled the length of Denmark from the very tip – Skagen, where the two seas meet, to the southern border with Germany. I’ve been away five times so far this year, including volunteering in Ukraine in February, and now it’s time for me to put the gear away and get on with some paid work! However, my next trip is rafting the Blue Nile in Ethiopia in November, which I’m really looking forward to. And yes, sure, I will be going out to Ukraine again sometime soon.

What is your experience of working out in Ukraine? How are the spirits of the people?

Well, that’s such a big question and difficult to answer just by typing a few paragraphs. I have worked out there 6x now and every trip has been different. I’ve been working up and down the front line in the East from Kharkiv in the North down to Odessa, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the South. The constant pressure of not being safe comes upon you as soon as you cross the border. You are constantly alert to air raid sirens, anything in the sky, columns of smoke, minefields… it’s that hypervigilance that gives people PTSD. And then you come back, slowly decompress and realise what meaningful work it has been.

I have huge respect and admiration for the Ukrainians. They never cease to inspire me with their courage, commitment, strength, kindness and hospitality. Every time I have gone out – six times in the last two years – they have seemed resolute and determined to protect their country, to stand up against invasion, to fight for their right to live in Ukraine and be Ukrainian. And to not give up on the people that are fighting or have fought; the people that have lost their lives or limbs, and the people that are currently under occupation or being held hostage. At this time, authorities estimate 20,000 Ukrainian children have been abducted. I do not see them backing down or a weakening of this resolve, even though, of course, they want an end to the war.

They are nonetheless extremely tired. And heartbroken.

Do you deliver talks on your work in Ukraine?

I do with caution. Not everyone wants to hear about Ukraine and of course there are different views on the war. But I have delivered talks on it and audiences have been fascinated to hear first-hand what it is like out there. I sometimes use it to talk about risk management, Daring Greatly, and how we can take action even in the face of overwhelming circumstances.

You mostly use Skiing to the South Pole and Yacht Racing around-the-world as your ‘vehicles’ for delivering Adventure Psychology. What initially drew you to take part in the Global Challenge – ‘The World’s Toughest Yacht Race’ – given you had no previous sailing experience?

Well, I was in a really enjoyable job for an employee engagement agency in London, but I was feeling stuck and restless. It was time to stretch and grow, do something different and get a new perspective. My strategy was to commit to doing something else that was exciting or consuming, so I wouldn’t regret handing in my notice! I applied to take part in The Global Challenge, with no sailing experience, as a distraction from leaving the London agency, but also because I knew it would be really good for me – a massive stretch. And it was the most amazing thing I’ve ever done with my life.

I quite often choose to do things where I don’t have the experience. It makes the challenge harder and steeper, but it does me good to go back to being vulnerable, humble, open to learning and build the competence and confidence up. It’s stretch zone stuff and builds psychological muscles. I know it’s good for me to learn new skills and strengths for each new discipline or challenge that I take on. It also really fires up the brain – neuroplasticity and brain health is stimulated by new experiences and learning.

In the early days of the Global Challenge, I was really nervous. I didn’t know what I was doing and I was being sick several times a day! I literally had to learn the ropes, on the job. Learn the terminology. Learn how to sail. Learn about how to move above and below deck. And for me, the main thing was that I had the right attitude.  Now if I talk to any organisation, I suggest that they recruit for attitude because you can train the aptitude.

It obviously did not put you off exploring as you have also skied now to the South Pole. Which  was harder of the two?

Yes, sailing around the world for ten months stood me in good stead for tackling the physical and mental challenge that was skiing full distance from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole.

In comparing the two, I think they’re both equally challenging, but in different ways. The Global Challenge is a much more dynamic, physically demanding challenge because you’re on a moving ocean within extreme weather systems on a manually crewed racing yacht. You change watches 5x a day, you’re competitively performing in a team of 18, 24-hours a day; sailing across the Equator and in the Southern Ocean around Cape Horn – it is dramatic and dynamic and hard work.

The South Pole, or rather skiing for 46 days in Antarctica, is a much lonelier solo effort. You don’t rely on the team or have the camaraderie of team support. You ski in single file and it’s down to your own effort, your physical exertion to get from A to B; you’re not being carried by a vessel. The land is solid, and you still get extreme weather, but it’s more consistent. It’s a much more mental challenge.

I’m equally proud of achieving both and looking back I would say they were both equally iconic and impactful on my life.

When I choose which talk to give, the Global Challenge is much more about team effort, team dynamics, leadership in crisis, strategy, high performance in challenging conditions.

The ski South Pole is much more about individual effort, agency, empowerment, goal setting, mindset.

You have taken these experience (and with your Masters too) and speak on Adventure Psychology: Going Knowingly into the Unknown. Can you give us an overview of this talk?

Yes, Adventure Psychology is about how to survive, cope and thrive in challenging times. Compared with sport psychology – Sport Psych. is peak performance in fixed and known conditions over short period of time. Adventure Psychology is optimal performance, which is sustainable over long periods of time (i.e. endurance techniques) in uncertain and challenging conditions. Adventure as a metaphor, is also a more accessible and relatable discipline than elite sport.

The Psychology involved in (ad) Ventures is very much about endurance, dealing with uncertainty, discomfort, adversity and how to cope on the journey; whether it’s a business journey or a new business venture. How to deal with all the VUCA+ stuff: volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity, turbulence and contradictions that we are facing today in the world of work.

In your experience and from your recent talks, are client struggling to cope with so much uncertainty at this time?

Yes, absolutely. Uncertainty and volatility. We humans are naturally drawn towards certainty; it’s one of our basic needs. So we’re constantly trying to create or cling to certainty in a world that is increasingly volatile, complex and ambiguous.

I talk about the fact that in business we need to be able to predict and control – classic management. Planning and managing what’s going to happen next with strategy, KPI’s, goals, business plan,  financial forecasts, having the right environment, kit, machinery, recruitment and training strategies. That’s all well and good. It’s about being able to predict to control. To Go Knowingly.

However, then we’ve got the leap into the unknown; future terra incognita, where we have to ride the Permanent White Water (ref: Peter Vaill), and this requires a different style and skillset. It’s much more about adapting, pivoting, adjusting, flexing, riding the flow. It’s more intuitive. This requires a different skillset and tool set. I deliver tools and strategies for both. The Going Knowingly + the Into the Unknown.

You are the author of 5 books including Boat to Boardroom. Do you think that there is still value in having a book as a speaker or is the podcast the new “book”?

Yes, learning and entertainment come in different formats in different places and it’s good to mix things up – for the recipient and the expert. Pods and books are not the same media and have different structures and tones.  I’ve been interviewed on over 25 podcasts and it’s conversational and present. A book is more deliberate and managed.

I think the greatest benefit of having a book out as a speaker, or five in my case, is it really helps me and my content. Writing sharpens your content as a speaker and gives you a wealth of material to refer to or chunk down and hand out as necessary. It forces you to really engage with your knowledge and beliefs, to structure and simplify your messages and externalise your expertise.

And lastly, I have seen from some of your social posts you like an early morning swim in the sea. I promised myself I would do it one day and a lot of people swear it is amazing but I am yet to be convinced. Please tell me it is not as cold as it looks?

Matthew, just get in the water! 😊  

For more information on Paula speaking work please visit her webpage or contact us on enquiries@scampspeakers.co.uk