Last Breath is based on the true story of a saturation diving accident in Scotland. Chris Lemons (Finn Cole) was lost for almost 40 minutes when his diving umbilical cord became stuck as he and fellow diver Dave Yuasa (Simu Liu) tried to repair a gas manifold in the North Sea. Becoming stuck usually wouldn’t be a problem except for one fact: The repair occurred 300 feet under the water.
Why did Chris’s umbilical snap? The ship supporting Chris, Dave, and Duncan Allcock (Woody Harrelson) is tossed by a raging storm. Their ship lost power and began to drift. Unable to control where the ship was going, Chris and Dave began frantically returning to the bell (the underwater structure they were staying in). Chris had an accident and his line became stuck on the structure. The ship continued to move while Chris couldn’t free himself. Eventually, the tension from the ship’s movement snapped the line and Chris was left behind.
Now… He only had 10 minutes of reserve air to sustain him. Yet, somehow, he miraculously survives on the bottom of the seabed for 40 minutes.
Last Breath is his story. It’s a tense one. It’s also full of leadership lessons. Let’s dive into those today.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Last Breath
1. You won’t always be okay:
Chris was a saturation diver. His job included diving hundreds to thousands of feet to repair and maintain gas lines. Saturation diving is one of the most dangerous jobs out there.
Chris also had a loving fiancee. The movie opens with Chris and Morag (Bobby Rainsbury) talking.
Morag knows Chris is about to leave again. Chris tells her he will be okay. Their interaction sets up the whole film.
Why? Because Chris wasn’t going to be okay. Something bad was going to happen.
While we won’t be diving 300 feet, leadership is still dangerous. We will face many challenges that can rock our world.
You might come upon extreme competition. You might find yourself battling to save the organization. Or you might find yourself surrounded by angry employees.
Whatever the case, leadership is dangerous. You might find you’re not okay emotionally, mentally, or physically.
Be ready for the dangers of leadership.
2. Chris Lemons:
I made the cut!
Chris was walking through the ship that would be supporting him, Dave, and Duncan. He was excited. He’d made the cut to be part of the diving expedition.
There was excitement throughout the ship. People seemed to like Chris. The excitement was contagious.
Whether it’s you making the cut to become a leader or you helping someone else become a leader, be excited. Lives are about to change.
You’re going to be able to help a lot of people do what they were made to do. Their lives are about to be changed.
Or, if you’ve helped someone rise through the ranks of the organization, they will be given the opportunity to help change the lives of others.
Be excited. It’s contagious.
3. Chris Lemons:
I’ll never get used to this.
Chris, Dave, and Duncan had to enter a compression chamber. The chamber would help their bodies acclimate to the pressure underwater. It would be the three of them for 28 days in a tiny device.
After they enter the compression chamber, the doors are sealed. The chamber is slowly pressurized to what they would need to survive. Vents hissed as this happened.
Chris tells the others that he’ll never get used to the compression. It’s just so strange.
I want leadership to be like getting into a compression chamber for you. I want you never to get used to leadership.
When you start to get used to leadership, you begin to get lax. You will find yourself taking bigger risks, forgetting what leadership is about, and more.
Don’t get used to leadership. Let it always be slightly uncomfortable.
4. Great leaders give their people slack:
Dave and Chris enter the frigid seawater. They estimated the water to be just above freezing. It wasn’t a place many people would want to be.
Duncan stayed in the bell to monitor the two divers. He was also there to give them slack.
Chris and Dave would descend from the bell to the gas pipeline. To do this, they would need their umbilical lines dropped in the sea behind them. Duncan slowly gave them more slack as they descended.
The slack allowed them to get to the location of the gas lines and do their work.
Have you ever encountered a leader who tried to have a firm grip on their people? Their people would feel like there’s a stranglehold on them. There was no room to move.
That’s not great leadership.
Great leadership is recognizing your people need slack to do their job. Slack, in leadership, could be:
- Getting the right tools for them to do their job
- The ability to work from home
- Unlimited sick days
- Freedom to make decisions
Give your people the slack they need to do their jobs.
5. Dave Yuasa:
I can’t rescue you if I can’t find you.
As the ship supporting them began to drift, Dave realized Chris’s line would snap. He had to give Chris clear instructions on what to do.
One of those instructions was to get to the top of the manifold of the gas pipeline. If Chris was able to stay there, Dave could find him. If Chris strayed from there, it would be a crapshoot on whether or not Chris would be rescued.
You have to give your people slack. They need freedom to do what they need to do.
However, you also need to know where they are in their work. If something happens, you need to know where to find them. You also need to know where to pick up the work.
You can’t lead if you don’t know where your people are.
6. Leaders have to make difficult decisions:
Captain Andrew Jenson (Cliff Curtis) and 1st Officer Hanna were dismayed by the accident that happened with their ship. A man was lost and they needed to get back to him.
Their ship had been adrift for minutes. It was without automatic functions. Would they be able to get back to Chris in time?
They had to make a choice. There was the ability to use the manual thrusters. However, these thrusters were not meant to be used in the sea. They were only to be used in port.
Andrew and Hanna chose to begin operating the thrusters manually. It was the only way to get back to Chris, even though it could spell disaster for the ship.
You’ve probably heard the term Hail Mary. A Hail Mary is a long pass in football or a last effort when things look like there’s no hope. It’s that difficult decision that needs to be made.
You’re going to have to make difficult decisions. Some of which you won’t know the outcome for. Some that may be dangerous.
It will be scary. It will seem as if there are no odds for success. It’s still a decision you’ll have to make.
7. Great leaders have hope in extreme circumstances:
Chris had been without oxygen for an extended period of time. Dave was ready to give up on him. He began to believe they would only recover Chris’s body.
Duncan had a different take on the situation. He still had hope. Hope that Chris was still alive. Instead of accepting Dave’s assessment that it was a recovery mission, Duncan boldly proclaimed, “No, it’s not.” He had hope they would retrieve Chris alive.
And they did.
Where do you need hope today? Are you losing hope? Do you see no solution?
There is hope. In Chris’s case, they should have retrieved a dead body. Instead, they rescued him and he was alive.
Don’t give up hope in the darkest situations. That’s where hope shines brightest.
8. Craig (Mark Bonnar):
I don’t see any other options, do you?
Craig was the dive supervisor. He was beside himself as he watched the seconds tick into minutes. He didn’t know if Chris would survive but he would do his best to ensure he did.
On the underwater camera, they could see Chris’s body twitching. They knew it could be the nerves of a dead man firing randomly. Craig still had hope.
Knowing where Chris was and getting him back to the bell were two different things. Craig had an idea. They could use the underwater robot to latch onto Chris’s carabiner. They would use the robot to pull him back to the bell.
One problem… The robot had only been used to recover dead bodies. Chris could still be alive.
Craig knew using the robot could be a bad move. He also knew there weren’t any other options. He would take the unknown.
When you are at the end of your options, you still have to act. You can’t stay still.
Be willing to take action, even when you don’t know the outcome. Action is better than inaction.
9. Our actions can make things more difficult:
Dave had told Chris to get to the top of the manifold. Chris did that. He also took a further action. He clipped into the manifold with his carabiner.
Clipping into the manifold kept Chris from floating away. However, clipping in made for a more difficult rescue. The robot couldn’t move him because he was attached.
His right action made things more difficult.
You may take all the right actions, do all the right things, and still find yourself in a more difficult position. Why? Because you don’t know what’s going to happen next.
Still, continue to make the right decisions. Act in the right way. Do what you know you should do.
Doing the right thing is always the right thing.
10. Duncan:
I’m just not ready for the green pasture yet.
Duncan was being forced out of saturation diving. The company believed he was getting too old to be effective. This was to be his last dive.
After Chris has been rescued, he goes back to the decompression chamber. Craig contacts him.
He asks Duncan if he’s okay. Duncan said he wasn’t ready to be done.
Wow… I’ve seen many leaders forced out of organizations before their time should have been up. They were pushed out for younger leaders, more educated leaders, and because of favoritism.
These leaders shouldn’t have had to leave. They weren’t ready. They still had more to offer.
If you’re pushed out of an organization, know you have more to offer. Find the greener pasture. It doesn’t mean you have to retire. It means you refire. You find your new place.
