NEW PANGEAMaking extraordinary ordinary: habits that hold under pressure

Leadership under pressure · Neuroscience · Command

Better decisions when the pressure is real.

I'm Rob Murray. Twenty years in policing, latterly commanding major operations. 5,000 km rowed across the Atlantic. A Master's in Neuroscience, just finished. I help leadership teams make better decisions when it matters most.

Book a 20-minute call See the programmes
Rob Murray sitting on the stern of his ocean rowing boat, looking out over Atlantic swell
37 daysat sea
5,000 kmrowed, unsupported
20 yrsin policing, 17 of them in leadership roles
4,500officers commanded for a US Presidential state visit
130,000Vodafone employees worldwide, live in one session
MScNeuroscience candidate: what pressure does to the brain

The brain that decides in a calm boardroom is not the brain that decides in a crisis.

Under stress, cortisol and adrenaline narrow thinking and speed up judgement. Instinct takes over. It's fast, but it isn't always right.

Most leadership development ignores that. New Pangea is built around it: what pressure does to people, and the structures that keep good decisions intact when it lands.

01 — Command

Tested for real

Decision frameworks adapted from how the emergency services command their most critical operations.

02 — Neuroscience

Grounded in biology

Why smart people make poor calls under pressure, and why most training fades within weeks.

03 — Coaching

Built to stick

Spaced learning, real application and individual coaching, so behaviour changes and stays changed.

Programmes

Four ways to prepare your people

Every programme is built around your organisation, your sector and the pressures your people actually face.

Three-session programme

Keystone

Performance that starts with the individual.

Most wellbeing initiatives are something an organisation does for its people. Keystone hands control back to them. Delegates learn how sleep, social connection, fuel and hydration, movement and mindset shape how well they think, decide and hold up under pressure, then take ownership of the habits that make the biggest difference. Three sessions a month apart, so each habit is tested in real working life before the next is added.

  • 25–100 delegates · three 2-hour sessions
  • Built to reduce sickness absence and lift day-to-day performance
From £12,500One-pager (PDF) →

Six-month programme

Mantle

Leadership development built the way the brain actually learns.

Six modules for first-line and middle managers, each pairing a cohort session with individual coaching, plus 180° feedback to show real movement.

  • Six half-day sessions + 1:1 coaching
  • In person or online · end-of-programme report
From £3,000 ppOne-pager (PDF) →

Decision-making workshop

Strata

Decision-making under pressure, and the structure beneath every good decision.

The science of stress, a five-stage decision framework, and a measured stress test that shows leaders how their own thinking changes under real pressure. Leaders leave with a tool, not just a concept.

  • 8–12 senior leaders · one day, or with 1:1s and a follow-up session
  • Your premises or an external venue
From £800 ppOne-pager (PDF) →

Crisis simulation

Operation Convergence

A business flight simulator. Every tier of leadership meets a live crisis at once.

A bespoke scenario that adapts to every decision your people make, testing whether the right decisions reach the right people in time.

  • Senior leaders and managers together · one day
  • Written report on gaps and blind spots
From £20,000One-pager (PDF) →

Keynote speaking

Stories from the edge, and the science behind them.

30, 45 or 60 minutes. Fireside conversations, panels and extended Q&A. In person or virtual, tailored to your event, from graduate cohorts to boards. Fees from £3,000 + VAT.

100% of keynote delegates rated Rob Good or Excellent as a speaker; 85% rated him Excellent.

Check availability Speaker one-sheet (PDF) →

  • There's No Such Thing as Extraordinary People

    37 days rowing the Atlantic as one of a crew of four, and why remarkable outcomes don't belong to remarkable people. A practical case for starting before you feel ready.

  • The Decision-Making Brain

    Twenty years of policing decisions measured in lives, including command of 4,500 officers through a US Presidential state visit, paired with the neuroscience of judgement: why smart people decide badly under pressure, and what to build around them.

  • Keeping the Brain Safe

    Psychological safety isn't a culture initiative, it's biology. The small daily habits that change whether people tell you the truth.

Rob Murray speaking to an audience, microphone in hand

About Rob

Few people have made life-and-death decisions and studied what that does to the brain. Rob has done both.

Rob spent 20 years in policing, 17 of them in leadership roles. Later in his career, as a Silver and Bronze Commander, he commanded 4,500 officers for a US Presidential state visit. He worked on state visits for three US Presidents, royal events, one of the country's largest sporting occasions, the 2011 riots and the response to a national emergency. He went on to lead national graduate leadership programmes.

A former professional rugby player and Atlantic rower, he founded New Pangea to bring what he learned on the front line, and in the lab, to the people leading organisations today.

  • MSc Neuroscience candidate
  • BSc Zoology (Hons)
  • Silver & Bronze Commander
  • Senior Police Leader
  • Former professional rugby player

Organisations Rob has worked with

  • Select Car Leasing
  • Specsavers
  • Pluxee
  • SEGRO
  • Beard

Rated Good or Excellent as a speaker by 96% of delegates (159 ratings across five organisations)

“Your professional approach, the lived experience and passion are clearly a huge part of what is making this such an exciting and valuable programme. Investing in the programme, and in our leaders, is a no-brainer.”
Director of HR & Compliance · Select Car Leasing
“Fantastic session! I came in feeling 2 and left feeling 10! Just what I needed today.”
Audiology Directors · Specsavers
“One of the best speaker sessions I’ve heard in a long time.”
Supply Chain Directors’ conference · Specsavers

Writing

Notes on pressure, decisions and the brain.

Rob writes regularly on LinkedIn about leadership, neuroscience and what the front line teaches the boardroom.

Follow on LinkedIn
Rob Murray

Tell me what's at stake for your leaders.

A 20-minute call to talk through your team, your pressures and whether one of these programmes fits. No pitch deck.

Book a call
robmurray@newpangea.co.uk