Leadership, Adrenaline & the Search for Meaning - John Graham

2025-05-12

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Have you ever had your grandad sit you down and tell you a wild story from the past?Something like, “Back in 1950, kid, we didn’t have phones—we had fists, fire, and maybe a freighter to the Far East.” This is one of those stories. John Graham isn’t from the vet world, but you’re going to want to sit down for this one. From hitchhiking through revolutions and climbing Denali to dodging bullets in Vietnam, surviving a sinking cruise ship, and helping end apartheid—John’s lived a life that reads like a movie. But it...

Have you ever had your grandad sit you down and tell you a wild story from the past?
Something like, “Back in 1950, kid, we didn’t have phones—we had fists, fire, and maybe a freighter to the Far East.”

This is one of those stories.

John Graham isn’t from the vet world, but you’re going to want to sit down for this one. From hitchhiking through revolutions and climbing Denali to dodging bullets in Vietnam, surviving a sinking cruise ship, and helping end apartheid—John’s lived a life that reads like a movie. But it’s not just adrenaline. This episode is about what happens when the thrill wears off—and you’re forced to reckon with purpose, meaning, and the person you’ve become.

We talk about:

Leadership and ego (and why John Wayne let him down)
Screaming at God in a lifeboat off the Alaska coast
Crawling out of toxic masculinity to build a life of service

This isn’t just a good story. It’s a reminder that life can change at any point—if you're willing to listen.

📘 Grab John’s book: Quest – Risk, Adventure, and the Search for Meaning
The memoir is Quest – Risk, Adventure, and the Search for Meaning, now available as an audiobook. My website is johngraham.org and the website for the Giraffe Heroes Project—the global movement I help run—is.giraffe.org.

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