Mic’d Up with Raise the Bar: Motivation & Movies

Welcome to Mic’d Up with Raise the Bar, where we bring you inspiring conversations with motivational speakers who redefine resilience and success.

In this episode we’re joined by Chris Lemons – deep-sea saturation diver, keynote speaker, and now the subject of a Netflix and Hollywood film. Chris shares the extraordinary story of survival that transformed his life and career, offering powerful lessons on teamwork, leadership, and overcoming adversity.

• Chris Lemons Podcast Transcript

  Kate 0:00

  Hello and welcome to miked up with raise the bar, a podcast series where leading voices in motivation and leadership share what really drives success. I’m your host, Kate, and on today’s episode, we’re mixing motivation and movies. We’re joined by a guest who’s not only a big screen star now, but also a keynote speaker and a highly skilled deep sea saturation diver. Quite a quite a mouthful actually, and quite a mix. So, let’s welcome Chris lemons, thank you so much for joining us today. Chris, it’s great to see you again.

  Chris 0:35

  Yeah, lovely see you too as well. Kate, yeah, thank you so much for having me along today. Yeah. Very kind of you

  Kate 0:41

  More than welcome now, as part of our first episode, we’re aiming to break down some of the misconceptions, as well as enlightening our audience with insights and takeaways from each of our guests. And Chris, I think your speaker style and content is a fantastic example of just how diverse this industry is.

  So it’s fair to say that motivational speaking is pretty much always born from personal experience, and for anyone thinking that that’s reserved purely for C suite execs or global heads of department, Chris’s life changing story and the impact that it’s had on audiences really is completely unique.

  So Chris, this is your opportunity, basically, to give us a glimpse into what happened on that day back in 2012 and how it essentially kick-started your motivational speaker journey.

  Chris 1:29

  Yeah, well, it’s exactly as you put it. I mean, you know, being out on the circuit, I guess I get to see lots of speakers myself, and there are such an extraordinary diverse range of backgrounds and things like that that it’s exactly as you say. It’s not something I set out in life to do at all. It was, in many ways, yeah, sort of thrown in my lap, really.

  But yeah, I was basically party to an accident back in 2012 as you said, I was a, basically a saturation diver, is essentially a deep sea diver, and got a long story short, during a fairly routine operation at the bottom of the North Sea about we were about 300 feet down that night, so maybe nearly 100 metres, and we suffered a catastrophic failure of a computer system, on the vessel from which I was working, on which I was hanging underneath, which caused it to lose position, and the umbilical which provides, or provided me with exactly what it sounds like, really, what you need to survive in what is obviously a very alien and inhospitable environment. An infinite supply of breathing gas and hot water and power and things like that became entrapped and snagged and eventually snapped, and I was left on the bottom in complete darkness with maybe 6-8, minutes of emergency breathing gas that we carried in tanks on our backs left to breathe.

  And I had what was obviously a pretty unique experience. I mean, people get emotional death sentences every day, very sadly, through cancer diagnosis and so on. But yeah, I had this sort of strange experience of having or certainly thinking that I had maybe just four or five minutes left to live, and going through the emotions that that involved. And then I fell unconscious ultimately it took by rescuers, the real heroes of the story, I think, the team, the extraordinary diverse team above me of 100 or so people, it took just over 40 minutes to come back and fetch me and rescue me and get me back into a breathable environment. And as you can tell by the fact that I’m speaking, they managed to resuscitate me and bring me back from the dead, if you like.

  So, yeah, it’s, it’s an extraordinary story, which I’m at the centre of, I suppose. But I’m very much just a damsel in distressful and lucky enough, I guess, to be the one who gets to recount it and that really is what spawned the speaking career.

  Really, it was something that happened quite organically. I was invited to present for the company sometimes, and then increasingly I was invited to external events and organisations.

  At first, I found I enjoyed it and secondly, I really started to learn that it’s a story that is unique, obviously, but also really resonates in so many ways, not just because it’s a bit of a tall tale, and it’s supported with lots of real time video and an audio footage, so it’s really engaging for the audience, I think, but also one that runs really deep in terms of the themes that it carries, I think, in terms of, you know, resilience and teamwork and adherence, process and lots of things which I’ve learned, are obviously massively important in industries beyond my own, and in business in general.

  So yeah, it’s kind of growing arms and legs, and you get better versed and better practised at it and now to the point where it’s my full time job.  So, yeah, it’s been a wonderful journey, because it could sort of stem from this, I mean, unfortunate event, I guess, but it does have a happy ending, and it’s turned out to be a really positive thing in my life.

  Kate 5:12

  Oh, it really is just incredible. And, I mean, using your own words there, you know, you’ve said before that the real heroes of the story are very much the team, you know, upwards to 100 people and their calm and coordinated response. So ,what would you say are the themes or the inspiration that leaders can take from that and implement into their own workspaces?

  Chris 5:36

  Yeah, there are so many, you know, there are the obvious sort of cliches of things like teamwork and collaboration, and how incredibly well everybody worked that night under extraordinary pressure, and I guess the skills and tools which they developed over time as a team and individuals that allowed them to do that, the fact that they were so well drilled, and it’s a very proceduralized industry that we work in, but a lot of our emergency response procedures, all those kind of things, they always seem like paperwork exercises or sort of slightly boring, but we realise that now that how important they were, because they really freed the leaders out that night to tackle unprecedented questions, because so much of the things that they needed to do happened automatically, because they were so well, so well, so reversed and drilled in those things.

  So you know what they were really difficult questions, things we’d never considered before to be answered, and the fact that so many things were automatic for them really allowed them to do that. But I would say the most powerful lesson, and one which I really think does transcend into business, is the fact that was without knowing that night, they came together behind a very, very powerful, shared objective, basically. And for them, you know, thanks, at least for me, that was, you know, saving my life, really. And because my life wasn’t just my life, it was a case of, you know, if I had died, that would have had profound personal and professional implications for everybody on board.

  You know, it would have been a scar that was very difficult to heal for all of them in every way, and indeed for the business and the company. So yeah, it’s incredible how that having that sort of very powerful shared objective is incredible in terms of bringing teams together. And that’s definitely something I try and pass on a lot to leaders and to teams in general, which is that their leaders need to get buy in to a powerful or to a to a shared objective. They need to communicate their vision and make sure that their employees are not just following it blindly but are very much invested in it and understand what that is. I think that’s powerful.

  Kate 7:35

  Yeah, for sure. Something that really adds weight in terms of your presentation is that your keynote includes real footage from the rescue, which is just not something that you see every day within this industry, and it’s incredibly powerful and it’s incredibly emotional. How do audiences react to that element?

  Chris 8:04

  Yeah, it’s still emotional for me. I mean, hundreds of times, you know, in a strange way, you feel disassociated from it all you watch and think, Is he gonna make it.

  But yeah in terms of an audience it’s a real, really powerful weapon for me to have. No matter what the subject or the topic of the day is, you know, whatever the learning outcomes are, the particular event organisation I’m speaking to, what you have is this platform of engagement. I think the most difficult thing at a conference or event is that it can often be quite dry, can’t they, in terms of the content. So, you know what I have, I guess, is something that absolutely engages audiences. It’s a bit disconcerting sometimes, because people often sit in silence, you know, and you wonder, is this going down terribly? But of course I’ve learned over time thatpeople are really enraptured by it, particularly if they don’t know the story, but even if they do by having that visual footage, which I sort of punctuate the presentation with is really good and it it breaks things up.

  And it also really means that people are involved and invested, first of all in a story, and then they’re invested in what you’re saying and it just gives power and weight to the important messages or the organisations are trying to get across. So, yeah, it’s been, it’s been fantastic.

  Kate 9:30

  Moving from 13 years ago, from  2012 right the way up now, to 2025 it’s safe to say that this year has been a huge year for cultural and organisational change. You know, coming off the back of covid lockdowns and the far-reaching political policies that are affecting people in lots of different ways this year, what can audiences learn, do you think from your experience of a strong culture and how to prepare for change? I think that’s a really, really big theme at the moment.

  Chris 10:00

  Something I definitely discuss a lot these days when I am giving keynotes and things like that it’s exactly that, because people are, ultimately, we’re all anxious, aren’t we, to some degree, about how we can cope with, not just with business, but with life in general, all that it can throw at us.

  My accident in some ways has really strong messages of resilience and things like that. But it’s more, it goes beyond that. And sometimes when I when I’m talking, because we lived a life as a deep sea diver, you live a life locked in a in a tin can for a month at a time. It’s a very strange place to live, never mind to work so you sort of learn coping strategies, I guess, to be able to get through things like that. But what I’ve certainly learned through that I’m going to try and pass on is if the importance of being resilient which is a bit of a buzzword these days, isn’t it, but it does really mean something.

  I think the only way it really mean ssomething is if you can start to explain how you build that personally, and how you can build that as a team. Resilience for me is something you can absolutely learn. It’s a skill like anything else, that ability to manage your emotions, to manage your stresses. You know, the coping mechanisms you can have to deal with day to day trivialities and bigger picture emergencies and things like that. And that’s really something I try and get across as often as I can, particularly when that’s the theme of the day.

  Kate 11:34

  I think your experience of this all encompassing job, deep sea diving, is something that you very much kind of dialled into, and then all of a sudden, motivational speaking pops up and gives you an opportunity to do something very different. You’ve travelled the world talking about this experience and have presented to different types of audiences in different industries, in different countries. Has that changed or shaped your perception of what you think good leadership is?

  Chris 12:06

  Yeah, I think it has. I’ve learned a lot about leadership, you know, not necessarily through speaking, but through, exactly as you described, through the experience of meeting such a, you know, broad spectrum of high level CEOs down to smaller businesses. And you get to see, you know, quite frankly, you get to see the good and the bad, and you can tell quite quickly. I think, you know, deal with audiences a lot, but often you are dealing directly with sort of the people at the top. And you get to see what works and what doesn’t, I guess. And you know, there are obvious ways of putting it, in terms of leading by example and so on. What you really get to see are the ones that are good communicators, the one that are able to the ones that are able to pass on that that sort of powerful shared objective that we talked about earlier on there, to share their vision, that they are able to communicate to people, to their people, and to get their people invested and on board those who’ve got really objective governance and who have the power to be authentic as well.

  That’s a real skill, not to appear fraudulent. The ones that are good are the ones that you can tell know their employees, the ones that empower their employees, the ones that give them the freedom, I guess, to express themselves, that’s something I talk about a lot, really, that we all work in, or many of us work in very diverse places and diverse workforces. It’s the good leaders, the ones that can embrace that, rather than see it as a problem, and find out what their people are good at, and that’s often very diverse things. People have strengths, people have weaknesses and I think the good ones are the ones who embrace the strengths, and then try and cultivate the weaknesses through empowerment and through learning and so on and so forth. So, yeah, you get to see the good and the bad. But I think the good ones really shine out because of those things.

  Kate 14:02

  Going back to 2012 as a deep sea saturation diver, a skill that you never thought that you would have to adapt would be walking a red carpet, for instance, at a movie premiere, or, you know, rubbing shoulders with stars that you’ve likely watched grow up on screen yourself.

  We’re both of a similar age refinery that we know that Woody Harrelson is an instantly recognisable name. We’ve got to talk about the movie. You mentioned that that you presented like in house at the organisation that you work for as well. Sometime after your experience, how on earth has it rolled from that into a major Hollywood film, which is now available on all major streaming services. We have to say, tell us about how that unfolded.

  Chris 14:52

  It’s exactly to describe it, you’re making it sound surreal because that’s exactly what it is, yeah. I mean, there was, there was definitely a moment when you’re sitting having a glass of champagne with Woody Harrelson in his hotel in the early hours of the morning, thinking how on earth has this happened? But yes, it was.

  It’s not that long after the accident, the decision was taken through a meeting in a pub, to record something. I met an actor, actually and we had a discussion. I told him the story, and he ended up producing and directing a very short in-house 45 minute documentary for the company I worked for. So that was film number one. And then off the back of that some people at Netflix and the BBC got to see it, and they decided to make the sort of feature documentary that was released in 2019 which is directed by Richard Acosta. He was the original director, and then Alex Parkinson, who went on to direct the Hollywood version, eventually, and that was an extraordinary experience. I think that’s they did a fantastic job of that. It’s really good at showing what happened that night, you know, an honest one. And you put the blessing of all the real footage and all the protagonists sort of alive, first of all, which is always good, and also willing to speak, I suppose. So that’s a really good piece of work, I think. And I do use quite a lot of that in the presentations that I give. And yeah, and then a few years later Hollywood came calling, I suppose, and that was incredible to have those first three made.

  But then to have to hear that Woody Harrelson was going to be involved and Finn Cole, who plays me with his lovely good looks and curly hair, which, you know, I’m not sure if we’re filming this or not, but I definitely don’t have any notes. Yeah, that was a bit of a jolly, really, a nice experience to be involved within.

  Got to go to New York for the premier, as you say, and we got involved with the filming a little bit over in Malta and things like that. So, yeah, extraordinary, extraordinary. Great for what I’m doing. Really gets the word out there and I like to think as well, it’s an extraordinary story.

  Kate 17:25

  Are you happy to tell us about how, how you first saw the film?

  Chris 17:31

  Oh, that’s right, yeah, that was bizarre. But the first time I saw the film, I lived out in France, in the south France, and my partner, Chrissy, and I we got to go to the local cinema, that they booked out. That was bizarre itself. Yes, they booked out an entire local French cinema along with the security guard. It’s just the two of us, a security guard, with a bucket of popcorn. Yeah. So it was bizarre, and I think they just wanted to make sure we saw it before we went to the premier in New York, just in case we hated it, I think, gasping in disgust on the night.

  Kate 18:11

  What a date night. You’re never going to top that, Chris, that’s it now!

  Chris 18:16

  Yeah, hard to, hard to beat

  Kate 18:18

  As ever, I’m absolutely blown away by hearing your story. I just think it’s being able to share those two things and having the weight of that, that original footage from that night, which absolutely backs up everything that you talk about in terms of the the strength and the resilience of your team behind you is never going to be anything other than truly inspirational.

  It’s always a pleasure to be able to talk to you about it. Is there one bit of advice then that you could give to our listeners today about how they could raise the bar within their teams this summer?

  Chris 18:57

  If you want to raise the bar with your teams I would absolutely say, first of all we’re all extraordinary. You know, us human beings. We are capable of so much more than we even realise. The point I always make is that I am not an extraordinary human being by any measure of that. I’m very much ordinary. Yet somehow, I sort of came through this thing and sort of stronger for it, I guess so. That’s one thing to say. But yeah, in terms of teams, I would say absolutely, if you want to raise the bar, empower your teams. Give them a shared and powerful objective, one that they buy into and they feel involved with.

  Make sure they know their roles in that vision, so that they’re clear, and from that security, people can build the resilience to be able to deal with everything else and have processes and here to them as well. Because, you know, when the chips really come down, you’re very, very grateful for having those in place, that’s for sure.

  So yeah, not sure that’s just for the summer but just in general. It should carry you right through powerful words that I think are shared. That the power of a run of a shared objective, I think, has got some fantastic weight to it.

  Kate

  Fully agree, as we mentioned, you can watch the Last Breath on all your major streaming platforms. We highly recommend that you do it. We’re never going to top Chris’s date night, but we can watch it on the normal screen at home, probably still with popcorn as well to wrap up our summer ourselves.

  So if you would like to find out more about Chris as a keynote speaker and book him for your next event, you can find out more over at raise the bar.co.uk, and I will see you next time for an episode of miked up with raise the bar.