Ep 14: Squadron Leader Tim Davies

On today’s show, I am delighted to be joined by Squadron Leader Tim Davies, a qualified fast jet instructor for the Royal Air Force. Over his 20 year career, Tim has been a frontline Tornado GR4 low-level strike attack pilot, before becoming a fast jet flying instructor. He served all over the world and clocked up over 2,500 flight hours. As an instructor he flew the Hawk T2 in an advanced flying training role teaching students and instructors how to use the aircraft as a weapons system. If that doesn't mean a lot then think Jester or Viper in the film Top Gun. Tim has been responsible for training every frontline pilot in the RAF since 2007. At the last count that’s over 350 highly skilled operators. So, I hope you’re starting to get a sense of why I am so thrilled to have him on the podcast. Anyone who has successfully flown military aircraft for 20 years and says "I'm just into studying failure, that's kinda my thing” certainly gets my attention. Though at first glance war and healthcare seem unlikely bed friends, there are, on closer inspection, many parallels between our industries in the shape of operational risk management, safety, recruitment and training/development. This episode is very granular, there are so many learnings woven throughout that I ended up listening to it no fewer than three times and found myself picking up some new insight each time around. So, I strongly encourage you to do the same. Now, just before we jump into the episode, I just wanted to drop a quick word from today’s show sponsor which today is my very own VetX Graduate Mentoring community. If you are a practice owner and want to offer your new vets a greater level of support so they grow faster and stay longer with your practice, then jump onto my website drdavenicol.com/vetx and learn how we are helping graduates across the world thrive in practices just like yours. And with that said and done let’s get into the show. Tim was a fantastic guest so it gives me great pleasure to bring you my conversation with one of the most experienced fighter pilots and fast jet instructors on the face of the planet. Squadron Leader Tim Davies. Topics covered in this episode include: 1. How the RAF deals with training in high-risk environments 2. Why all successful pilots are made to fail and the earlier the better so they can learn to build resilience. 3. How he deals with mental health, growth and development in high-pressure roles. 4. Deviant practice and how it can destroy lives and businesses. 5. What qualities he looks for in pilots (hint - they would be good to select for in veterinarians too). 6. An acronym that turns failure as an experience on its head.