The Happy Pear Podcast

“Psychologically safe teams are where everybody feels okay to speak up… sometimes the greatest ideas will come from the quietest voices.”

This week we had the pleasure to sit with our friend, confident and one of Europes leading minds in resilience, leadership, business strategy, psychological safety, and practical neuroscience – Justin Caffrey!

Episode 77 – Justin Caffrey

“In a negotiation, everyone wants to win… most people struggle when it’s quiet, when there’s a void someone will fill it… so if you are able to meditate, slow down and go in calm… you create this void and the other person filling the void will usually impart information that results in you winning the negotiation…”

Justin has taught and coached global talent for over twenty-five years, building and selling million-dollar businesses. His popular YouTube channel has had over 1 million views teaching his techniques.

Holding a Master’s in Psychological Interventions using Neuroscience and Mindfulness from University College Dublin. Justin is also trained as a Psychotherapeutic Coach, an Accredited Wellness coach from the Mayo Institute and a Certified Investment Fund Director. Not to mention he is one of only a handful of Westerners to complete the grueling Masters Training with the Yamabushi in the remote mountains of Shonai in Japan!

In 2010, at the peak of his career as a dynamic CEO having founded multiple investment firms, Justin’s son Joshua died – just before his first birthday. Business carried on as normal until 2014, when Justin had what turned out to be a panic attack in the middle of a crucial meeting. He had failed to grieve his son’s death. 

In the year that followed his life and health started to unravel. The cause was not Joshua’s death, but the trigger. The CEO had lacked the psychological safety to speak about his emotions and vulnerabilities, no matter the situation.

It would be 2016 before Justin started talking about his vulnerabilities publicly. Fearing it would be a career-ending moment, Justin spoke about the psychological vulnerability he encountered after his son’s death and the constant barrage of negative self-talk. Awaiting judgment, he received only praise and gratitude. Colleagues, clients, and strangers all found something within his words.

Justin is a skilled storyteller narrating his professional and personal journey in a way that everyone from boardroom to kitchen tables can relate to . We all have difficult events in life, he shares how losing his son at the peak of his city career, was ultimately a blessing, and how we can all turn around any challenges we face in life. 

Despite the tragedy of his son’s death, this episode will leave you feeling hopeful, broaden your awareness of what it truly means to feel safe in your personal and work enviroment, and of course for any founders, leaders and CEO’s out there, how to get the best out of your employees!

Enjoy!

Lots of Love,

Dave & Steve x