Sarah de Lagarde is a living miracle. Her story is one of resilience and is filled with lessons for all of us. Sarah is currently the Global Head of Communications at Janus Henderson in London, but last September her life changed forever when she was involved in a horrific accident that claimed her arm and leg. Somehow, throughout an ordeal that could have been fatal many times over, Sarah remained calm and refused to give up.

In this episode, John Kaplan and John McMahon talk with Sarah about her journey, adjusting to a new reality, and the power of gratitude. They explore how her background in crisis communication helped her on the tracks that night, and Sarah shares some expertise for founders and leaders on how to handle internal and external communications for their teams, particularly in times of crisis.

Here are some key sections to check out:

03:15 Sarah’s miracle story

06:09 Gratitude above all emotions after the accident

10:42 Pushing through the pain of an accident

16:38 Journey to recovery and raising money

21:38 Sarah’s background in crisis communication

32:26 Advice for companies that don’t have a corporate communications team

38:35 Resilience and living in the moment

44:06 The psychological immune system and living in the present

Additional Resources:

Support Sarah’s GoFundMe campaign for a bionic arm: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-sarah-get-a-bionic-arm
Connect with Sarah de Lagarde on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-delagarde-comms/
Visit the Janus Henderson Group website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/janus-henderson-group-plc/

QUOTES

Sarah - choosing gratitude every day: “It's a very conscious decision that I make every day when I wake up. When something like this happens, there's a whole range of emotions that you feel every day, and one overwhelming emotion is that of gratitude, and that is because I could have died so many times that night, and yet I didn't, I clung on to dear life, I made it. And now, everything I see is 10 times more beautiful than before, because I'm here, because I could have not seen it.”

Sarah - Take time, no shortcuts: “If you want to do this, right, you have to take your time, there are no shortcuts, you have to just go and accept it.”

Check out John McMahon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064

BITESIZE: Acceptance 2.0 - Owning What Happens