Mandy Hickson’s time in the RAF demonstrates only too well the importance of remaining calm under pressure and leading, quite literally, from the front to ensure she gets the best out of herself and her team.
Since leaving the RAF – first as a pilot in 2011 and then as a reservist in 2019 – Mandy has served as a governor on the board of trustees at the Victory Services Club and as a sporting ambassador for Hampshire County Council.
In 2020, she published
An Officer, Not a Gentleman, an engaging, entertaining and shocking story that follows Mandy’s incredible journey in becoming one of the UK’s first female fast-jet pilots.
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Mandy Hickson – Corporate Speaking
Mandy has a remarkable insight into decision-making under pressure, the importance of human nature in advanced systems, and how to take calculated risks. She can apply her RAF experience to all industries, demonstrating an impressive understanding of humans. Her keynote speeches are professional, personal, inspiring, honest and motivational.
As only the second female to fly a Tornado GR4 on the front line, Mandy pioneered the movement of women into the RAF. Much of her remarkable career was spent as the only female aircrew, throughout 45 missions over Iraq and three duty tours, evidencing her mental resilience, bravery and powerful attitude.
Since leaving the RAF Mandy has trained as a Human Factors facilitator with the Civil Aviation Authority, and now uses her in depth knowledge of aviation, calculated risk taking, decision making under pressure and the critical role of the human in the system to transfer these lessons to businesses and individuals alike.
She demonstrates the importance of remaining calm under pressure and leading, quite literally from the front, to get the best from herself and her team.
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Mandy Hickson – Business Speaker
Challenging times require an exceptional corporate response. So how do you motivate and inspire your staff to demonstrate outstanding leadership and teamwork under pressure, to stride confidently towards purposeful goals and maintain focus despite significant risks?
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Tailored to be relevant to your organisation, Mandy’s main themes include:
- The building and empowerment of effective teams
- Inspired goal setting and ultimate focus
- Decision-making under extreme pressure
- Maintaining momentum despite losing top talent
- Nurturing a culture of self-confidence and aspiration
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Mandy Hickson – Women in Business
Mandy draws on her own remarkable story to support and inspire women. It is a story which started with dreaming about being a fast jet pilot at the age of 13 and culminated in her leading an entirely male dominated Front Line Tornado Squadron on operations.
Without a doubt most women face some really tough challenges in their working lives and Mandy deals with these kinds of issues in her talks to women:
– Maintaining that essential work/life balance in a demanding environment
– Overcoming innate risk avoidance tendencies
– A wavering of confidence and self-belief
– Amazingly, still having to break through the glass ceiling
Mandy uses her own professional experience at the top of her game to inspire women in any industry, particularly in male-dominated environments, such as the RAF.
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Mandy Hickson – Talks for Schools
Mandy recognises the challenges that head teachers face. Increasing administrative pressure and the speed of change are two factors that impact schools’ ability to achieve their main aims: nurturing pupils’ hopes and aspirations and inspiring them.
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Mandy Hickson – Corporate Speaking Keynote Topics
Building Trust and Collaboration: In the fast-paced world of aviation, trust and collaboration are vital skills, without which the team would fracture. All teams hold the potential of diverse thinking, but without an environment of trust to bind it, it is useless. So how do leaders bridge this gap? Leaders must focus on shared goals for the team rather than individual wins, and create spaces where respectful debate is encouraged but under the permanent umbrella of trust. Mandy breaks down what it takes to foster trust, build collaboration, and lay the foundations for exceptional performance.
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The Power of Diverse Thinking: Teams with varied backgrounds and viewpoints can fill in blind spots, and make better decisions. Every team will have diverse opinions and some may be conflicting, but nurtured by a compassionate leader, they can help tackle complex challenges with creativity. Leaders to actively design environments where diverse thinking thrives, by managing meetings, avoiding groupthink, and embracing differences as strengths, to unlock the power of collective intelligence.
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Building Psychological Safety: The most effective teams Mandy has worked with were ones who were not afraid to speak up. Whether it’s challenging an idea, asking a simple question, or sharing a mistake, psychological safety gives us the freedom to operate at our best. Leaders must build a culture where openness is expected, where teams feel safe to share more, trust more, and in turn, perform at the highest level.
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Emotional Intelligence: When people picture a fighter pilot, they often think of quick reflexes and sharp minds, but success in the cockpit goes beyond IQ, to EQ, emotional intelligence, and the ability to read the room, resolve conflicts, and build relationships.
With practice, anyone can improve their ability to connect with others, manage emotions, and navigate challenging situations. These aren’t just nice-to-have skills, they are essential to leading high-performing and successful teams.
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Debriefing: In aviation, there is one rule: never leave a mission without a debrief, because that’s where the learning happens. Frequently in business, we rush to the next task without reflecting on how the previous one went. Debriefing is not about assigning blame, it’s about analysing what went well and what didn’t, analysing outcomes, and embedding lessons for the future. This then drives continuous improvement, ensuring teams learn from every success and mistake.
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Making Effective Decisions: As a fighter pilot, decision-making is not a luxury, it is a necessity. Every choice has to be quick and precise. Business leaders face similar pressures; poor decision-making can be fatal, crippling performances. But the good thing is, decision-making is a skill that can be developed. Understanding the type of decision, who is involved, and leveraging the right tools can drastically improve outcomes.
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Mandy Hickson – Speaking Topics
- Overcoming Adversity
- Peak Performance
- Teamwork
- Calculated Risks
- Women in Business
- Decision Making
- Error Management
- Life in the Military
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Clients include Arqiva, Atomic Energy Agency, Bae Systems, Balfour Beatty, BG Group Plc, Pfizer, RBS, RGS Foundation, Scotiabank, Standard Chartered, Surbiton High School, Taylor Wimpey, Women’s Institute.
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To check fees and availability for Mandy Hickson, contact Great Business Speakers on 0044 (0)1753 439289
