Sarah Furness: Just Enough of a B*tch

Jun 25, 2025

01:07:25

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EP 392 - This week we meet Sarah Furness, whose self described superpower is being “just enough of a bitch”. If you want to know what she means by that, stop reading and start listening.

Sarah was the first female helicopter pilot to lead special forces missions in Iraq.

These days she is bringing battlefield hardened insights to business problems, helping leaders to create healthy behaviours and environments in threatening or stressful situations.

It’s a wide ranging conversation, covering everything from gender roles and sexism to mindfulness under extreme pressure and something called disco leg. But our main focus was on psychological safety and why it is important in the military and business.

As Sarah says, “The only way we can learn from a mistake is if we talk about it, and we can’t talk about it if you’re punished for it”.

The bit about disco leg is right at the end, if you want to skip to that to find out what it means.

*For Apple Podcast chapters, access them from the menu in the bottom right corner of your player*

Spotify Video Chapters:

00:00 BWB with Sarah Furness

01:16 Andy's Intro

02:33 Quickfire: Get to Know Sarah

07:53 Sarah's Journey: From Military to Mindfulness

17:05 The Power of Mindfulness in High-Stress Situations

24:47 Learning from Failure: Military Insights for Business

31:14 Creating an Optimum Environment for Psychological Safety

32:02 Encouraging Bravery in Leadership