Former taoiseach Leo Varadkar has indicated that taking part in a new adventure series on RTÉ has made him reconsider his leadership style and in particular whether he could have spent more time encouraging others.
Mr Varadkar, Cork singer Lyra, west Belfast rappers Kneecap and track and field star Thomas Barr are among the well-known Irish faces joining former special forces soldier Ray Goggins in the new RTÉ One series Uncharted with Ray Goggins. The series will get under way later this month.
The episode with Varadkar and Lyra involved them travelling to the mountains of Drakensberg, South Africa, where they slept in caves, scaled gigantic peaks and climbed sheer rock faces as they made their way to the top of one of the tallest waterfalls in the world, Tugela Falls.
Discussing his experience on The Brendan O’Connor Show on RTÉ Radio 1, Mr Varadkar said he was very taken by the encouraging, calm and reassuring leadership style of former Irish Special Forces operator Goggins.
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“I had to manage a cabinet, a whole team of staff, a department, an entire party, an entire government at various periods and I was always so busy. But Ray always found the time to kind of say ‘well done’ and encourage us.
“I did that too, but I kind of wonder now. Maybe if I’d just set aside 10 minutes more a day to send somebody a voicemail or bang off a few texts, that would have made a difference. I wouldn’t have thought that before.
“I know what I am doing most of the time and I don’t need much encouragement and praise but when you do something new and it is difficult that [encouragement] really counts.
“It’s almost like when you are a kid and your parents tell you ‘well done’ or ‘you can do it’ and I probably could have done a little bit more of that in my previous roles.”
Mr Varadkar said that the physical challenges on the show were “genuinely really hard”.
“I’ve never climbed a mountain with ropes or harnesses or things like that before.
“Just the experience of actually being out there in the wild for several days. You are sleeping in caves, sleeping in tents and making your own fires. It was a very different challenge to running a small country of 5.3 million people,” he said.
He indicated that he is on a “bit of a gap year this year”.
“I wanted to do things that were different and maybe beyond my comfort zone and this came across the desk and sounded really interesting. I am not sure I would have done it if I knew what I was signing up for but I am glad I did it in the end.
“It was challenging. I am well travelled and I’m not a shrinking violet but I’ve never done anything of that nature.”
Mr Varadkar said that taking part in the show had helped him to overcome his fear of heights.
“That was a definite positive. The one positive to learn was that I was able to do these things. It was February in South Africa so we expected summer weather and it was quite far from that. But there is some parts of it I really loved. The coming back to nature experience of going to bed after the sun goes down because there is nothing much to do after you have sat around and had your dinner. Waking up at the dawn.
“Some of those things were very special experiences and, you know, just phones not working. It was a great experience in that sense.”
He stressed that Lyra was “extraordinarily brave” so she made him more brave when he was “chickening out”.
Mr Varadkar admitted that he wasn’t used to going into situations without being briefed. He acknowledged that relinquishing control was an issue for him as he and Lyra were uncertain of what each challenge involved.
“You become a bit nervous as to what is ahead of you next. I was a doctor for seven years, before I saw the patients I had their chart in front of me,” he said.
“I would have known a lot about them already. In politics you are well prepared and well briefed. There was no morning briefing here telling us our schedules. None of the things I take for granted. It wasn’t easy.”
