Interview: Robert Lubbe talks about De-Escalation

Robert Lubbe has had a colourful life, with experiences rarely witnessed in a single lifetime. A decade in the armed forces laid down the leadership foundations and the valuable lesson of dealing with change as the only constant. He rose to the rank of Captain in the Parachute Brigade, developing strong leadership and decision-making skills in high-pressure situations.

His career also features significant international experience in high-risk operational settings around Africa and in the Middle East. As an Operational Risk Consultant and Trainer, Robert played a crucial role in ensuring the safety of personnel operating in dynamic and hazardous conditions. With public healthcare also part of his portfolio of work, Robert Lubbe has over 20 years of experience in a variety of industries as a seasoned health, safety and wellbeing professional. Robert talks to NZ Booklovers.

Tell us a little about De-Escalation.

De-escalation is an easy to read, easy to understand guide on how people can use and improve their observation skills to identify risky situations and so improve their personal safety. It provides some tactics and techniques for identifying behavioural indicators that a situation may be heading down the wrong track, and then how to manage those situations. It explains why people behave (react) the way they do in stressful situations and also how we can manage many of those situations through implementing emotional intelligence. There is also a small section looking at some self-protection principles, but it’s not a self-defence manual!

What inspired you to write this book?

The short answer: De-escalation was born from my desire to help people improve their own safety and to protect themselves while going about their business out there in the world.

The extended answer is a little more complicated. In all the jobs I’ve had since leaving school, there was always one key focus point – to help others. After being drafted for military service, I was initially trained as a combat medic. More than a decade later, I resigned my commission and operated as a personal protection officer on the VIP protection teams in the sandpit. Fast-forward another decade or so, and I’m currently a health, safety and wellbeing professional - again, looking after and trying to improve people’s health, safety and overall wellbeing.

Due to my background and my role while I was with Auckland Council, I was asked to put together a short workshop to assist staff that work in the community, to be able to identify risky situations and/or de-escalate challenging interactions with potentially aggressive members of the public. I was running the workshops for about six months when the word spread and I was asked to deliver the same workshop to several other departments/teams from client facing roles, to operational staff out on the ground, to some of Council’s Contractors that were dealing with increasing ‘violence and aggression’ incidents.

Over a time span of about twelve months of presenting the workshops intermittently to numerous teams and considering the questions posed at these workshops, I realised that the hour-and-a-half workshop was just not enough to share enough of the really important information. So, I started working on what was initially planned as a short e-book, to get all the information allocated and presentable to those who wanted to know more about how to keep themselves safe or how to de-escalate challenging encounters. Initially, the content was solely based on my own experiences and the formal training I received, but I wanted to make sure that my content aligned with what the published literature out there stated and what was accepted as good industry practices. The latter led me down a rabbit hole of research and discovery. Eventually, I had to stop and compile what I had, otherwise the book would never see the light of day.

What research was involved?

The tools and techniques around risk assessment and practical de-escalation that are presented in the book have been documented across the world in books, guides and training manuals used for operations like military, law enforcement, VIP protection teams and the like. Alongside the aforementioned, much research was done into neuroscience and human psychology and biology, and how these influence human behaviour in the face of stressors. The result is a book whose content is aligned with published literature and what is considered accepted standards around self-protection.

From a realistic perspective, considering the topics of dynamic risk assessment, de-escalation, and personal security encompasses a vast field with a magnitude of influencing elements, from psychology, to individual past experiences, to physical traits, to the environment, and the list goes on. I tried to keep the content applicable, practical and useful without writing a training manual.

What was your routine or process when writing this book?

Some of the research was done as part of my job as a health, safety and wellbeing professional. The rest of the research and then putting it all together in a book format was completed as a part time insomniac. So most of the work that went into the book was completed in the late night hours, while everyone else was playing around in dreamland.

How much has your life experience influenced writing this book?

It’s hard to put a percentage to this question as I spent about two-thirds of my adult working life in a field where de-escalation was a core function. The honest answer would be that my experiences from my time in the military and then as part of the close-quarter protection teams, along with all the training and exercises we completed, had a huge influence on me writing this book. The few extracts from my past mentioned in the book make that clear.

If a soundtrack were made to accompany this book, name a song or two you would include.

Battle Cry - Imagine Dragons

What did you enjoy the most about writing De-Escalation?

Reliving some of my experiences and going down memory lane to revisit courses and operations that I was involved with over the years to recall all the lessons learnt and techniques we were taught and applied. At the same time I have to say that I truly enjoyed the research part into the effects and applications of neuroscience and biology on human behaviour.

What would you say your top tip from the book would be for readers?

We’re living in the information overload era - there is so much noise out there, not only related to the topic of de-escalation, but anything you could type into Google. So my top tip comes from a quote from Bruce Lee: “Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own.”... in all aspects of your life.

What did you do to celebrate finishing this book?

The day I received my first test print copy, my wife and I shared some bubbles. My wife has been an amazing supporting element in my life and also in the writing of the book.

What is the favourite book you have read so far this year and why?

I have read a few books this year and also revisited some past reads. So to pick a favourite would be hard. One of my all-time favourites that I re-read this year is Clear Thinking (Shane Parrish). This book is just such a great guide to help see things more clearly and change our perspectives. In line with my continuous learning about emotional intelligence and how to improve that, Permission to Feel (Dr Marc Brackett) has been a hit for me, alongside the meditation practices and techniques in Search Inside Yourself (Chade-Meng Tan). Oh, and I just have to mention Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Giving a F*ck, I don’t think any explanation is necessary as this is just a great book!

What’s next on the agenda for you?

I am not quite sure. I haven’t given much thought to it until I was asked this question now. I was just focused on getting De-escalation out there so it could start helping people. I have two other books that I have been working on for over five years. When De-Escalation came around, I felt it deserved priority, especially if we consider the number of aggression and violence incidents happening in our workplaces and our communities.

One of the other books that is about 80% complete is about psychosocial risk management in the workplace. Due to this being another serious and rising risk in many workplaces, I might put some effort into completing that book.