The ThriveWell Journey | Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Life After Disruption

How to Build Real Resilience Under Pressure | Russell Harvey

Russell Harvey · July 6, 2026

Executive Coach · Leadershipin

Interview with Russell Harvey

How to Build Real Resilience Under Pressure | Russell Harvey

Podcast: The ThriveWell Journey | Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Life After Disruption

July 6, 2026 · 58 min

You can look strong on the outside and still be running on survival underneath. Russell Harvey joins The ThriveWell Journey for a grounded conversation about real resilience, leadership under pressure, and what it means to keep moving through change without losing yourself in…

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How to Build Real Resilience Under Pressure | Russell Harvey

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The ThriveWell Journey | Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Life After Disruption

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Key topicsLeading Well When the World Won’t Slow DownChange is no longer something leaders navigate occasionally - it is the environment they lead in every day. Russell explores the difference between leaders who are simply surviving relentless change and those who can genuinely say: “There’s a lot going on, and I’m good.” Drawing on nearly two decades specialising in resilience, Russell offers a practical perspective on what resilient leadership actually looks, sounds and feels like when the pressure is real and the uncertainty isn't going away.Before You Add AI to Your Team, Fix the Human OneOrganisations are racing to adopt AI, but Russell believes leaders need to ask a more fundamental question first: what makes our team work brilliantly together? Only then can they understand where AI can genuinely improve performance. With deep expertise in leadership, resilience and navigating persistent change, Russell offers a refreshingly human perspective on AI: the biggest challenge may not be the technology, but how well we lead the people using it.Off the Record — What Leaders Admit in Coaching and Never Say in the BoardroomRussell Harvey has coached leaders to board level for over 6,000 hours, and the same admissions come up in private: they are guessing, they are tired, and they can say neither out loud. Most organisations treat that silence as strength and reward the executive who never wavers, which is how confident-looking teams commit to decisions nobody in the room believes in. Drawing on 18 years with organisations from the NHS to Novartis and Kerry Group, he describes what changes when a leader finally gets one place to think honestly: how they pressure-test a decision before announcing it, and how they pass that same permission down to their own team. Listeners leave able to hear what their leadership group is not saying, and knowing what to do once they hear it.View all topics →

About Russell Harvey

The Resilience Coach | Resilient Leadership Expert

100,000+ People positively affected6,000+ Executive coaching hours£12M+ ROI delivered by RWE npower leadership programme20+ years Learning, leadership and organisational development

Russell Harvey is The Resilience Coach - a resilient leadership expert, executive coach, facilitator and keynote speaker who helps leaders and organisations perform at their best when the world refuses to stand still.

With more than 20 years in Learning, Leadership and Organisational Development, 6,000+ hours of executive coaching and over 70 published podcast appearances, Russell is an experienced and engaging voice on resilience, leadership and navigating persistent change. He has worked with leaders across organisations including Novartis, the NHS, AB World Foods, Kerry Group and The Co-operative Group.

Russell’s work goes beyond helping people simply cope with pressure. He believes true resilience isn’t about “bouncing back”, being tougher or pretending everything is fine - it’s about springing forward with learning and becoming better equipped to lead because of the challenges you’ve faced.

His approach connects the human side of leadership directly to what matters to organisations: engaged people, stronger cultures, better decisions and improved performance. His work has delivered measurable results, including a leadership programme that returned £12 million to the business and a Resilient Leader Programme that achieved more than 1,100% ROI.

In August 2025, Russell achieved his long-held purpose of positively affecting 100,000 people.

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About this episode

You can look strong on the outside and still be running on survival underneath.

Russell Harveyjoins The ThriveWell Journey for a grounded conversation about real resilience, leadership under pressure, and what it means to keep moving through change without losing yourself in the process.

L. Michael Burt and Russell talk through the difference between surviving, coping, and thriving, and why resilience is not just about bouncing back after a hard season. Real resilience is about learning from what happened, getting back up differently, and building the awareness, support, purpose, and energy to move forward with more clarity.

This conversation also gets into the pressure leaders and entrepreneurs are carrying right now, especially with uncertainty, AI, constant change, business demands, and the private weight of trying to stay strong for everyone else.

Russell shares how the Resilience Wheel helps people look at purpose, confidence, adaptability, support, meaning, and energy in a practical way. He also explains why thriving does not mean everything is perfect. Sometimes thriving means there is a lot going on, and you can still honestly say, “I’m good.”

This episode is for leaders, entrepreneurs, builders, and high performers who are tired of calling survival resilience and are ready to build something deeper, steadier, and more honest.

Key Topics

Understanding VUCA and its impact on individuals and organizationsThe difference between surviving, coping, and thrivingBuilding internal resilience through reflection and purposeThe role of vulnerability and emotional intelligence in leadershipUsing strengths-based approaches to foster team resilienceThe importance of purpose and healthy emotional driversStrategies for leaders to support their teams' resilienceThe impact of interconnectedness and AI on resilience

Chapters

00:00 The Landscape of Resilience

02:58 Understanding VUCA and Its Impact

06:14 Situational Awareness and Resilience

09:04 Springing Forward: The True Meaning of Resilience

11:49 The Role of Reflection in Building Resilience

14:54 Personal Experiences and the Journey of Resilience

17:57 The Resilience Wheel: A Framework for Growth

20:59 Redundancy and Identity: Navigating Job Loss

27:28 Emotional Intelligence and Resilience

29:39 Building Resilient Teams

32:56 Leadership and Vulnerability