Covid, war, high oil prices, airport disruptions . . . . How to successfully navigate multiple crises and bring your A-game
Jim Callaghan and Natasa Kazmer are true industry veterans. Jim is the former General Counsel of Ryanair and Etihad Airways and Natasa started her career in the Hungarian flag carrier, Malev, and went on to co-found Wizz Air. They are all too familiar with the tendency to put our careers before our health, and the resulting longer term damage. In this brief presentation, they will demonstrate that not only is this unnecessary, but in fact, health is within all of our grasp and can be a super power for leading our teams and companies to greater success.
Transcript
Jim Callaghan:Well, good morning, everyone. It is so good to see you all. We were actually wondering how many brave souls would show up for this early morning session after the dinner last night, particularly with the weather and the amazing venue that we have. So well done.
Natasa Kazmer:We really appreciate you guys. Thank you.
Jim Callaghan:How's everybody feeling this morning? On a scale of 1 to 10, what would you say your energy levels are? 1 being low, 10 being high. What would you say?
Jim Callaghan:12. Well done. You've obviously had a couple of espressos this morning, Massimo. Anyone else? So we want to try a little exercise, a quick exercise. If everybody could stand up, I'm going to give you some instructions.
Natasa Kazmer:This is instead of another coffee?
Jim Callaghan:This is instead of another coffee, okay? So, 3 things: we're gonna punch quickly in the air, I want you to breathe while we're doing this, and very importantly, please do not hit somebody in front or beside you. This is not the opportunity to take out your competition, okay? So let's get ready and go! 1, 2, 3, 4. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and stop. And shake it off. OK, let's retest the energy in the room. What are the numbers now? 13.
Jim Callaghan:Well done. OK, so that is just a brief demonstration on the power of movement and breath. OK, you can relax.
Natasa Kazmer:We're absolutely delighted to be here today. and talk to you about how to navigate multiple crises and continue to bring your A-game. Now, this is not our first time standing on a stage like this at the Aviation Forum and talk— talking about crisis management and, and things like this, but this is the first time that we actually not gonna go into the details of technicalities of how to manage a crisis. Instead, we would like to give you a fresh perspective on peak performance and stress resilience. So in the next 12 and a half minutes, we'd like to achieve 3 things. First of all, we hope that you will see the connection between health and performance. Secondly, we'd like to walk you through very briefly the 4 drivers of health and give you a little preview into our, our unique Takeoff model, which we specifically designed for airline executives and their teams to boost their performance and achieve optimal health. And thirdly, we'd like to walk away— we'd like for you to walk away with some practical tips and strategies that you can start implementing immediately and see positive change. How does this sound? Excellent. My name is Natasa Kazmer and I am the co-founder of Wellness Story. We are a health coaching company and we specialise in working with airline executives and their teams to boost their performance, increase their focus, and improve their overall well-being. Now, previously, to give you some of my airline credentials, I was— I'm a co-founder of Wizz Air, the host airline, and I was also heading their corporate communications and public affairs for 7 years. And this is my husband and partner in crime, Jim Callaghan. Previously known as the General Counsel of Ryanair and Etihad.
Jim Callaghan:In 2016, Natasa and I moved to Amsterdam, where I took on the role of General Counsel of Uber in the EMEA region. After 9 years in the trenches with Ryanair and 7 with Etihad Airways, I, I thought it was time to try a slightly different segment of the transport industry. And Uber seemed a bit like Ryanair without the wings, with all of its regulatory challenges. It was a young, fast-growing, hip company. The average age was about 27. I was 48 at the time. And it was an absolutely insane environment to operate in. Between the 24/7 culture, countless meetings, and Countless fires, some of them actual fires where taxi drivers were burning Uber cars. And one day my boss flew over from the States for a full day of meetings. And it was about the 3rd meeting of the day. I was in the boardroom with my senior team and my boss, and I was about to give a presentation on a business update, something I've been doing my whole career. And yet when I started the presentation, what was in my head was not what was coming out of my mouth. In that moment, I was literally not able to string 2 intelligent sentences together. And eventually I had to get up and leave the meeting and go for a walk. And while I was walking, it struck me that this hadn't happened overnight. That my bad health habits and my stress had been building up for years, and it was something I hadn't been managing. And it was then that I realised I needed to change. There had to be a better way. And so for the sake, my own sake and the sake of my family, I started to make changes. I started exercising more, paying more attention to my nutrition, and my sleep. And it took another couple of years for all of the pieces to fall into place, but when they did, my health and performance literally skyrocketed. And although I hate before and after photos, particularly when I'm in them, often a photo can tell a thousand words. And I can assure you that I'm not pregnant in the left-hand photo.
Natasa Kazmer:So what do you think is the number one excuse we hear from people when we talk to them about introducing healthy habits? What would be your excuse? Time.
Jim Callaghan:Time.
Natasa Kazmer:Exactly that. It's time. I don't have the time. Now, the recent data shows that we spend on— at an average of 3 hours and 15 minutes on our phone every single day. What's more interesting is that more than half of it we do so out of boredom, and only 3.8%— you see that little number there— is dedicated to work. So there's your time. And if you want to check out your numbers, you can take your phone out in the break, go to settings, and check your screen time. Would be interesting to compare the numbers. So, um, the, the good news here is that Actually, it's not complicated to cut through all of the noise that's out there on the internet, information available at our fingertips, because that's probably the second most important reason why people don't change habits is because there is so much information, most of it is conflicting, so they don't know where to start and how to do it. But again, as I said, the good news is that it's— there is a way to cut through the noise and figure out what drives performance and optimal health. You see, our health is largely influenced by the same 4 drivers that have shaped us to be the dominant species on this planet. And these drivers are mindset, it's how we perceive a situation or how we react in a situation. Nutrition, what and when we eat, very importantly. Movement, cardio, strength, and flexibility, all 3 together are very important. A lot of people do just one or the other or maximum 2.
Jim Callaghan:Yeah.
Natasa Kazmer:And sleep. And probably sleep is the most overlooked driver, both sleep quality and sleep quantity. So the evolutionary programming is still running our bodies at the cellular level the same way as it did 200,000 years ago when we were still living in the plains of Africa. It's exactly the same. The only thing that changed is our lifestyle and our environment. The always-on culture, the overabundance of food, the sitting all day, and the 24/7 staring at our digital devices mean that we are the most tired and sick generation of all time. For the first time in centuries, our life expectancy is actually declining due to lifestyle diseases.
Jim Callaghan:So you're probably asking yourself, what the heck do I do now? I just want a solution that improves my health, energises me, and makes me super focused again. Well, we've got you covered. Ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready for Takeoff. We've designed the Takeoff model specifically for you. Busy airline executives and your teams who keep the world moving. Takeoff is designed to fit your schedule. We know your lifestyle. We've been there, we've done that. We know the early morning flights, the back-to-back meetings during the day, eating on the run. We get the fact that you have a busy schedule, and that's why we've designed Takeoff to be easy to implement. It's based on the 4 drivers of health, and you only need to take small, consistent steps in each of those areas in order to build an upward spiral of health and performance.
Natasa Kazmer:So as Marko gave it away already at the beginning, we actually wrote a book about it. We're so excited about this, it's worked wonders for us, that we decided, well, we need to share it with the world. And the book is out in May this year, so super exciting. And in this book, we share our own stories. We also share the science behind it and the practical application of the whole Takeoff model. So, but because we don't have too much time today, we cannot go into too much details, but we still wanted to give you a few As I said at the beginning, tips or tricks that you can start implementing and start changing your life for the better.
Jim Callaghan:So the first one is to create an environment for success. If you want to take up yoga, leave a yoga mat next to your bed so it's the first thing you see in the morning. If you want to eat less sugar, don't bring sugary things into the house. It's worked wonders for us.
Natasa Kazmer:It really did. Identify your stressors. It might seem a little counterintuitive to do that, but the idea is to create a sensible plan to deal with the stressors that are within, or at least partially within, your control, and then get ready to let go of those that you have no impact on.
Jim Callaghan:Breathe. Breathing is the most important tool for controlling your stress. The next time you have a high-stakes meeting, take 1 minute to breathe deeply through your nose and out through your mouth, and you'll see the effect that it has on your, your nervous system and your focus.
Natasa Kazmer:Eat real food. I know it's super difficult at our day and age where convenience is the number one One criteria, but eat real food. A simple rule of thumb is that if you can hunt it or you can grow it, you can eat it. If you can't, don't touch it.
Jim Callaghan:Find any excuse to move. Our bodies are designed to move. The fact that we're sitting all day in most cases is literally killing us. And it doesn't mean having to spend hours in the gym. Find something you love to do, whether it's walking, gardening, playing with your kids— incredibly active. When you're at the office, take the stairs instead of the elevator. Stand every now and again and do some stretching or some micro-movements. We've seen the power of movement and breath already today.
Natasa Kazmer:Find your ideal bedtime routine and stick to it. Consistency is absolutely key. Actually, in the programme we, we have a sleep hygiene checklist, but it's very easy to make up your own. Just make sure to include 2-hour curfew, digital curfew before the bedtime, and include some soothing activities before bed, something that, that will help you drift off to sleep, such as reading a good book or, or taking a nice hot bath.
Jim Callaghan:And finally, focus on the long game. Everybody wants a quick fix. But Rome wasn't built in a day. We need to take micro changes that over time lead to macro transformations.
Natasa Kazmer:And before, before we leave you, I would like to give you a little gift. If you scan this barcode, it will take you to a 2-minute quiz. It's literally 11 questions, and by the end of it, you will receive a personalised report on what you can do to start improving your focus, your energy levels, and your overall well-being. And as a bonus for those of you who take the quiz, we're gonna send you a free electronic copy of our book, Ready for Takeoff. So thank you very much.
Jim Callaghan:Yes, and if you'd like to talk to us about the book or the programmes that we offer to executives and their teams, Please have a chat with us at the break. Thank you very much.
Natasa Kazmer:Thank you very much.
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