LESSONS ON CONTROL: How to manage a crisis

LESSONS ON CONTROL: How to manage a crisis

From Crisis What Crisis with Andy Coulson by Andy Coulson

June 9, 2026 · 18 min · Season 7 · Episode 195

About this episode

Andy Coulson explores the concept of control in crisis management through insights from past guests.

What is the single most important concept in crisis management? Andy Coulson believes it's control — a lesson he first learned sitting on a plastic mattress in a Glasgow police cell, with nothing to focus on but his own breathing. In this special compilation episode, he revisits four past guests who each arrived at the same conclusion through very different routes. POWERED BY KINGSLEY NAPLEY I know what it is to have the right legal support around you when facing crisis. Kingsley Napley are the kind of lawyers I wish more people knew about – there to help you make the right decisions, protect what matters, and build real resilience when the pressure is on. This episode is powered by Kingsley Napley. Visit www.kingsleynapley.co.uk for more details. FEATURING Ryan Holiday — bestselling author of The Obstacle is the Way and The Daily Stoic , on why Stoicism is history's greatest crisis management framework, and the remarkable story of Admiral James Stockdale tapping Epictetus through a prison wall in Vietnam. Alix Popham — former Welsh international rugby player, diagnosed with early-onset dementia and probable CTE, on how the athlete's instinct for discipline becomes a survival…

People in this episode

Host: Andy Coulson

Guests: Ryan Holiday, Alix Popham, Natasha Silver Bell, Cally Beaton

Topics covered

  • crisis management
  • control
  • resilience
  • personal stories
  • mental health

Keywords

  • crisis
  • control
  • resilience
  • Stoicism
  • mental health
  • discipline
  • personal growth

Sponsors

Kingsley Napley

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