What a Former Police Officer Can Teach Your Team About Resilience

In a TEDx talk that’s as raw as it is relevant, Rob Hosking, a former frontline police officer turned mental health advocate and keynote speaker, shares the lessons he learned not from a textbook, but from experiencing trauma.

Rob’s story is about what happens when the person trained to save others needs saving himself, and how the simple act of choosing happiness deliberately and daily became the foundation for long-lasting resilience.

Rob now brings these lessons into boardrooms, conferences and leadership retreats, helping teams navigate pressure, uncertainty and change, without losing themselves in the process.

Here’s how his story and what he’s learned can help your team today.

Rob’s talks usually begin with a moment most of us will never experience: a high-risk police shift involving a missing person, multiple fatalities, and the kind of trauma that gets under your skin.

What followed wasn’t immediate burnout, but rather accumulated stress. The kind that builds up silently while you’re still “functioning.” Rob didn’t speak up. He didn’t want to be seen as weak. He kept going, until he couldn’t.

“I was smiling on the outside and completely breaking down on the inside.”

What this means for your workplace:
You don’t need blue lights and crime scenes for someone to hit breaking point. High-performers in your team may look fine but be quietly unravelling under deadlines, fatigue or unrealistic expectations.

Try this:

• Teach managers to ask “How are you really?” and to listen without jumping to fix.
• Implement regular anonymous wellbeing pulse checks to try and spot red flags early.

After hitting his lowest point, including suicidal ideation, Rob made a conscious decision: if he was going to survive, he had to actively choose happiness. Not once, but every single day.

He sought out good conversations. He exercised, even when it felt pointless. He started being open about his mental health with colleagues and family.

And over time, the fog started to lift.

Try this:

Encourage teams to adopt what Rob calls “foundations of happiness”:

• Daily movement, even if it’s a short walk
• One real, non-work conversation a day
• Reflecting on one win, no matter how small

Leaders should model these behaviours. Rob stresses: your people won’t take mental health seriously if you don’t.

Rob credits his eventual recovery to community; the people he finally let in, who didn’t judge him, who listened and gave him permission to feel whatever he was feeling.

He now teaches corporate audiences that psychological safety isn’t about fruit bowls or yoga app subscriptions, it’s about people feeling safe to say:

“I’m not okay.”
“I don’t have the answer.”
“I need a break.”

What this means for business:
Teams without trust are often the ones that break under pressure. The most high-performing cultures are built on honesty.

Try this:

• Create opt-in peer support groups or buddy systems
• Reward emotional intelligence in your leadership metrics, not just output

Rob didn’t bounce back by returning to “normal.” He built a new normal, one that prioritised boundaries, self-awareness and growth. His ADAPT method (explained in his keynotes) encourages things like Acceptance, Decision making, Persistence and more.

For your team, that might mean:

• Redesigning workloads around energy, not just availability
• Encouraging team members to trial flexible hours or work locations
• Giving permission to fail fast in innovation projects

Try this:

Ask in your next team review:
“What’s one thing you want to experiment with over the next month, personally or professionally?”

As a keynote speaker, Rob embodies resilience. His keynotes are powerful because they’re honest, practical, and grounded in lived experience.

When Rob speaks to organisations, he teaches teams how to spot stress, manage it, and recover from it together. His sessions leave people with tools they can apply immediately and conversations they didn’t realise they needed.

He’s spoken to police forces, NHS staff, global finance teams and leadership boards.

To check availability or enquire about booking Rob Hosking, get in touch with The Speakers Agency today.